The fall semester is here, and for students returning to campus, the ceaseless class work is now at hand. But this summer, while the pools were blue and barbeques sizzled across the Sunflower state, one full-time canine employee at Moler’s Camera was working his tail off.

His name is Dude and he has been employee of the month at Moler’s for twelve months straight.

Dude’s owner, Jessie McCullough — a WSU grad — has been a sales clerk at Moler’s since January of 2017.

Not long after joining the Moler’s Camera staff, McCullough sought out Bob Moler, who has owned the business since 1946. In the meeting, McCullough asked Moler if he could start bringing his Golden Retriever Dude to work.

“I’ve been here since January 6, 2017,” McCullough said. “But I did not ask if Dude could start joining me until about August of last year.”

One year later, the rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, Bob Moler said, Dude has been an unrelentingly reliable employee.

“It’s impressive, you know,” Moler told The Sunflower. “Dude is the absolute best employee we have. Since he walked through the front door last year, wagging his tail at customers, we’ve sold more cameras than ever. It’s just that simple.”

As per the sales clerk staff, Dude provides Moler’s with a better atmosphere compared to in the past.

“It’s hard to stay mad after Dude comes up to you,” McCullough said. “He always does that. He keeps the morale up and he works really hard at being a dog.”

Moler’s employee and local photographer Brennan Barger agreed with McCullough that Dude’s deserves the title of perennial employee of the month status.

“He’s always chilled out because he’s a dog,” Barger said. “He was a little wiley at first but, he’s definitely calmed down.”

“Consistency,” Barger says, is the biggest part about what makes Dude such a good employee of the month. “He gets here on time, he helps out and he’s quiet too.”

Dude keeps Moler’s senior customers and children who enter the store entertained as well. McCullough said that when the store is frenetic with clientele, the furry employee of the month keeps things light-hearted and slow paced.

“Dude is sensitive to other people emotions,” he said. “If somebody is not interested in dogs, he picks up on that and leaves them alone. On the other hand, if somebody loves dogs, he’ll hang out right by their side. He’s the first one to greet everybody.”

Given the reality of a four-legged, no opposable thumbs existence, Dude isn’t so inclined towards manual labor. However, what he lacks in leg work, he makes up for in customer service.

“He doesn’t stock inventory or anything yet, but the morale boost is the best thing we can have in a coworker,” McCullough said.

As with all minimum wage employees, Dude has his foibles. McCullough admits that his best friend and coworker occasionally has slips of the bowel on the company carpet from time to time.

“He does it when I leave him here after work or we go out for drinks,” McCullough said. “One time he came to me whining and he looked across the room. He had pooped right on the floor.”

Despite accidents, Dude is an indispensable part of the Moler’s staff, McCullough said.

“If I’d have left him at home, he’d have just torn some trash up and maybe even pooped on the floor,” Mccullough said. “But now he’s a happy boy here at work.”