UNH Today

特拉维斯·内文斯17岁时在惠特莫尔中心体育馆的座位下面，坐着 pep band’s furriest and most lovable member. Mathis the golden retriever, Nevins’ guide dog, attends every UNH hockey home game, sporting custom-made doggy ear muffs to protect his hearing.

Nevins, an information technology major and trumpet player in UNH’s pep, jazz and symphonic bands, has Stargardt's macular dystrophy, which causes a loss of central vision early in life. He is considered legally blind, 中央视觉受损影响了他看清细节和颜色的能力.

That’s where Mathis comes into play. The duo met at the Guide Dog Foundation in July 2015, and they have been inseparable ever since. 该基金会将训练有素的导盲犬和服务犬与视力受损或有其他残疾的人配对.

内文斯说:“我很快就和马西斯建立了联系，比这个课程上的任何人都要快得多。. 他们完成了两周的强化训练，学习命令并建立关系. Mathis’s ears perk up as soon as he hears his name. “See, he knows I’m talking about him,” says Nevins.

这只小狗从2015年秋天开始参加冰球比赛，并成为了一个受欢迎的附属机构. “I always look forward to seeing Mathis — 当然还有特拉维斯，”18岁的亚历克斯·斯帕克斯说，他是内文斯的号手兼朋友. “Having a dog around is a lot of fun.”

“他已经成为了乐队的吉祥物，”UNH运动乐队总监凯西·古德温(Casey Goodwin)说. “Everybody loves him. Having both of them has been fabulous.”

Mathis generally sleeps through the games; most fans don’t even notice he’s there. “He’s always snoozin’,” says Nevins. “不过，它一解开挽具，就又像只小狗一样了.”

Nevins doesn’t let his disease affect his passion for trumpeting. 他记住了所有的音乐，在比赛中，他的乐队成员会口头说出接下来要演奏什么. In his free time, 他在母校教军乐队和小号课, Portsmouth High School.

这位才华横溢的音乐家和他可爱的伴侣接下来要做什么? 内文斯计划毕业后继续攻读加密和材料科学硕士学位, with Mathis by his side.

Follow @mathisthedog on Instagram!