For three years after their beloved bichons Winston and Lukus died, Dr. Jackie Jaloszynski and Sid Bragg investigated other, less illness-prone dog breeds so they’d be ready to bring home a new pup when their hearts had healed enough. 

The couple, who live part-time in Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina, settled on the lagotto romagnolo — an ancient Italian breed skilled at hunting truffles — and now have two: Hudson, 4, and Bella, 3. What the dogs lack in potential health issues, however, they make up for in clumsiness and moodiness, Jaloszynski recently said with a laugh.

“The first thing that Hudson did when we got him home was he fell into the canal,” she said. “I had to jump in after him to save him. I was all cut up by oysters, and we had to get a ladder to get me out.”

When another mishap landed Hudson at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine with a tear in a back-leg cruciate ligament, the surgeon noticed hairless areas and lesions on a front leg and called for a dermatology consult.

Enter Dr. Ina Herrmann, an assistant professor of dermatology.

Herrmann’s outstanding treatment of Hudson’s skin issues during that hospital stay and over the ensuing months of allergy care led Jaloszynski and Bragg to honor her with a Coat of Excellence, an NC State program that helps clients express their appreciation to outstanding faculty and staff members.

“I am so grateful, but for me, my first gut feeling is, ‘Why?’” Herrmann said at a campus ceremony with the couple, dermatology service members and other CVM representatives. “I’m very grateful, even more so just for the closeness we have, but we cannot do anything for these pets if the owners are not committed, if they don’t work with us.”

Jaloszynski responded that Herrmann continues to surpass all expectations in her care of the anxiety-ridden dog, taking the time to understand his personality, getting to the root of his allergic reactions and researching novel therapeutics.

“What you think is ordinary is actually extraordinary to us as a pet owner,” Jaloszynski said. “It’s going above and beyond. It’s taking Hudson to cardiology when we detected a possible heart murmur. It’s understanding that Hudson, if you move slow, he does OK. It’s getting a crate and helping us carry dog food out to the car. It’s not just what you’ve done for his allergies and his licking his legs and paws. What you do is extraordinary, and that’s what we like to reward.”

When Jaloszynski was reluctant to treat Hudson’s allergies with traditional, injectable medications, Herrmann researched a transdermal allergen-specific immunotherapy — applied behind the dog’s ears — that she had never used before.

“I’m always grateful for clients who honestly talk about what is the best approach, because there is not one approach that works for every single dog,” Herrmann said. “This is a learning institution, so you’ve got to have clients who are going to step forward and say, ‘I want you to learn, not only for my dog, but for every dog that comes after my dog,’ because allergies just keep getting worse with dogs.”

Jaloszynski was simply thrilled to keep needles out of Hudson’s individualized treatment plan.

“We didn’t know what it was going to show or how it was going to work, but it was the best option for that dog, without a doubt,” she said. “There would be no way that dog would handle injections. I mean, no way on earth. I couldn’t do that.”

Jaloszynski stressed again that she and Bragg, who have seen their pets over the years through many health crises, consider Herrmann’s care far from standard.

“You are the epitome of NC State,” Jaloszynski told Herrmann at the ceremony. “State talks about being and doing the extraordinary, and we saw the extraordinary. And I know you do this with every person who walks through the door.”