Therapy Dogs: A Practical Medicine to Reduce Stress

Taken from Therapy Dogs: Perfect Medicine to Help

Students Survive Finals by Jen Christensen, CNN

Key Words: therapy dog/s, train/ing/ed, stress/ed/es,

students

an you feel it? Can you feel your eyes start to

water, your nose start to clog, that tell-tale
tickle at the back of your throat? You know
what that itchy face of yours means. You know who is
here before you even see him. Forget the books.
Forget the tests. Forget the papers and the projects
and the studying. Its time to run home and grab your
bottle of Benadryl.

here to recite powerful poetry to enlighten the

students minds,
Henry is here to
offer comfort and
respite for students
who are in desperate
need of a break from
the books.

It is finals week and everyone is stressed. Amid the

flying pages there is a new, tangible element in the
airfur. Something that is notably out of place in
Emory Universitys Robert W. Woodruff Library.

Entering the Jones

Meet the Medicine

ow youre back.
Youve taken your
Benadryl and youre on
your way to the Jones
Rooma room which
usually hosts famous
Figure 2. Taken from Google;
aboutmorkies.com/2013/04/19
poets like Billy Collins
/wonder-drug-for-dogsand Mary Oliver.
benadryl/
However, today the Jones Room hosts a special kind
of guest, one who youve been waiting to see all week:
Henry.
Henry, a friendly golden retriever, is a therapy dog. He
is also a spokesdog for Canine Assistants. Based in
Alpharetta, Georgia, this nonprofit organization trains
and provides service dogs for many different people
with disabilities. Although he is not a famous poet

Room, you can still

Figure 1. Henry; Taken from "Therapy
Dogs: 'Perfect Medicine' to Help
feel the slight tickle
Students Survive Finals
in the back of your
throat, that sneeze that wants to come. But you know
that being in this room is worth whatever sneeze you
may or may not have. The room is filled with other
strung-out students waiting for their turn to spend
time with Henry.
Henry is not the only therapy dog that will be visiting
Emory University today. There are about half a dozen
other dogs that will be taking two hour shifts at the
college. Henry, his canine colleagues, and his human
handlers volunteer at different schools and hospitals as
part of their training as therapy dogs and therapy dog
trainers. At Emory University, students get to spend
ten minutes with the dogs. These furry volunteers
bring comfort and relief to many students studying for
finals. This routine at Emory University is quickly
becoming a popular trend at other universities across
the country. Though it did not originate at Emory
University, Eric Mooney, the outreach and education
librarian says they got the idea from another

university. It was such a hit that the Emory decided to

do it again, and it is quickly catching on.
Canine Counselors Sweep the Nation

hris Daood of Marquette University says, Its

been fantastic for the students. Daood
advertises these events in advance and holds them in
an open space. In this way students can simply walk by
and engage with the animalsas the organization
Health Heelers also brings along a few therapy cats
with their dogs. With the animals in the open space,
students can come by whenever they want and stay
however long they want. Daood says that it is easy for
students to get tunnel visionespecially during
finals. But spending time with the animals can clear
their heads, even if it is just for five minutes.
There are many scientific studies that show human
interaction with
an animal can
Click here to read
boost oxytocin
some studies
levels. This
about humanhormone that
animal interaction
reduces anxiety
and blood
pressure can be activated by petting a dog can help
distract people from their anxieties and stresses. When
they return to their work, they can come to it with a
clear mind, a fresh perspective. There are also studies
that show this interaction with animals can actually
improve students capacity to retain the information
they are trying (and sometimes struggling) to learn.
This is extremely
beneficial because of the major stress that students
experience can impair memory.
Returning South: Back in the Jones Room

ack in the Jones Room, you are anxiously

awaiting your turn to play with Henry. You hear

the librarian call out, Next, and you know your time
has come. Your shoulders relax and you feel a grin
spread across your face. On the other side of the
room, three other students fawn over another dog,
Wesley. They fall on the floor next to him,
momentarily letting go of their finals.
Ali Serpe, a senior at Emory, asks about Wesleys
training. Susan Dansberry, Wesleys volunteer, tells
her that the dogs must learn around 90 commands
during training before
certification and
Click here to
registration. Though the
find out how
dogs usually live on a large
to certify and
farm in Milton Georgia,
register a
they do go home with
therapy dog
volunteers at times to learn
what volunteer Karen edge
calls home manners. The
dogs must also learn different sounds and
environments, like the sound of a vacuum and how to
slowly walk up stairs. All of these situations are to
make certain the dog remains calm in other future
settings.
Theres a time keeper apologizing to students, letting
them know their ten minutes is up. You slowly tear
yourself away from Henry. His fur clings to your
clothes and the memory of his warmth sticks in your
mind, momentarily replacing the stress of finals.
Out of the corner of your eye
you see one girl taking a
picture with the therapy dog
she spent time with.
Somewhere else you hear Ali
Serpe thanking Wesley, saying,
You are the perfect medicine
for finals.

Figure 3. Taken from

"Therapy Dogs: 'Perfect
Medicine' to Help
Students Survive Finals

You leave the Jones Room

with a light step, knowing
youll be back tomorrow for more.