Therapy Dogs: What the People Say

One trend that's become popular on college campuses is the use of therapy dogs for students during stressful times, such as finals week.
The practice has been going on for a few years at Michigan State University and has quickly turned into a fan favorite. Both students and staff enjoy the therapy dog sessions.
Holly Flynn, coordinator of outreach and engagement at the MSU library and the person who organizes the events, said students love the therapy dog events.
“The feedback has always been great," Flynn said. "[The students] love the dogs, they go in and pet all of them.”
She also said the events are probably her favorite thing that she does.
Patrick Thornton, a junior at MSU and computer science major, is also a fan of having the dogs brought to the library.
“I thought it was just a really good break from studying,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to see dogs, always getting to pet dogs is pretty hype.”
Thornton said the dogs were a good outlet away from the stress associated with studying for finals. Thornton also said he wishes there were more dogs present so they were easier to pet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tennessee Football Remains in the Spotlight while Greg Schiano Moves on

Since the Tennessee Volunteers Football program dismissed former head coach Butch Jones in early November, they have been in the spotlight for who they'll hire to replace him on a non-interim basis. Eventually they believed to have landed on Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano to replace him, only to be met with a social backlash campaign, due to Schiano's possible ties to the Jerry Sandusky scandal while at Penn State, which caused the UT program to back out of the hiring him. According to the trends, the UT football program has still been a top topic of search, while Schiano has since laid low in searches following his return to OSU fully. This is not good PR for the UT program or school, since now that job and environment is viewed at as a hostile one with a toxic fan base. Although the program is a national one, the searches are concentrated in the state of Tennessee and neighboring Southeastern states.
Read more

Prime Time Euchre Ends in a Fight to the Finish

Team Peter Vanderoff and Ariana Negreiro beat team John Kochanek and Jack Maibach 10-9 in the prime time game of euchre that was neck-and-neck at the end. Vanderhoff and Negreiro started the game down 1-0, but then went on to score seven consecutive points to take a six-point lead at 7-1. From there, Kochanek and Maibach clawed back to erase the deficit and got ahead 8-7. After that the game went back-and-fourth. The two teams exchanged points and found themselves tied 9-9. The emotions of both teams began to show in the stressful situation. Negreiro dealt the final hand and ordered herself up to claim the 10-9 victory. The total attendance for the euchre match included three Rather Hall residents
Read more

Therapy Dogs: What the Researching Side Says

Therapy dogs on college campuses has become a growing trend, and part of this is due to growing amount of research detailing the health benefits. Although it may be fun to just play with dogs, having a therapy dog has been linked to health benefits like lowered blood pressure . Kerri Rodriguez , a PhD student of human-animal interaction, studies the psychological effects of service dogs on individuals at  Purdue University and says there’s a good amount of evidence pointing to the positives of dog therapy. “We’ve been studying the effects of dogs on stress for decades,” Rodriguez said. “There is a growing body of evidence that supports the health benefits interacting with companion animals.” Companion animals are any kind of pet. One study done at the University of Maine in spring 2015 showed a link between those being in a better mood and having a therapy dog, whereas the same positive data didn't materialize for the control group that was studied without a dog. A differ...
Read more