University Dogs: What Is It All About?

We are sure that reading the title of this article you have thought of a dog who, wearing a pair of glasses, is reading a book. Would you like your four-legged friend to go to university?  Who wouldn’t like it! However, even if this picture is not true, college dogs really do exist. 

Their work, however, is very different. We will talk about them below and show you the great benefits that can be obtained from these precious animals.

University dogs: how and why?

The changes, even if in the end they turn out to be almost always positive, they are difficult to accept, as it is difficult to adapt to them. For university students, it is not easy to adapt to a new life.  They have to get used to a totally different pace of study from what they had before and, often, they also have to leave their own city.

It is therefore common for them to suffer from anxiety, stress, nostalgia and sadness. The first year, without a doubt, is the worst. Who can help them deal with these feelings? Our dog friends!

The interaction between dogs and students is enjoying great success in many countries around the world. It is a common practice in the United States, Colombia and other states, as excellent results have been achieved.

The first study carried out in order to initiate this method involved 86 students, who had direct contact with the dogs. After 8 weeks, their nostalgia and stress levels had dropped significantly.

It is not the first time that dogs have been trained for this purpose, in fact several tests have been carried out in this area. Even in offices and in various workplaces, the ability of these animals has been demonstrated for reducing stress and other negative emotions.

Thanks to the good results obtained through university dogs, today it is possible to see some living at the university.  The aim is to make freshmen adapt better to their new life.

How is it possible to reduce stress thanks to dogs?

Simply stroking an animal creates a special connection that gives us peace of mind. Have you heard of dogs in airports? When travelers get nervous before getting on a plane, they can pet the animals and play with them. In this way, the nervousness disappears. The same happens with college dogs.

However, such results are not achieved with any dog. While it is true that having any pet is good for our health and helps us to calm down and calm feelings of loneliness, to achieve greater results, more is needed.

It must be a well-mannered dog. Usually these are Labradors and German Shepherds, known worldwide for the ease with which they obey and allow themselves to be trained. However, in the United States, for example, Pit Bulls are often used, based on the idea that there are no aggressive dogs, but poorly trained dogs following a bad interaction with humans.

How do college dogs work?

Obviously, there is great consideration for the dog, its feelings, its emotions and, of course, its health. For this reason, it is not a form of mistreatment or exploitation. However polite a dog is, one cannot try to make him work four consecutive hours, for example.

Precisely for this reason,  these animals work during shifts of 15 minutes followed by another quarter of an hour of rest and so on.  Furthermore, there are usually three dogs for each session, one in the morning and one in the afternoon; this means that in most cases a dog replies for a longer time: he works 15 minutes every half hour.

This element is of utmost importance for the animal, because we must not forget that they too suffer from stress. Abusing too much of their time and effort could have negative consequences for the animal and the program would not be as effective.

As for Europe, some tests were made in a Spanish university with excellent results. We hope it represents the basis for this initiative to spread to all universities in the world.

As you can see, an additional benefit that, perhaps, we were unaware of the human-dog relationship and that we really like, especially because the health and well-being of our four-legged friends are respected.