Time to reduce that doggone stress – research shows that just ten minutes of interacting with dogs and cats helps lower cortisol, a stress hormone, in students. UCCS is bringing therapy dogs onto campus as much as possible, and students can learn when and where they’ll be through the Canine Connections newsletter.
“It really started with Bella and Beau, the Bernese mountain dogs,” said Kristi Webb, Wellness Promotion Coordinator. “That, and the library’s Pause for Paws program that they had near the end of each semester.”
Kristi learned quickly how popular the therapy dog visits were, especially around finals, and started looking for more volunteers that could bring their pups to campus.
“I came to the university about a year and a half ago for an internship, and it became pretty clear to me when I got here that this is a dog-crazy campus,” she laughed. “Then shortly after I’d started doing the Canine Connections email weekly, I was out on the wellness wagon one day and hadn’t sent the email out yet, and students were calling out to me from dorm windows asking ‘Where are the dogs this week?'”
With an increase of volunteers generously bringing their dogs to campus, dog visits have been scheduled to have at least one per week each semester.
Reach out to Kristi Webb to sign up for the Canine Connections newsletter and learn more about dogs on campus, or use the QR code found on select Commode Chronicles in campus bathrooms.
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