For more information about Columbia River Pet Partners, visit www.columbiariverpetpartners.org or email info@columbiariverpetpartners.org.
Albert lounged in the grass next to the quad at Washington State University Vancouver, panting as his tongue stretched out of his mouth.
He sprawled out, plopping his head on the ground as students knelt beside him and ran their hands over his tan coat. He rolled onto his back, encouraging the strangers to rub his belly.
For the 5-year-old Leonberger, it was all in an afternoon’s work.
Albert is one of a handful of therapy dogs with Columbia River Pet Partners who visited the campus Tuesday during dead week — the week before final exams — to serve as a stress reliever during the busy end of the semester.
Next week, Brooke Nuorala, 20, has to take four final exams. But on Tuesday, she took a break from studying to visit with the four-legged visitors.
“It feels good to pet dogs,” Nuorala said. “It’s awesome to see the dogs and gets you out of your head a little bit.”
The therapy dogs first visited the campus before finals last semester. Their presence was such a hit, the dogs are back this dead week; they’ll be on campus again today from noon to 2 p.m.
During the three-day visit in December, about 200 people stopped by to visit the dogs, said Kelsey Gingerich, community service coordinator for the student activities board.
“Therapy dogs has, by far, been the busiest, most popular event,” she said. “We just hope it helps people deal with the stress of finals week and makes it a little easier.”
Gingerich heard of similar events on other college campuses and proposed the idea for WSUV. She connected with Peter Christensen, president of Columbia River Pet Partners, who had expressed interest in visiting the campus a year earlier, and they scheduled the visits for this school year.
Columbia River Pet Partners is a Vancouver-based branch of the national Pet Partners organization, which trains and evaluates volunteers and their pets to be therapy animal teams. The local organization has about 40 members who visit a variety of facilities, including schools, libraries, retirement homes, assisted living homes, hospice centers and hospitals, Christensen said.
Therapy dogs are pets trained to provide affection and comfort to people other than the owner. Therapy dogs are different than service dogs, which are trained to assist a person who has a disability.
Research has shown people derive physiological and psychological benefits from interactions with animals. Therapy animals can help reduce stress and anxiety and can significantly reduce pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in people with various health issues, according to research.
Emma Poulson, a senior at Camas High School, is doing her senior project on the therapy animal program. She and her 7-year-old golden retriever, Maddy, received their certification in October.
“She’s really cut out for this,” Poulson said, as Maddy melted into the arms of WSUV students petting her. “It does make a lot of people happy.”
Count Nicole White, 19, among those happy to see Maddy, Albert and the other dogs on campus Tuesday.
“I think the whole therapeutic benefit of animals is really cool,” she said.
James Horacek, 24, sees the dogs’ visit as a healthy way for students to de-stress.
“Dogs, to me, have always been a therapeutic companion,” he said. “A dog always makes my day better.”
