Uni successfully uses dogs against examination stress

Dog caressing for stress management for students

07/12/2012

With dogs against the exam stress. At the Canadian Dalhousie University in Halifax, an unusual stress management project was launched. By cuddling with young dogs, the students should be taken to the pre-Christmas stress during the exam phase.

Before Christmas there are a lot of exams at the Canadian universities. Accordingly high is the tension and the stress of the students. This led to a tremendous response to the unusual action of Dalhousie University. When „the doors on Tuesday afternoon for the first of three Puppy Room Sessions Opened this week, more than 100 students queued to spend time with a Labradoodle, a Sheltie, and a Golden Retriever for a few minutes“, reports the university.

Hundreds of students relax with the dogs
Around 450 students used the opportunity to relax a bit with the young dogs in the past three days, explained the initiator of the project, Michael Kean. The considerable number of participants also shows how high the students' need for relaxation in the run-up to Christmas is actually. The Labradoodle, Sheltie, Golden Retriever, Dalmatian, Papillon and St. Bernard were trained trained therapy dogs who otherwise served in nursing homes or hospitals. For the students at Dalhousie University, the dogs were a welcome change. Most visitors stayed five to ten minutes, some even up to half an hour, Kean reports, adding: „Everyone reacted positively.“ The idea for the project came from Michael Kean, who studied environmental science at Dalhousie University after hearing about a similar program at McGill University in Montreal.

Dogs against nervous breakdowns and depression?
Also at the University of Montreal, young dogs were brought to campus to help students relax. Nervous breakdowns and depression of the students should be avoided with the help of the four-legged friends. Since Michael Kean is currently also suffering from considerable audit stress, he immediately thought about implementing a similar project at his university. The Vice President of the Student Services at Dalhousie University, Gavin Jardine, stated: „I was immediately stunned by the idea and so excited.“ The dogs are from the initiative „Therapeutic Paws of Canada“ (Therapeutic paws of Canada). The Studentenwerk provided the required space. Everyone is aware that the action can not solve the stress problem of the students, but the dogs help at least a bit to relax, said Gavin Jardine.

Dog cuddle room attracts worldwide attention
The participant Rachel Foster explained to the question of her well-being after the time together with the dogs, she felt „relaxed, full of happiness.“ The students played with the dogs and talked about what distracts them from the tiring daily routine, explained Michael Kean the positive effect. Lindsay Dowling from the Studentenwerk Dalhousie University commented on the students' stress: „They want to be the best in their field to get a great job afterwards“, which is not easy in the current labor market situation. Although Dalhousie University is overall exemplary in dealing with student stress, other activities such as the 24-hour wellness room for yoga, meditation or a short nap have not experienced the same media echo as the current project the dog cuddle room. This idea has unexpectedly attracted worldwide attention, according to the University's announcement. According to Lindsay Dowling already came „Inquiries from around the world to the action.“

Therapeutic use of animals
The therapeutic use of dogs and other animals is by no means news, but is already being carried out with different approaches in different areas. For example, animals should help people with dementia, but also patients with hypertension or extreme stress. However, usually reliable scientific statements on the therapeutic effect are missing. Other approaches use dogs or their pronounced sense of smell to diagnose diseases. Recent studies have shown that dogs can smell lung cancer. For therapeutic relaxation, animals such as dogs and cats have been used for some time, especially in the US and Canada, but in this country similar actions as at Dalhousie University are hardly conceivable today. However, with the tremendous response the Canadian project has received, German universities may also have become aware of the unusual approach to coping with stress. (Fp)

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