Take a break from your stressful finals week with therapy dogs
Furry guests from Paws-to-Share provide students with playful relief
by Wen W. Li, Staff Writer
College of Alameda (CoA) hosted a little outdoor party on Dec. 4 before finals week. When walking by the Fab Lab, you may have seen a group of students sitting outdoors with a bunch of dogs. For at least a moment, they didn’t seem to be students stressed out by finals anymore — they seemed to be having a good time surrounded by dogs.
The event was called “Decompress with a therapy dog!” It was organized by the COA Health Services Department, working with Paws-to-Share, a company dedicated to bringing dogs into people’s lives, especially for those who can’t have pets in their house or apartment.
Lola, Mole, Taz, Daisy, and Jake were the five therapy dogs that came to COA. These dogs are not owned by the company — they all have their own owners. Peter, Lola’s owner, also is one of the staff from the Paws-to-Share. His dog, Lola, is an energetic dog, and she loves to interact with students and other dogs.
Peter explained therapy dogs are different from other dogs: they are trained to interact with other people, and they often have a lot of energy. Therapy dogs are trained to not be afraid of humans, and they are friendly and willing to play with students just like they play with their owners.
Peter also mentioned that they have therapy cats in their company, but they didn’t bring any cats this time. The outdoor space in CoA is also perfect for the dogs to interact with students, which is why the group moved the event outside once the rain stoped; the event originally was planned for the student center.
During the event, as the students wandered in, they had the chance to interact with one of the five dogs. You could play catch, frisbee, or just pet the dog and feel how soft they are. There was no time limit — you could stay with them as long as your break time before class wasn’t over.
Skyler Madera, a first-year student at CoA, was one of the students who came to the event. Madera had a great time playing with the dogs, and she thinks this type of event should be held more often during midterms and finals.
“I feel more relaxed after playing with them,” Madera said.
Hana Raja, a mental health specialist at CoA, said that the school mental health department is getting more students reporting stress as finals approach, and she hopes that the therapy dog event could help the students reduce their stress.
“Research has shown decreased stress leads to higher performance — that could support the students,” Raja said.
The therapy dog event was only hosted at Laney College and CoA for this week, but the Paws-to-Share is also currently talking to another Peralta campus; it may be a chance to see them on other campuses in future.
