Gatsby, a black retriever-mix, is lapping up all kinds of attention in his cherry red bandana. He frolics around an open lounge at Indiana University with friends Kodiac, the long-haired husky, and Maddie, the brown, white, and tan bespeckled coonhound mix.
A constant stream of students throw backpacks aside as they enter the echoing space filled with barks and squeals. Undergrads chill on the tile floor giving dogs belly rubs, while others watch giggle-worthy puppy horseplay between a tiny yorkshire terrier and Freia, a colossal mastiff mix.
Colleges these days seem to be going to the dogs.
For IU graduate students Courtney Wennerstrom and Karalyn Kendell-Morwick, that’s the way they like it. They started animal advocacy group Revitalizing Animal Well-Being, or RAW, and it’s program Furry Finals Fix (FFF) at IU in 2006 after seeing that undergrads were suffering from a little recognized affliction: pet-homesickness.
It’s not just undergrads’ lack of interaction with animals that bother them, it’s the fact that a viable source of stress relief is being ignored by universities.
Dr. Kathleen Adamle, a professor of nursing at Kent State University, would whole-heartedly agree. She started Dogs on Campus in 2004, and it’s the only university-sanctioned program in the country that allows students and dogs to interact for therapeutic purposes.
ThE buzzword is pet therapy. According to the Delta Society, the non-profit organization that provides volunteer pets and people to Dr. Adamle’s program, pet therapy is “advancing human health and well-being through positive interactions with animals.”
The University of Wisconsin started their own permanent pet therapy program in Fall 2010 as a part of their counseling center on campus. According to uwosh.edu, the counseling sessions help student victims of trauma or tragedy. Dr. Adamle’s program however, addresses a very different student need: “Why do you have to be sick or why does something bad have to happen for you to enjoy pet therapy?”
Kathryn Banas, an IU graduate, attended FFF in 2007. She was feeling overwhelmed by freshman year, being far from her family, and having a heavier workload. After attending the programs, she became involved with RAW first as treasurer and then president.
“I never really thought of it as ‘pet therapy’ but that’s exactly what it was. Dogs have a very calming effect, and after being at FFF, it was like my batteries had been recharged and I felt refreshed and ready to study again,” Banas said.
Though IU and Kent State are separated by hundreds of miles, Dogs on Campus’ beginnings started very similarly to RAW’s. Dr. Adamle, and graduate students Wennerstrom and Kendell-Morwick were met with the same reactions from homesick students when they walked their dogs on campus. Dr. Adamle would get stopped every few feet by students wanting to pet her golden retrievers, while Wennerstrom and Kendell-Morwick’s husky, retriever, and coonhound received just as much love and attention from IU undergrads.
Thus, their respective programs came to fruition out of student need.
“As a researcher, it just was blatant to me that there’s something missing for students, especially freshmen coming into a college campus,” said Dr. Adamle. “They can have their parents visit, they can meet new friends, but there’s still something missing from their social life and that is their pet.”
In 2009, Dr. Adamle and her colleague, Director of Undergraduate BSN programs Tracey Carlson, published their research in the American Journal of College Health showing that out of 246 college freshmen, students said they were consoled 90 percent of the time by their pets during stressful times. Only 41 percent knew about pet therapy, but an overwhelming 96 percent expressed interest in having a pet therapy program.
Kent State departments like Residence Life simply have to have a closed-in space before they can call Dogs on Campus volunteers to schedule a pet therapy appointment. One of the 15 available dogs will arrive and carry out their laborious assignment: playing, rolling on the floor, and jumping on couches with the students who flock to these programs searching for a release; sometimes wearing nothing but their flip-flops and pajamas.
“Everyone is catching on to this,” said Dr. Adamle. “I had 65 emails from different universities who said they all wanted to start a program.”
Yale Law Library experimented with a three-day pilot pet therapy program in April 2011 where Monty the border-terrier mix greeted swamped graduate students.
However, Yale hasn’t been the only school to catch onto the cuddly craze. Rutgers University, the University of Scranton, Wesleyan University, Whitman College and Temple University have all jumped on the Fido wagon by holding programs with everything from “Woof therapy” to “Canines on Campus.” According to these university’s websites, an influx in these types of programs started in Spring 2011 and don’t seem to be slowing down.
“Being around animals, dogs in particular, can really help you be in the moment and mentally and emotionally recharge,” said Kendell-Morwick. “I know how much walking or playing with my pets can help ease my own stress and remind me of what really matters, so I wanted to bring that same feeling to IU students.”
The program was eventually banned from IU residence halls by the director of Residential Programs and Services due to possible damage and allergy concerns. When Banas attended FFF, it was held outside on the school’s tennis courts. They didn’t stay there long however, since dogs were constrained by tangling leashes and foot-pads were ripped bloody by the courts’ rough surface.
Current president and student, Beth Reinke says that RAW is trying to get the FFF program back by finding a spot on campus where the administration will allow the dogs to go off-leash.
Similarly to IU, a Whittier College student was also met with opposition from administration against pet therapy. The program proposed by Claire Thomas called Poet Pups would’ve installed a permanent pet therapy dog in residence halls. According to Quaker Campus, the student newspaper, the program was rejected by Dean of Students Jeanne Ortiz for being too risky considering allergies, possible building damage, and space.
Unlike Ortiz, the new Dean of Wellness at the University of Tampa, Gina Firth, believes that programs like Dogs on Campus or Furry Finals Fix could be the solution for stressed-out students. “One of the key issues that we have on our campus right now is excessive stress,” said Firth.
“I am always open to finding new and innovative ways to help students de-stress.”
UT students interviewed reached a consensus; if their campus were to have programs similar to FFF, they would absolutely sign up. Senior KC Shaffer said she’d be a happier person if dogs were around campus. She misses her border terriers Darby and Clancy. “Me and Clancy watch TV together. It’s always Animal Planet, because he gets mad when it isn’t. He’ll literally step on the remote control until I change the channel.”
Sophomore Cody Eskew requires his family to text him pictures of shitzus Chloe and Peanut at least once a week whether they’re getting a bath or eating table scraps. He pulls out his phone like a proud papa showing off the white and caramel fluff balls. “I miss my dogs so much,” he says, “It makes me happy to see them.”
Though Banas is no longer an undergraduate at IU, she still feels that dogs play a big role in everyone’s lives, college students especially.
“My dog, Lizzy [a black lab and border collie mix], is usually fairly wild and energetic, but somehow, when one of her ‘family members’ is upset about anything, she is extremely calm and will just sit by you for hours. It is very calming and a good reminder of how linked we are with animals.” Kendell-Morwick believes that FFF served students in a way that some universities still might not fully understand. To some, the scene in the lounge looks a lot like doggy mayhem with all the scampering and pandemonium, but to students, these pet therapy programs make a world of difference for their psyche.
“The point is they have a dog at home, or a pet,” says Dr. Adamle. “I’m filling that gap while they’re on campus.”
Amanda Sieradzki can be reached at minaret.arts@gmail.com.