Student’s line up for pawsitive reinforcement

Bailey,8, is a therapy dog that visited the Sheridan Trafalgar Campus to help relax students during exam time. (Photography by Michael Rodrigues/ The Sheridan Sun)

STORY BY MICHAEL RODRIGUES

With exams and final projects lurking over the shoulders of students, how are they suppose to relax? A beer? A cigarette? On Tuesday, about 100 students at Sheridan’s Trafalgar Campus were given a healthier option – therapy dogs.

Therapy dogs are used in retirement homes, hospitals and schools to help people in stressful situations take a break from their troubles and clear their minds.

“It’s just a great stress relief,” said Michael Convery, the owner of Bailey, 8, a yellow labrador. “A lot of the students are living away from home and it gives them time to hang out with a dog and relax from their work.”

“As soon as you are around them, everything else you are worrying about just goes away. It doesn’t matter if it is your dog or someone else’s,” said Jesse DeNobrega, a first-year Illustration student.

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With students moving away from home, some miss their dogs’ friendly faces.

“I really just love puppies and miss mine,” said Allegra Conty, a first-year Illustration student.

With exams and final projects hitting students right now, a little bit of love from a happy face is all they need.

“They are full of love,” said Kathleen Glenn, a first-year Child and Youth Worker student. “They love to give hugs and kisses and it is awesome to just hang out and relax with them.”

First-year Child and Youth Worker Student Kathleen Glenn recieves kisses from Bailey,8.

To become a therapy dog they must pass an assessment to make sure they can handle the job.

“We assess them to see if they are calm. The dogs are exposed to groups of people and loud noises to make sure they don’t react negatively,” said Joanne Peters, owner of Oliver, 4, a male Havanese.

With a large portion of their final marks being decided in the last weeks of school, students are looking for anything to take their minds off the outcome.

“It’s a very stressful time for students and just seeing the dog takes their minds off of their exams for a short time and just clears their mind,” said Peters.

This is the first-time that Sheridan College has had the dogs for students at Trafalgar Campus, but hopefully the school will bring them back next semester for another friendly visit.

A smiling furry face is sometimes all students need.

“They don’t have worries. It really just makes yours’ go away for a bit,” said Conty.