Therapy dogs help students relieve stress, according to WSU study

College students who spent time with therapy dogs on campus were less stressed and depressed than students who didn’t, according to new research from Washington State University. 

“When students are new to college, they’re missing their animals at home,” said Patricia Pendry, a professor at WSU’s Department of Human Development. She worked on the study. 

“We find that giving students the opportunity to engage with registered therapy animals is actually a wonderful way to help them adjust to that first semester and prevent the onset of stress-related problems,” she said.

Rather than students sitting with dogs 10 minutes before exams, researchers provided multiple opportunities throughout the semester for first years to drop in, sit and talk with registered therapy dogs. 

“ We really wanted to better understand how we could best support freshmen, incoming students who from prior research, we had learned that it was at times difficult for them to leave their pets behind,” Pendry said. 

When comparing students in the study who spent time with the dogs to those who didn’t, Pendry said freshmen who spent time with the animals had less stress, fewer depressive symptoms and showed improvement in levels of self compassion. 

“We know from prior research that oftentimes when students come into the university, their wellbeing gradually declines in that first semester,” said Pendry.

The transition from living at home to going to college is a big change, and can often be stressful, she said. But programs with students and therapy dogs can be a relatively inexpensive way to offer students support, Pendry said, and she wouldn’t be surprised if WSU expanded their use of therapy dogs on campus in light of the new findings.

Currently, the university’s Pet Your Stress Away program offers short interactions with dogs while students prepare for midterms and finals.

Kerri Rodriguez sits with Ralphie, a companion service dog-in-training. (Credit: Kerri Rodriguez)

Research on the benefits of the relationship between humans and dogs isn’t just happening at WSU. Dr. Kerri Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona, and she’ll be giving a talk at the WSU Pullman campus on Friday. 

“I’m going to be giving an overview of the current science behind dog-human relationships, giving many examples of research studies in our field and how dogs benefit our everyday lives,” Rodriguez said. “My talk is definitely appropriate for the average pet owner or anyone interested in nerding out about dog science.”