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Grace Azbill

Dr. Cassel

ENG 1201

14 December 2019

The Effectiveness of Therapy Dogs Reducing Student Stress and Improving Their Academic

Performance

As the semester comes to an end, many students find themselves overwhelmed and very

stressed with all the papers and exams that they have. With all this stress, college students find

themselves looking for a way to relieve that stress so some turn to stress relieving games and

sadly some turn to drugs or alcohol, but what if all your stress from exams and papers can be

relieved by a therapy dog. Inferential Statistics Report: Does Your Pet Relieve Stress shows the

92% of pet owners say that their pet does relieve stress. According to researchers from

universities, therapy dogs are very effective in reducing students stress and improving their

academic performance. But before we get into the resluts of these researchers experiments that

look in to the science and the history if this study.

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The science behind therapy dogs reducing stress involves two hormones called cortisol

and oxytocin. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and if you have increased cortisol or stress

it can cause your blood pressure to rise, increase thirst, and cause you to urinate more frequently,

but there is a hormone that will reduce cortisol, which is called oxytocin. The hormone oxytocin

makes you feel happy and more relaxed. Therapy dogs reduce the hormone, cortisol and increase

the hormone, oxytocin.

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The study of therapy dogs reducing stress has been around since 2001 and is consistently

growing. Lots of universities find them themselves testing this theory out by having drop-in

canine programs or by having a specific room designated for the students to come and interact

with at least one therapy dog. Some universities have up to twelve therapy dogs for student to

interact with. Therapy dogs are used in over one thousand universities and college in the United

States (Dogs Prevent Stressed Students from Dropping Out). These universities have performed

experiments using their students to test and see really how effective therapy dogs are in reducing

stress and improving their academic performance.

One of these experiments was performed by a Christine Grove, an educational

psychologist, and the University of Melbourne. Christine Grove and the University of Melbourne

experiment consisted of having dog days at the university. Dog days are days were the university

would bring in therapy dogs or general dogs for the students to interact with. Most of these days

are during the week of mid-terms or finals. Grove and the University of Melbourne discovered

how stress reducing these dogs really were and what great benefits they had for the students.

They began to see an increase in school attendance and a gained confidence in their students.

They also saw a decrease in anxiety, desire to learn, and enhanced relationships with their peer

and their teachers (Therapy Dogs Can Help Reduce Stress). They had this enchantment in the

relationship with their peers and their teachers because the therapy dogs caused an increase in

oxytocin.

Another experiment that was performed to prove the effectiveness of therapy dogs

relieving stress and improving student’s academic performance was performed by Emma Ward-

Griffin and her colleagues at the University of British Columbia. Griffin and her colleagues had

two approaches to the experiment. For the first approach, Griffin and her colleagues had two
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hundred and forty-six students fill out a questionnaire before interacting with the dogs. The same

students filled out the same questionnaire after their interaction with the dogs. Griffin and her

colleagues immediately saw improvement. The second approach was looking for long-lasting

results, so students were surveyed ten hours later with some of the participants having an

interaction with a therapy dog and some participants not having an interaction with a therapy dog

(Looking for A Study Buddy). The participant who had interacted with the dogs had a much

lower stress level and an improved social support than the other participants. From this

experiment, hopefully one-day cuddling a dog will be just as important as studying for finals!

But these two universities are not the only universities that have proven therapy dog’s

effectiveness in reducing student stress and improving their academic performance. According to

the Morning Edition, a Canadian university opened what they called a puppy room. The puppy

room was designed to help students ace their finals. You may ask how a puppy room can help a

student ace their finals, have no fear because I am her to tell you the answer. As a student, I have

firsthand experience of how stressful finals week can be. If I am stressed about a final, the stress

will cause me to not concentrate therefore I will get a lower grade. But if I interact with a therapy

dog or just a general dog, your stress level with drop and cause me to be more focused and I will

receive better grades.

Illinois State University also has a therapy dog program called PAWSitively Stress Free.

This program started during finals week in May of 2013. The program has developed into a two-

hour session once a month throughout each semester and four-hour sessions twice during finals

week (Dogs Mean Stress Relief). Some students may only stay for a minute or so while others

stay the whole time. In 2015, the university did a post-program survey and the students recorded

how they had a decrease in stress levels, and during the 2015-2016 year out of four thousand,
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eight hundred and sixty-seven students there was a thirty-three percent increase in attendance

from the previous school year.

Having these dog days and puppy rooms not only reduce students stress and improve

their academic performance, they help students overall emotional health and well-being.

According to the Journal of Mental Health, these drop-in canine therapy programs have been

very successful. The students reported lower stress levels after their interactions with the dogs.

The therapy dogs also help the students overall by helping them adapt to college life.

Susquehanna University held a dog day for their freshman to make them not feel so homesick

and really proved to help the students with their feelings of being homesick. Health news and

interviews have also proven the effectiveness of therapy dogs. Therapy dogs can also benefit

your physical health. In 2001, researchers found that pet owners with high blood pressure can

reduce their blood pressure during times of mental stress more than non-pet owners (Dogs Hep

Humans Reduce Stress). Another study showed that pet owners may also have increased odds of

surviving for at least a year after a heart attack (Dogs Help Humans Reduce Stress). Therapy

dogs have such great physical health benefits because they reduce stress.
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With all this information and research, it is easy to see that therapy dogs are very

effective in reducing stress in college students and college students are my main focus but what

about other students such as elementary students. You may think why would elementary students

need a therapy dog to reduce stress, do they even have stress at that age? You would actually be

surprised! Elementary students may have stress from a bad home life, school, peer pressure, a

traumatic event, and so much more so they may need the support that can come from the comfort

of a therapy dog. Lori T. Wilson, a school psychologist, found that having a therapy dog in the

room during her counseling sessions really helped the child feel more at ease and comfortable.

She also introduced the therapy dog to students with special needs. Having the therapy dog really

helped the students with the children’s social interactions. In the book Roses and Dogs:

Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Today’s Troubled Times, the author talks about how dogs help

her reduce stress and provide comfort for her. She also relates dogs to be a sanctuary to run to

when you are overwhelmed and stressed. Even though elementary students are young we should

never think that they do not face thing just like we do.

The experiments that have been performed have all shown great and long-lasting results

for the students stress levels and their academic performance. Therapy dogs are not only great for

students but great for anyone who has stress in their life. When I was young, we had a dog, she

was not a professional therapy dog, but she was a therapy dog to me. I would come home from

school and she would be the first thing I turned too. Therapy dogs or dogs can not just be used

for stress, but they can be used for comfort also. I know that when we had our dog, before we

had to put her down, every time I was sick, she was right by my side to comfort me. Therapy

dogs and dogs are amazing animals and they make great companions. I have seen older people
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have therapy dogs or dogs because they make such great companions but when you lose them it

is like you are losing a piece of your heart.

Even though with all this research you would think that people would be buying therapy

dogs left and right, especially college students, but not everyone likes dogs. Do not be afraid

because there are other animals that can reduce stress, such as cats. Cats have the some of the

same benefits that dogs have. Cats can reduce some one’s risk of a heart attack and stroke by a

third (Owning a Cat Cuts Stroke Risk by a Third). If you do not like cats there are all kinds of

animals that will work, they just might not be as effective as a therapy dog or cat.
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Even though this research seems very solid there is always misconceptions. A common

misconception is that therapy dogs are going to reduce stress for every student, but that may not

allows be the case. Everyone is different and a therapy dog may cause me to be more relaxed and

less stressed, but a therapy dog may make someone else feel more stress. a therapy dog can make

someone feel more stressed if they have allergies because now on top of everything else, they

have to do they now have to wipe their nose or scratch their eyes every five seconds. But if you

are a student who does have allergies, like me, do not worry there are hypoallergenic dogs and

therapy dogs.

With this research, I have discovered that therapy dogs really are effective in reducing

student stress and improving their academic performance. I also discovered that not only do they

reduce stress in students and improve their academic performance, they have great physical and

mental health benefits. Being in college, sometimes people need that extra support or stress

relieve to get them through another day. So remember that when you are stressing over finals or

just life in general do not turn to drugs or alcohol, just go hug a therapy dog.
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Work Cited

"Dog Days help students adapt to college life." Philadelphia Inquirer [Philadelphia, PA], 2 Oct.

2009. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A208863142/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=86382a

90. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019.

"Puppies May Help Students Ace Finals." Morning Edition, 4 Dec. 2012. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A311563018/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=b0f4d6

87. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019

“health News and Interviews: Mental Health and the Human Mind Video Clips.” Films Media Group,

2007, digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=19259&xtid=37381. Accessed 12 Nov.

2019

animal smart. “Dogs help humans reduce stress.” Animal Smart,

https://animalsmart.org/species/dogs/dogs-help-reduce-stress. Accessed 12 November 2019

Binfet, John-Tyler, et al. “Reducing University Students’ Stress through a Drop-in Canine-Therapy

Program.” JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH, vol. 27, no. 3, 2018, pp. 197–204. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/09638237.2017.1417551

Coughlan, Sean. “Dog Days ‘prevent stressed students from dropping out’. BBC News, 2019,

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-48806935. Accessed 15 December 2019.

Gibeault, Stephanie, MSc, CPDT. “Looking for a Study Buddy? Research Shows Therapy Dogs

Can Help Relieve Student Stress.” American Kennel Club. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019.

Published 11 April 2018. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/therapy-dogs-relieve-

student-stress/
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Grove, Christine, and Linda Henderson. "Therapy dogs can help reduce student stress, anxiety

and improve school attendance." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale,

2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/DGBNVT319212256/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=

9d051461. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019. Originally published as "Therapy dogs can help

reduce student stress, anxiety and improve school attendance," The Conversation, 19

Mar. 2018

Kahn, Rosalyn. “Dogs and Roses: Reducing Stress and Anxiety in Today’s Troubled Times.” 19

September 2017

Loeb, Josh. “Dog Therapy Helps Reduce Stress in Students.” VETERINARY RECORD, vol. 184, no. 18, p.

541. EBSCOhost,

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live. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019

swiech, Paul. “Dogs Mean Stress Relief.” Pantagraph, The (Bloomington, IL), 16 Sept.

2016. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W62990050108&site=ehost-live.