Students walking through the first floor of the library Tuesday afternoon might have heard the pitter-patter of paws on the carpet, and several exclamations of “So cute!” and “Aw!”
The sound came from Chanel and Crick, two puppies who came to say hello to anyone who wished to meet them.
The event spanned two hours, where the four-legged friends received endless pets and scratches from all who came by. Beyond just being a friendly face to see in the library, the puppies were there to alleviate some of the stress students might be feeling.
The dogs were there on behalf of Paws for a Cause, who partnered with Student Accessibility Services for the event. Paws for a Cause is an organization on campus that helps train and socialize service dogs in training.
“We get our pups from 4 Paws for Ability and then we socialize them to the world and teach them basic commands like ‘sit’ and ‘down,’” said Kaitlyn Rice, junior chemistry major and president of Paws for a Cause.
After they complete their training, the dogs are given a new home.
Crick’s handler, Rosa King, a junior special education major, explained what the dog’s future after training might look like.
“He would go for tracking because his nose is to the ground the whole time – he loves to sniff,” King said. “It just depends who he is matched with, which is either a child or a veteran and it goes specifically to what they need.”
At the event, students gathered around the dogs, taking pictures and rubbing their bellies, which created large smiles on both the students and the dog’s faces.
“This event is important because animals are very helpful in terms of de-stress,” Rice said. “With the fosters that I’ve had, people come up to me and say that ‘it’s made my day’ and all this other stuff. Animals just make people happy.”
King felt similarly about the importance of the animals in terms of student stress.
“I hope it just makes their day, makes them happy, brings them a little bit of peace, makes them feel better,” King said. “I know a lot of people have dogs at home that they miss so I hope that it kind of helps being able to see a dog.”
For anyone hoping to see the dogs around campus, they will be back out on Halloween.
“On Halloween, we will be walking around campus with the dogs in costumes, passing out candy,” Rice said. “So, if you see us, feel free to stop and pet the dogs and take some candy.”
Olivia Montgomery is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
