By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University students arriving at Jerome Library to study for finals Monday were in for a surprise.
On the first floor they were greeted by a crowd of their fellow students, displaying behavior decidedly uncharacteristic for finals week. They were chattering, smiling, laughing even, and mixed in was an occasional bark.
For Margaret Weinberger’s freshman seminar class that meant this part of their final project was a success.
On Monday afternoon, the local chapter of Therapy Dogs International brought six dogs to Jerome Library as a stress reliever for students. The visit by the dogs was the second arranged by the students in the freshman seminar “Animals in Human Lives.”
The students petted and talked to the dogs, who were fitted out in seasonal attire. Some students snapped photos, while some just stood back and enjoyed the scene.
“I have a dog back home,” said sophomore Samantha Foster, “and I miss him like crazy.”
Sarah Miller also has a dog at home, and she was “very excited” when she arrived with friends to study to see the therapy dogs. They definitely relieve the stress, she said. “I just really like animals.”
“Dogs are so happy all the time,” said Megan Forsthoefel, one of the students in the seminar. “Just the act of petting a dog is calming.” That’s the opposite of studying for exams.
Studies have shown dogs can lower blood pressure as well as other physical and mental benefits.
Allie Rodenbucher said she talked with another student who was studying upstairs in the library when she heard a dog bark. “I was so stressed out. It was perfect,” the student told Rodenbucher.
The idea for the therapy dogs came up on the ride back from a field trip to a correctional center in Toledo where inmates help raise dogs as service animals as well as rehabilitate racing greyhounds, Rodenbucher said.
That visit confirmed the therapeutic effect of dogs, she said. “We were all puppy struck.”
Weinberger said the library seemed a good location. This is not the first time therapy dogs have been invited into Jerome, she said, crediting the library faculty and staff with being so welcoming.
Weinberger said professors are encouraged to develop BGSU 1910 seminars on topics they are passionate about, and Weinberger is passionate about animals.
That was shared by many of her students. “I thought it’d be perfect,” Shaylyn Westfall said, of her decision to enroll in the seminar.
The seminar also made field trips to the Toledo Zoo, where they ventured behind the scenes, and to the Weber Ranch in Wayne, where they saw the sustainable pig operation.
Student Jonah Robinson said he was interested in the sociological aspects of the course. Standing back he witnessed that canine-human dynamic unfold. The dogs were definitely taking students’ minds off what was worrying them.
Dogs are “a social lubricant,” Weinberger, who teaches sociology, said. “They facilitate social interaction.”
The students gathered around the dogs were talking about their own dogs, and asking the dogs’ handlers questions.
Garry Witzler has been working with therapy dogs for 21 years. He’s been on campus before including at STEM in the park, which is where Weinberger first encountered about the group.
Witzler and his wife also bring their dogs to Toledo area hospitals. At St. Luke’s they bring the dogs to visit patients recovering from surgery. “They just want to hold them and feel better because they’re in pain,” he said.
Debby Johnston, of Perrysburg, brought Zoe. Johnston likes coming to the university. The students are appreciative. They’ll chat with her about their own dogs.
Zoe is a multitalented dog. She’ll even twerk.
Johnston also brings the dog to area rehabilitation centers and to schools for students with special needs.
Zoe has a grimmer role as a cadaver dog, Johnston said.
But today it was all about entertaining college students. “They say they’re really happy we’re here,” Johnston said. “It really does relieve their stress.”
