Over the past several semesters, the volunteer dogs at PAWS of CNY have formed a bond with the students at Syracuse University. During the annual “PAWS for Stress” event, one of four various de-stress events that PAWS of CNY has attended during the school year, the volunteer teams enjoyed a relaxing afternoon while helping students take a much-needed break from the pressures of the end of the semester.
“Jack and the students interacted great together,” said volunteer Carol Slagle who attended the event with her mini labradoodle, Jack. “[Jack] acted excited to see [the students and] it was obvious they loved petting him. He just sat there and let them touch him all over.” Many of the students who attended the event talked about how much they missed their own pets back home, and how much they appreciated the opportunity to take a break from classes, projects, and finals in order to visit with the PAWS of CNY teams.
According to Slagle, the happiness that human-pet interaction produces is mutually beneficial “There is just something innate that happens when well behaved dogs sit and interact with people. [Whether] it is a patient in a nursing home, hospital, or a de-stress or wellness clinic at a high school or college, people just seem to melt when they interact with the dogs… It is a unspoken love between dogs & people.”