Dog Squad helping students take paws at Algonquin College

Algonquin College has recruited a team of experts to help stressed-out students hit the "paws" button, and all they ask for in return is a scratch behind the ears.

The Dog Squad, a pack of canines that are owned by college employees and have been trained as therapy dogs, hit the campus Monday.

Not every dog can be a therapy dog, according to Jane Madigan, a dog behavioral consultant who's been working with the pets and their owners.

"They've got to have the right temperment, character. The dogs have got to like people but not be jumping up on people," Madigan told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

A therapy dog needs to have a calm demenour and be comfortable being touched by complete strangers whose ideas of hands-on greetings may differ.

"We all have a different touch, and touch is communication," Madigan said.

Stress relief

Employees brought their dogs in for an initial assessment earlier this month to see if their pets would make suitable Dog Squad members. Of the 14 dogs that auditioned, eight were selected.

When Satwinder Kaminski first heard of the Dog Sqaud, the nursing studies professor knew her four-year-old terrier-cross, Taz, would be perfect for the job.

They stroke the dog and the whole body language changes.- Jennifer Madigan

"Stress and anxiety has to do with always worrying about the future," Kaminski said. "[Taz] brings you back to today and to this moment, and that's part of anxiety and depression therapy, is [coming] back to this moment."

Even before joining the team, Taz was providing Kaminski's students with some smiles.

"When it's break time I actually have a picture of him up on the screen and everyone goes, 'Awww!'" Kaminski told Ottawa Morning.

Dogs are also great at getting humans to come out of their shells, Madigan said.

"I've seen some people who are very reserved and introverted.... They stroke the dog and the whole body language changes."

Students will be able to book 20 minute sessions with a dog, and student volunteers have been recruited to help the dogs and their owners.