A freshman new to the university, a senior ready to take on the world or an experienced graduate student can all face similar mental health challenges during their college years. Busy schedules, meeting deadlines and being away from home are among them.
Many universities – including the University of Louisville – are finding new ways to support students and one particularly soothing strategy has undergraduate and graduate students reporting ”paws-itive” mental health benefits: therapy dogs.
UofL often brings in puppies for stress relief events during finals week. And the UofL Police Department got its latest comfort dog, Lily, in spring 2025. Since then, Lily and her handler, patrol officer Jacob Robinson, have become some of the most welcome faces across campus. Lily is a certified Crisis Response/Therapy K9 and she loves cuddles.
“Some of our most cherished relationships are those that we have with our dogs. They listen without judgment, and they calm and comfort us just by being present,” said professor Jessica Eggleston, who teaches an urban studies course at UofL titled “Dogs in Society: An Interdisciplinary Examination of the Human-Canine Connection.”
Two recent studies further examined the role of dogs on college campuses. A study conducted at Washington State University recruited 145 first-year students, all of whom had left a beloved pet at home, and randomly assigned them to either several sessions with therapy dogs throughout the semester or to the control group. The results? The therapy dog group reported significantly lower rates of stress, depression and anxiety than the control group.
Consequently, a study from Chatham University found that students from all levels can benefit from engagement with therapy dogs – not only homesick first-year students, but also graduate students who tend to be excluded from campus activities and services. At the end of the study, grad students reported feeling less stressed and happier.
Eggleston says there’s a scientific reason therapy dogs help improve students’ mental health and it’s all about a long-standing relationship.
“Dogs have been active human partners for over 15,000 years, with some scholars suggesting the relationship has been closer to 40,000 due to archaeological evidence,” she said. During that time, dogs have picked up on human context, she added, making them special in the animal world.
“The capacity to recognize these social stimuli or cues is unique to canines; even our non-human primate cousins are unable to pick up on these cues like pointing, nodding, reaching for objects and more,” Eggleston said. “The history of our relationship with these animals lends itself to a unique connection between the species.”
Eggleston saw that relationship play out in her own classroom, with her own very good pup, her black lab, Oliver, who got a boost from her students.
“On more than one occasion, I looked up and noticed a student laying on the floor with my dog, Oliver,” she said. “Oliver passed away in July after a long battle with an immune-mediated disease but I think the best years of his life were spent in urban and public affairs being adored by students.”
For college students and dogs alike, a little puppy love goes a long way.
Follow Lily on Instagram.
By Maria Arteaga Mendoza
