Carleton’s MacOdrum Library has introduced its own therapy dog to promote positive mental health and to help students manage their stress.
Uncle Steven, a basset hound named after his first foster caretaker’s uncle, visits the library once a week on Thursdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and was around twice a week during exam season.
Since mid-April, Uncle Steven has received visits from students and university staff alike and visitors can get a fridge magnet with the hound’s face at the session.
The dog currently lives with his handler John Vendel and Vendel’s wife, Erica. Vendel said he adopted the 11-year-old hound from his first foster home since his initial owner could not take care of two babies and two dogs.
Vendel said Uncle Steven was rescued by the Edmonton Basset Rescue Society from a puppy mill. For seven years, Uncle Steven was kept in a crate and used as a breeding hound.
Before being rescued by the Basset Society, Uncle Steven had never been inside a house or a car and did not really like being near men, Vendel explained.
“He can be considered a miracle,” he said.
Vendel said his wife, who was a librarian at the University of Alberta at the time, encouraged him to get Uncle Steven certified as a therapy dog. They joined the Chimo Animal Assisted Wellness and Learning Society in 2014.
“He just naturally attracts people and brings smiles to hundreds every week,” Vendel said.
Claire Wand, a first-year linguistics student, said she does not have a pet of her own due to her mother’s allergies, but loves the idea of having the proximity to one.
“I think it is a stress reliever just to pet him,” Wand said.
During Uncle Steven’s sixth visit, Aura Marchson, a fourth-year music student, said having a therapy dog is very beneficial for students.
“I think it is good for mental health,” Marchson said. “Some days I feel like I do not want to go to class and I would rather sleep in, but today when I walked in, I noticed a man with a water bowl and I was like ‘there is a dog here and I have to find it.’ ”
Vendel said he has researched therapy dogs and discovered the positive effects they can have on people.
“I understand that we release some kind of de-stressing hormone when we pet an animal. During exam time, to take that five, or 10 or a 15-minute break will relax you and people will do better,” he said.
Vendel said seeing the love Uncle Steven receives from students brings him pleasure.
“With the life that he had in the first seven years, I think he is making up for the lost times with all the love and attention he gets here,” he said.
The therapy dog sessions at Carleton’s library will continue all summer and throughout the 2017-18 academic year.
Photo credits: Sissi De Flaviis
