In recent years universities have begun introducing ‘puppy rooms’ to help students who feel overwhelmed with the stress of university.
Puppy room events are run by the guide dog foundation and are intended to help take students mind off of the stress brought on by exams.
According to helpguide.org studies have shown that, “Playing with a dog or cat can elevate levels of serotonin and dopamine, which calm and relax.”
Studies have also found that “people with dogs have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets. One study even found that when people with borderline hypertension adopted dogs from a shelter, their blood pressure declined significantly within five months.”
Check out this thinglink if you'd like to know a bit more about puppy rooms.
The last university to introduce a puppy room was the university of Westminster which also including rabbits for students to interact with April 2016.
The event was organised through the student union where students would book time slots to go in and play with the puppies and rabbits.
“I decided to set up the event to give students an exciting event to look forward to prior to the exam period,” said the University’s Students' Union Vice President and organiser of the event Lauren Waugh.
Other universities across the country have arranged puppy rooms for students, these universities include; Bristol, Reading, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Central Lancashire and Northampton.
Puppy rooms have also been very successful in American universities where they had first been introduced.
Do you think Kingston university should organise a puppy room event in the lead up to exams?