Pitt Therapy Dog Tuesdays: ‘The best day of the week’ 

Every Tuesday at 7 p.m., visitors to the Cathedral of Learning’s Commons Room are greeted by an unusual sight. During most weekdays, the space is filled with stressed students glued to their laptop screens. But on those evenings, instead, there’s a group of dogs — golden retrievers, terriers, Labrador retrievers — surrounded by excited students de-stressing from their busy lives. 

For Ben Wakshul, a sophomore applied developmental psychology major, Therapy Dog Tuesdays are his favorite day of the week. 

“Classes can get really long and tiring,” Wakshul said. “[The dogs] brighten up your day. They make you feel better … We don’t deserve them. They deserve the world.” 

Pitt Therapy Dog Tuesdays offer comfort for students as they deal with the stress of school, extracurriculars and homesickness. The events began as informal meetings with six dogs in 2002. Now, they are organized by a formal club with 50 dogs and multiple events throughout the entire week. 

Marsha Robbins, the m

ain coordinator of Therapy Dogs Tuesdays, was a special education teacher at Pittsburgh Public Schools and had many therapy dog visits with her students. These visits inspired her to adopt her own dog from the shelter, a Great Dane-black Lab mix named Moses, and get him therapy-certified in 1999.

Robbins then created Pioneer Pet Patrol, a program to bring her own dog and other licensed therapy dogs to her students. 

“[The dogs] would come in, and the kids loved it,” Robbins said. “There’s so much documentation about how interacting with dogs is calming, and it’s good for social development. The kids that I taught, most of them, didn’t have dogs at home, but petting a dog calms you, and it generates all those good endorphins –– that’s what led me into this.” 

Robbins returned to school at Pitt in her 40s to get her master’s degree in multiple physical disabilities and decided to bring therapy dog visits to Pitt students as well. In 2002, she began the program with six therapy dogs, though they were not allowed inside Pitt-owned buildings, due to University policy. 

“We would come and hang out on street corners, or hang out on the deck of the Union, or go around the quad, under the overhang,” Robbins said. “The kids would crowd around us, and they loved the dogs. But we weren’t allowed inside, so we did the best we could.” 

However, Robbins soon found a club sponsor for the therapy dog visits, which allowed them to reserve spaces in Pitt buildings.

“We had met these girls on the corner, and she said, ‘Oh, we can sponsor you to go in.’ And I had no idea how to get in. And sure enough, if there were student sponsors, we would be allowed inside,” Robbins said. 

Throughout the years, Pitt Therapy Dogs has had a number of different club sponsors, including Women for a Multicultural Tomorrow and the Psychology Club. 

From there, Robbins said the Humane Animal Rescue League on the North Shore embraced Pitt Therapy Dogs, enabling her to develop training classes for the dogs. She described the preparation of therapy dogs as a “very long, complicated process.”

“You have to start with basic obedience, and you have to condition the dogs to accept the craziness of the world around them,” Robbins said. “They have to know how to interface with lots of people and interface with lots of dogs and tune out environmental sounds and not be skitsy when there’s a helicopter overhead and a skateboard next to you, and the bus just stopped with their air brakes.” 

Therapy Dog Tuesdays became an official club in November 2021 to continue therapy dog visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Jennifer Silk, a professor in t

he Department of Psychology and the club’s faculty adviser. 

“There were always just hundreds and hundreds of students that would come [to Therapy Dog Tuesdays] all the time,” Silk said. “We realized that the club could invite the therapy dog parents every week to come on campus and visit.” 

Bridget Watson O’Brien has been bringing her mini goldendoodle, Clancy, for seven years and has had a “truly amazing” experience at Therapy Dog Tuesdays.

“I have met so many wonderful people, students, faculty, staff and other therapy dog teams. I have also enjoyed seeing the program grow over these years — so many more people at Pitt are requesting visits,” Watson O’Brien said. 

Watson O’Brien commended Robbins for starting the program and loves to see how the dogs are positively impacting students. 

“It really warms my heart to see the joy and happiness Clancy and the other pups bring to so many,” Watson O’Brien said. “They are remarkable creatures and know when someone is in need of comforting.”

Anna Borelli, a senior psychology major and president of Pitt Therapy Dogs, describes the visits as a “unique chance” for students who are missing home.

“[Animals are] just so sweet and gentle, so I feel like it’s something that anyone can try, and they’re definitely good for people who have pets back home that they’re missing,” Borelli said. 

Lindsay Krieger, a sophomore marketing major and communications manager for Therapy Dog Tuesdays, said the club is an extracurricular that helps her unwind rather than causing further stress. 

“For every other club, you’re doing work, you’re going to sit

in a meeting, probably at a desk — but this going to a meeting, you’re petting a dog,” Krieger said. “That in itself is definitely a break.”

Students like Axel Helfand, a junior exercise science major, come to Therapy Dog Tuesdays for a variety of reasons. He does not regularly attend Therapy Dog Tuesdays, but comes occasionally to “say hi to the dogs.”

“I love petting dogs,” Helfand said. “I miss my cats a lot. It’s just nice to show love to animals and get to pet them.”

Kamron Bey, a sophomore information science major, visits every week during a break in his two-and-a-half-hour night class.

“At 7 p.m., we get to come down, talk to the dogs, just yap it up with the dogs, look at them in their souls,” Bey said. “They’re majestic creatures that we are not good enough to have at all.”

Kristen Fondus, a first-year emergency medicine major, enjoys coming because she misses her dog at home. 

“I just love it so much,” Fondus said. “It just really brightens up my week, [and

] I want to come more often because every time I come, it’s just so amazing.” 

Like Fondus, Kai Cruz, a first-year political science major, comes because she misses her French bulldog “every single day.” 

“These dogs bring so much comfort to me. I think that’s why I come here — it’s so comforting,” Cruz said. “I wasn’t able to come a lot in the first semester, but in the second semester, I was like, ‘OK, there’s a free spot on Tuesday, I will be here.’” 

Though Anderson Pan, a sophomore nursing major, does not come to Therapy Dog Tuesdays frequently, he said it’s shown him that it’s OK to take a break from studying. 

“Life isn’t just all about studying,” Pan said. “I think [Therapy Dog Tuesdays] give us hope. Life isn’t just nursing.” 

Throughout the past 20 years, Robbins has taken immense pride in Pitt Therapy Dog Tuesdays, which she considers her “fourth child.” She loves the full circle it brings, with former Pitt students now bringing their own therapy dogs each week.  

“The value of our program was demonstrated when we had three former Pitt students who got dogs … and now they’re coming with their therapy dogs,” Robbins said. “That’s a dream.” 

When Therapy Dog Tuesdays started with a handful of dogs, Robbins said the motto was “Pet six dogs, don’t chug a six-pack.” She wants to encourage students to seek healthy coping mechanisms, like turning to the unconditional love of dogs.

“They love you. They don’t care if you’ve brushed your teeth. They don’t care if you’ve taken a shower … they’re just supportive of good mental health,” Robbins said.