Pet-a-dog Day offers weekly stress therapy

If you’ve never been fortunate enough to walk through the Cathedral of Learning on a Tuesday… If you’ve never been fortunate enough to walk through the Cathedral of Learning on a Tuesday between 6 and 8 p.m., you should. Why, you ask? Because it’s at this time that the Cathedral gets invaded by dogs.

This might sound like an odd reason, so let me elaborate. They aren’t just any dogs, they’re therapy dogs, and all they want is to be pet and loved by as many students as possible. This alone is enough to make the Cathedral on Tuesday nights about the best place in the universe.

I’ve taken to calling this phenomenon “Pet-a-dog Day,” because that’s what everyone gets to do, is pet a dog. It’s great! There are usually between 10 and 15 different dogs just chilling in the first floor Commons Room, and about 50-odd students gathered around petting them. The dogs are happy because they’re getting tons of students to pet them enthusiastically, and the students are happy because, hey, dogs!

I’m pretty sure this is the best idea ever, at least for me. Every time I see a dog on the street I want to pet it, but usually strangers are busy and the dogs can’t hang out for long, or they’re just not that into letting you pet them. Sometimes people are strangely offended if you want to pet their dog, as if this is an unheard-of thing that nobody in their right mind would ever do, much less enjoy.

But on Pet-a-dog Day – this is going to be its official name now, as far as I’m concerned – none of this happens. The dogs are there specifically to be pet, and they love it. I’ve never seen a dog there that doesn’t look as happy as a dog can possibly be. They’re all just lolling around and exposing their bellies for better scratching access, or else sniffing things enthusiastically.

The thing about it, though, is that the students look happy, too. And not just happy in the sense where you walk into a familiar place and find something pleasantly surprising or free. Like, if you walk into class and find out your professor brought a bag of candy to be passed around. Sure, that’s nice and all, but the dogs are something different.

I think there are two things at work here. The first is that people miss their dogs, and so being able to go in and pet someone else’s dog consequence-free is kind of like having your own dog for a little while. You can scratch it and play with it and let it lick your face, just like your dog at home does. I know that I miss my dogs while I’m at school, so it’s nice to have access to a dog every week.

But the deeper thing, I think, is the value of what’s being given away at Pet-a-dog Day. It’s not just your professor bringing in candy for the class. It’s more like if your professor came around and gave everyone a hug and a handwritten letter detailing exactly why he or she was glad that you took their class. It’s not just time with a dog, it’s unconditional love.

The dogs love the students. It’s pretty clear that they’re more than happy to have dozens of willing volunteers come up and scratch their stomachs and backs and ears. What’s also clear is that the students love the dogs, both because dogs are great on their own and because they love you for loving them. It’s like a huge circle of happiness that works for everyone’s benefit.

After Pet-a-dog Day, I leave the Cathedral de-stressed and happy and thinking about how great it would be to have a dog to pet and love all the time, and I imagine I’m not the only person thinking this way. All my stress about finals and classes and homework and everything else is gone, all because I got to go in and sit on the floor of the Cathedral and be loved for a while.

There’s just something almost magical about it, the way that it just makes you feel better about everything in life. It’s like a hug from your mom or a birthday card from a friend you haven’t heard from in a while; something that just gives you a good feeling, that someone is glad that you’re there and doing whatever it is that you’re doing.

I think that college students have a hard time coming across this sort of feeling. Sure, some people have relationships or close ties to home or whatever, but even that stuff can be stressful and hard to deal with at times.

But what could possibly be easier and less stressful than walking into the Cathedral and just sitting down to pet a dog for a while?

So the next time you’re free on a Tuesday evening, swing by the Cathedral and pet a dog. You’ll be happy you did.

Want to buy Richard a dog so he can pet it all the time? E-mail him at rab53@pitt.edu to set it up.