Therapy dog Little Joe helps German students

DW (English)

At this university in western Germany, a small dog is helping students cope with stress in their everyday lives. Spending time with animals has been shown to help people relax and concentrate.

Transcript

00:00What's this dog doing at school with stressed out students?

00:05This is my first semester and I don't know what to expect. That kind of stress is with you every day.

00:12I'm stressed. I hand in my bachelor's thesis soon and on top of that the global situation.

00:17I'm scared I'm not studying enough and keeping up with deadlines.

00:21That's where little Joe comes in. He's a trained educational support dog and he's quite good at his job.

00:29Students can book a study break with little Joe like Lorena Bayer did.

00:34Cuddling and playing with the dog helps relieve her stress.

00:37Lorena started her university studies just a few weeks ago in Koblenz.

00:42She's new to the city and the school.

00:47Recently I felt I was neglecting to take time for myself but there was nothing else to do.

00:54For now it's really nice just to focus on the dog.

00:58A South Korean study has shown spending time with a dog can actually reduce stress.

01:03Playing with and petting the dog stimulates the areas of the brain responsible for concentration and relaxation.

01:10And does it work?

01:12Doing things with him is a lot of fun and it's really calmed me down.

01:18Kerstin Heinrich is little Joe's owner.

01:21She started the study break project in Koblenz and says her dog benefits too.

01:26The dog relaxes too and he gets a treat now and then.

01:31It works because he's simply a dog that likes people.

01:35Kerstin would also like to offer Joe support to younger pupils.

01:39The feedback is too positive not to.

01:43A student told me she was working on her master's thesis and got stuck at a certain point.

01:49And she said after the study break with pause she wrote four pages.

01:55It seemed to have loosened up a knot somewhere.

01:58It's so nice that little Joe is such a big help but for now he's having a pause of his own.

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