Stressed students given the chance to stroke PUPPIES to help them prepare for exam season

University of Aberdeen to introduce UK's first 'puppy room' for students



Set up to help stressed undergraduates calm their nerves during exam time

Stressed out students at a Scottish university are being offered a novelty way to deal with the pressure of exams – puppies.

Undergraduates at Aberdeen University will be given the opportunity to visit the UK’s first ‘puppy room’ where they can relax and play with the young dogs.

After a similar service offered at a Canadian university went viral, the initiative was brought to Aberdeen.

Puppy love: A student at Aberdeen University holds one of the Labrador puppies brought in to help undergraduates calm down during exam time

A successful trial run with Labrador and Golden Retriever puppies was held in February, and now the Aberdeen University Students' Association will run sessions throughout the exam term.

‘We received a huge amount of positive feedback from students regarding a similar initiative at a Canadian university last year,’ says Emma Carlen president of societies and student activities at AUSA.

‘We had a trial run a few months ago when we brought in the puppies for a few hours from Guide Dogs Scotland to see how the students would react.

‘We got a really positive reaction to that from both the guide dogs and the students, it really chilled them out, so that encouraged us to get this set up for the exam period.'

Dog days over: The 'puppy room' scheme is being rolled out at Aberdeen University following similar schemes in Canada and the U.S.

Top dog: The visiting puppies from Guide Dogs Scotland will be there for students during the exams

The puppy programme is already available at several North American universities with institutions such as Harvard Medical School now providing dogs on site that students can borrow.

Miss Carlen said: ‘So many students read about the initiative when it was done in Canada and came forward asking us to do a similar initiative here and we don't think it's been done in the UK before.’

It is hoped that the dogs will calm frazzled nerves and cheer the students up during the exam period in May.

Miss Carlen added that the puppy room is ‘essential’ to improve and maintain the mental health of students during the most stressful period of their academic year, and help them build a home from home.

She added: ‘Students struggle a lot with stress coming up to exam time, not only with exams, but also are a lot of deadlines with essays and dissertations that come up at the same time.

‘In addition to this there are the financial pressures for students as well as friends and family being far away.

‘We hand out packages for students, giving them recommendations on what they should eat and drink to make sure they stay healthy to avoid stress as well as handing out free tea and coffee before exams.