YPSILANTI, MI - With the winter semester back into full swing, Eastern Michigan University is offering students a chance to eliminate stress and anxiety with a little help from some four-legged friends.

EMU is hosting its first Wellness Woof event of the semester on Jan. 10, where students and the campus community can visit with therapy dogs from Therapaws, an Ann Arbor-based canine-assisted therapy program.

The event, which takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Recreation/IM Building, will be hosted in conjunction with EMU's Winter Wellness Fair.

With more students reporting bouts with depression, stress and anxiety, the Wellness Woof program has gained popularity on campus since it began in 2015, said Eric Ward, program coordinator for EMU's Office of Wellness and Community Responsibility.

We noticed that our students need more psychological help resources and avenues to approach and deal with things like stress and anxiety," Ward said. "No university seems to have the ability to be able to see them in a timely way and they need that service."

The Wellness Woof originally brought in one therapy dog that could visit with students, but the program has grown to offer more dogs hosted in an open space where students can roam freely.

After attracting 815 participants in 2015 and 1,197 in 2016, the Wellness Woof program already has seen 893 participants in the fall semester alone in 2017, Ward said.

"The students identify that depression, stress and anxiety are in the top three things that are actually causing a negative impact on their academic success," he said. "We can bring in 4-5 dogs at a time and students can organically go and pet different dogs and do whatever they want to do. With it not being super structured, it allows them to stay as long as they want.

"I think a lot of our students living on campus miss their animals," he added. "Dogs definitely are the lovers of the animal world, and they resonate with that."

The event is free, open to the public and held monthly in the Rec/IM Building. Upcoming dates for the event are in association with the EMU Winter Wellness Fair, to held on Feb. 13, March 5, March 20 and April 9.

For more information on this program, please contact the Office of Wellness and Community Responsibility 734-487-2157.