To the Dogs

The golden retriever’s wagging tail sweeps across the stone floor of the Cathedral of Learning Commons Room. She has turned over onto her back, exposing the white fur of her belly. Three students with backpacks slung across their shoulders are crouched beside her, lavishing the dog with gentle strokes. Nearby, a hulking Bernese mountain dog pants as his ears are tenderly scratched. A few feet away, a shih tzu cocks her head in interest at passersby. The din of the large, echoing room is noticeably higher in pitch than usual.

“She’s so cuuuute,” coos a young woman with purple hair as she bends down to stroke a pup called Maui. The curly-furred poodle-havanese mix belongs to Marsha Robbins, the woman behind Pitt’s Therapy Dog Tuesdays. Since 2003, the program has arranged for canines to visit campus to help stressed students find relief through animal affection. The dogs are specially trained to be calm and obedient.

In the ‘80s, Robbins (A&S ’92, EDUC ’94G) was studying psychology and education at Pitt. She would often overhear classmates pining for the company of their pets back home. “I thought, ‘Okay fine. Someday, I’m going to bring dogs here.’”

And she did. Every Tuesday night, owners trained through the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s College Canine Program volunteer to bring their certified, licensed therapy dogs to the Cathedral of Learning. As the director of the society’s Humane Education program, Robbins has trained many of the dogs herself. From 7 to 8 p.m., students, faculty, and staff can enjoy “puppy therapy,” as it has popularly become known.

But therapy isn’t just a flashy title, Robbins is quick to stress. There’s hard science at work here, she says. When humans interact with cute animals, she explains, our brains release “feel-good hormones”–serotonin and dopamine–which make us happy. “And you want to know what’s interesting?” she adds. “Those same hormones are produced in their bodies when we pet them.”

Therapy Dog Tuesdays made a summer debut just this year. “We figured there might not be enough students on campus to make it worthwhile coming,” Robbins says. But crowds turned up, just as they do during the school year.

Back in the Commons Room, a woman weighted down by a satchel of books shuffles toward a group of animals and their admirers. When she reaches them, she sets down her bag and takes a seat on the floor with a sigh. Before long, a schnauzer wearing a blue and gold bandana waddles over and puts his head in her lap. As she strokes his coat a smile broadens across her face. ν