Callum Kerr

With “Paws Against Stress” – an initiative set up by the Student Association of UWS – visiting the Ayr campus today, UWS Newsroom caught up with Therapet Accessor Linda Whitby.

The initiative sees ‘Therapets’ visit the campus offering an opportunity for students to de-stress during hectic parts of the academic calendar.

Linda outlined some of the criteria dogs must pass before being considered ‘Therapets’ and being used for therapeutic purposes: ” (They) must come forward to greet me. This means it is friendly and it wants to help people. It must not back off and it must not bark and the main thing is it must not jump up – that is very important…

“They must be able to withstand a fair amount of noise, metal noise, the jangling of keys… those sort of things.

“It must be able to take a titbit (treat) from me without snatching and not biting, as one nearly did, but luckily I have quick reactions”.

Linda thoroughly believes events such as “Paws Against Stress” are beneficial to students during busy exam periods: “It is very effective. It calms them down and gives them something else to think about.

“It brings back memories of dogs they’ve had or dogs at home, maybe they are missing them, but at least they have a dog to stroke”.

Students at the Paisley campus will be able visit their furry friends when “Paws Against Stress” visit tomorrow. They will be situated in room P114 between 11.00 and 13.00.