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The Dogs Behind the Therapy
By: Samantha Laughlin
Liberty University brings in therapy dogs as part of their De-Stress Central week during final exams.
The two therapy dogs were available for students to come and pet or play with on Thursday, May 5 from 2-4 p.m. in the lower esbenshade atrium of the Jerry Falwell Library.
There were two trained dogs, Darla, 4, a mixed breed and Dandy, 10, a poodle. Both dogs frequently offer their services at places like Runk & Pratt, Lynchburg General Hospital, and even Dearington Elementary School. When the two owners got the email from Liberty University asking if they could bring their dogs, they both felt that it was not out of the ordinary.
“Every Monday the kids (at Dearington) read to him (Dandy), they become better readers and they find a friend in him,” MaryAnn Eustis, owner of Dandy, said.
Eustis believes that Dandy brings relief to stressed college students during finals because Dandy brings a smile to people’s faces, and she reports that it is hard to be tense when smiling.
“It lowers your blood pressure to pet a dog,” Eustis said.
Several students were in and out of the lower atrium to take pictures of the dogs, pet them, and watch them show off their tricks. Several students stood around to watch Dandy stand on his hind legs for his owner. Both dogs were very calm even with crowds gathered around them.
According to Darla’s owner Lisa Billingsly, it took 40 weeks total of training from Therapy Dogs International in Boonsboro for Darla to become a therapy dog. The training includes 8 weeks of obedience training, 8 more weeks of a higher level of obedience training and then 4 weeks of therapy dog training.
Both owners agreed that it was not a hard decision to choose to put their dogs through the therapy training.
“I felt like it was something that was important to him (Dandy) to be a therapy dog, he loves people,” Eustis said.
Eustis explains that she started Dandy in training when he was just 8 months old.
“We started sharing Darla with others because she brought our autistic son therapy and now she brings others therapy too,” Billingsly said.
Darla’s training started primarily in an effort to bring joy to Billingsly’s son.
“She helps others because she just makes them smile, she brings a lot of happiness and joy,” Billingsly said.
Several students’ true joy was captured by a professional photographer at the event.
The dogs were very friendly with each student that came. Both owners reported that neither one of the dogs had ever had an incident with biting or being aggressive. Therapy dogs have been invited to Liberty several times before during final exam weeks.
The dogs were just a part of a full week of events from May 4-10 to help relieve stress during the time of finals. There will be another session of therapy dogs held at the same time and place on May 6. Other de-stress events include but are not limited to massage chairs, face painting, and even more dogs.
Word count: 518
Web Version
The Dogs Behind the Therapy
By: Samantha Laughlin
Liberty University brings in therapy dogs as part of their De-Stress Central week during final exams.
The two therapy dogs were available for students to come and pet or play with on Thursday, May 5 from 2-4 p.m. in the lower esbenshade atrium of the Jerry Falwell Library.
There were two trained dogs, Darla, 4, a mixed breed and Dandy, 10, a poodle. Both dogs frequently offer their services at places like Runk & Pratt, Lynchburg General Hospital, and even Dearington Elementary School.
“Every Monday the kids (at Dearington) read to him (Dandy), they become better readers and they find a friend in him,” MaryAnn Eustis, owner of Dandy, said.
Eustis believes that Dandy brings relief to stressed college students during finals because Dandy brings a smile to people’s faces, and she reports that it is hard to be tense when smiling.
“It lowers your blood pressure to pet a dog,” Eustis said.
According to Darla’s owner Lisa Billingsly became a therapy dog from Therapy Dogs International in Boonsboro for Darla
- It took 40 weeks total of training
- 8 weeks of obedience training
- 8 more weeks of a higher level of obedience training
- 4 weeks of therapy dog training
Both owners agreed that it was not a hard decision to choose to put their dogs through the therapy training.
“I felt like it was something that was important to him (Dandy) to be a therapy dog, he loves people,” Eustis said.
Eustis explains that she started Dandy in training when he was just 8 months old.
“We started sharing Darla with others because she brought our autistic son therapy and now she brings others therapy too,” Billingsly said.
Darla’s training started primarily in an effort to bring joy to Billingsly’s son.
“She helps others because she just makes them smile, she brings a lot of happiness and joy,” Billingsly said.
The dogs were just a part of a full week of events from May 4-10 to help relieve stress during the time of finals. There will be another session of therapy dogs held at the same time and place on May 6. Other de-stress events include but are not limited to massage chairs, face painting, and even more dogs.
Word count: 377
Liberty Example Paper 