How to De-stress with Dogs and Cats

Missing your pets back home? Here are 3 ways to get your fill while at school.

Dreaming of doggoes

Having a pet while you're a student can be tough, and if you live in student housing, probably impossible. Still, many studies have shown the benefits to wellbeing that come with interacting with our furry friends. No surprise that therapy dogs have become a big hit on campuses.

Carleton University, for example, has a great program where faculty volunteers bring in their beloved pets to soak up affection from stressed out students. Each pooch has a profile so you can learn more about your faves!

Check out the Student Services office at your school to find out if they have a program like Carleton's. If not, though, don't worry! There are still plenty of ways to get your daily dose of dog:

Explore video streams

There are hundreds of livestream webcams at shelters and kennels that feature happy dogs and cats going about their business, often in cuddly piles you'll want to jump right into. Whether it's puppies, kittens, older dogs, or even bald eagles, sites like Explore.org have got more dog and cat videos than you can watch!

Okay, you've read this far, time for a quick sample:

Adopt a digital pet

Digital pet ownership has been a thing since Tamagotchi went worldwide, but the experience today has never been richer. Sites like Furry-Paws.com offer free digital doggoes that you can raise, train, and level up, featuring hundreds of breeds with realistic art. Set your dogs up with stylish collars, toys and more! (You cat lovers can try a site like CryptoKitties.)

Visit a dog or cat café

Cafés where you can grab a coffee while playing with an animal are springing up all over Canada. Le Doggy Café in Montréal, Regal Cat Café in Calgary, TOT: The Cat Café in Toronto, and many others are changing the way we get our caffeine. Not only can you pet the dogs and cats, lots of cafés serve as satellite adoption agencies to help place their animals in forever homes.

Bonus: Reach out to St John's Ambulance

St. John's Ambulance was ahead of the trend when they started a therapy dog pilot project way back in 1992. They now have more than 3,300 teams all over the country, visiting seniors' homes, universities and more. Talk to your campus admin about setting up a therapy dog encounter, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to have some furry visitors to your school.

Now go pet some animals already!

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