Therapy Dogs Help Students Feel Calmer Regardless of Petting Location

If you have ever visited a university therapy dog session, you will recognise the feeling: an anxious student takes a seat, reaches towards the dog, and their tense shoulders begin to relax. But what is actually responsible for that effect?

Is it the familiar scratch behind the ears as the dog gives you those irresistible puppy eyes? Or does the benefit come from gently stroking its back - the warmth, even breathing and softly wagging tail?

New research at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan campus offers a reassuringly straightforward answer.

For students seeking to feel calmer and reduce stress, it made no difference whether they stroked a therapy dog’s head, middle or rear. The important factor was simply interacting with the dog.

“This research builds upon a previous study that explored wellbeing outcomes associated with touch versus no touch during therapy dog interactions,” said lead author John-Tyler Binfet, a professor at UBC.

Testing therapy dog petting zones

The research team enlisted 198 students who volunteered for short, structured sessions with therapy dogs. Every student was randomly assigned to one of three therapy dog and handler pairings.

Students were not allowed to stroke the dogs in whichever way they chose. Instead, each participant was instructed to concentrate their touch on one designated area: the head, the middle of the body or the rear.

Sessions ran for 10 minutes, during which students were encouraged to pet the dog as often as they could.

The team also worked to standardise the conditions between sessions. Students sat on floor markers, while a consistent distance was maintained between the participant, handler and dog.

This was intended to ensure that the petting location was the key difference between groups, rather than the atmosphere in the room or the distance at which people were seated.

It may seem like a minor point, but it is important. To investigate a question as precise as “Does touching the head help more than touching the back?”, researchers must account for the most obvious variables.

Without doing so, they could instead be measuring which students met the calmest dog, had the warmest handler or happened to sit nearest.

Ten minutes made a difference

Following their sessions, students across all three groups said their emotional wellbeing had improved and their stress had fallen. Although the group that petted the dogs’ heads experienced a marginally greater benefit, the wider result was unmistakable: contact with any part of the dog was helpful.

This is a useful practical outcome. It indicates that therapy dog programmes do not need to tightly control every aspect of an interaction in order to work.

Students need not be concerned about petting a dog in the “right” way, while programme staff do not need to impose excessively rigid rules on hand placement, beyond what is suitable and comfortable for the animal.

It also aligns with what many people instinctively understand. The reassurance offered by therapy dogs tends to feel less like a technical treatment and more like a grounding pause.

It can appear in small details - a warm head pressing into your hand, an unhurried wag or a calm presence that makes the world seem slightly quieter and more manageable.

Touch may be the real ingredient

The study also supports previous research indicating that touch plays a role in animal-assisted support. Yet if touch is beneficial, could certain types of touch be more effective than others?

It is easy to see why that question might arise. Dogs encourage several forms of interaction. Their heads are expressive and social, involving eye contact, ears and facial expressions. Their middles offer a steady, rhythmic area to stroke, which can feel almost meditative.

The rear, by contrast, is often where a wagging tail and other physical signals of friendliness are most visible. It is understandable to ask whether any one of these areas has added psychological significance.

However, the findings suggest a more fundamental conclusion: students gain from the contact itself - the connection, tactile concentration and brief escape from whichever stressful thought cycle they had been caught in.

Accessible mental health moments

One major advantage of programmes like these is their accessibility. Many students are managing academic demands, financial worries, family problems, isolation and the general mental burden of being constantly “on”.

Formal mental health support remains essential, but it is not always available promptly, and some people may not yet feel prepared to speak about their difficulties.

“As students deal with academic and personal stress, easy-to-access wellbeing supports are more important than ever,” Binfet said. “Programs like B.A.R.K. [the Building Academic Retention Through K-9s] help create moments of care, connection, and calm.”

Ten minutes is not therapy in the clinical meaning of the word, nor is it intended to solve every problem in a person’s life. Rather, it can provide a brief reset at the moment it is most needed.

If the exact place students pet the dog is largely unimportant, these programmes become even simpler to deliver and easier for students to use.

Stroke the dog where it enjoys being touched, where you feel at ease and where it suits the situation, and stress relief is likely to follow.