At this university in western Germany, a small dog is helping students cope with stress in their everyday lives. Spending time with animals has been shown to help people relax and concentrate.
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00:00What's this dog doing at school with stressed out students?
00:05This is my first semester and I don't know what to expect. That kind of stress is with you every day.
00:12I'm stressed. I hand in my bachelor's thesis soon and on top of that the global situation.
00:17I'm scared I'm not studying enough and keeping up with deadlines.
00:21That's where little Joe comes in. He's a trained educational support dog and he's quite good at his job.
00:29Students can book a study break with little Joe like Lorena Bayer did.
00:34Cuddling and playing with the dog helps relieve her stress.
00:37Lorena started her university studies just a few weeks ago in Koblenz.
00:42She's new to the city and the school.
00:47Recently I felt I was neglecting to take time for myself but there was nothing else to do.
00:54For now it's really nice just to focus on the dog.
00:58A South Korean study has shown spending time with a dog can actually reduce stress.
01:03Playing with and petting the dog stimulates the areas of the brain responsible for concentration and relaxation.
01:10And does it work?
01:12Doing things with him is a lot of fun and it's really calmed me down.
01:18Kerstin Heinrich is little Joe's owner.
01:21She started the study break project in Koblenz and says her dog benefits too.
01:26The dog relaxes too and he gets a treat now and then.
01:31It works because he's simply a dog that likes people.
01:35Kerstin would also like to offer Joe support to younger pupils.
01:39The feedback is too positive not to.
01:43A student told me she was working on her master's thesis and got stuck at a certain point.
01:49And she said after the study break with pause she wrote four pages.
01:55It seemed to have loosened up a knot somewhere.
01:58It's so nice that little Joe is such a big help but for now he's having a pause of his own.