Pets help students relax for final exams

As his 5-month-old Siberian husky puppy, Kina, ran around the tennis courts across from Briscoe Quad, junior Brian Robinson chilled with Gatsby, a black-coated retriever mix who seemed to be content with lying around and being petted.\n“This is the state I want to put (Kina) in for the afternoon so I can get some peace,” Robinson laughed. “She likes to be in the center of what’s going on.”\nGatsby, Kina and other dogs had their run of the tennis courts Sunday afternoon for Revitalizing Animal Well-Being’s annual “Furry Finals Fix,” where students and Bloomington residents could play with the animals and relax.\n“We’ve gotten a really good mix of dogs today, dogs of all different temperaments,” said graduate student Deborah Strickland, as she hung out with Abby, a golden retriever/standard poodle mix. Strickland is co-founder and co-president of RAW with fellow student Courtney Wennerstrom.\n“The fur is literally flying,” Strickland added with a laugh as a tuft of fur floated past from Kodiac, a woolly husky.\nThe weather was a positive factor for the event, said doctoral candidate Kara Kendall, RAW’s community outreach coordinator. Kendall estimated nine or 10 dogs had shown up during the day.\n“The dogs have had a ton of energy and now they’re ready to lay still and cuddle with people,” Kendall said at about 2:30 p.m.\nSome students, such as freshmen Lauren Leibel and Elizabeth Drake, took the opportunity to study for finals.\n“I feel like they’re helping because there are those little breaks to go pet a dog,” Drake said.\nBoth are students in Wennerstrom’s freshman English class and said Wennerstom’s dogs, Kodiac and a hound named Maddie, are a common fixture.\n“She brings the dogs to our study sessions,” Leibel said.\nWennerstrom’s pooches like to attend classes as well, the freshmen said, which adds to a more relaxed environment.\n“It’s nice because they just kind of wander around the room,” Drake said.\nMaddie did not seem to enjoy being confined to the tennis courts, making a break across the street at one point. She made it to Briscoe Quad before being caught, leashed and led back to the courts, her doggy smile never leaving her face.\n“She’s notorious for being an escape (artist),” Kendall said with a laugh.\nRAW also handed out information from the Humane Society of the United States to spread awareness about puppy mills.\n“So many people don’t know just how awful the treatment is,” Strickland said, explaining that most pet stores get their dogs from “mills,” where dogs usually spend their lives in cages too small to turn around in.\nDespite the subject matter, the atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.\n“Thank you for playing with my dog,” Robinson said to the group as he and Kina made their exit.