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Dogs Help De-Stress North Central Students At Finals Time

Dogs Comfort Students At Finals Time

(CBS) -- Most college students hit the library as they get ready for finals, and some also get their faces licked.

Students at North Central College in Naperville have been visited by nine therapy dogs to help relieve stress during the "stretch run" of their academic year.

Ted Slowik, Director of PR and Media Relations at North Central, says it was the idea of a student who had a therapy dog during chemotherapy.

"She started doing research for her college scholars honors thesis about the benefits of therapy animals," he says. "This led to this partnership with Edward Hospital and bringing the dogs to campus that we've done for the last couple of years.

"Our students really enjoy the opportunity to pet the animals, play with the animals. Just the comfort of being around them helps alleviate the stress they're experiencing during this final week of classes."

Do students ever ask to keep their new friends?

"That hasn't happened yet," Slowik says, "but students who have animals at home just miss their own animals that much more."

About 200 students were expected to take advantage of the chance to interact with nine therapy dogs from Edward Hospital on Thursday.

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