{"id":73663,"date":"2025-01-13T10:54:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T17:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=73663"},"modified":"2025-01-13T10:54:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T17:54:55","slug":"dog-days-spring-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/dog-days-spring-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dog Days, NAU\u2019s beloved cuddle therapy initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every Tuesday, students have <\/span>an<\/span> opportunity to bond with <\/span>four-legged fuzzballs at<\/span> Dog Days, hosted by the <\/span><\/span>Lumberjack CARE Center<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Below, <\/span><\/span>Natalia <\/span>Bonsell<\/span><\/span><\/strong> of the CARE Center <\/span>gives us a glimpse into<\/span> how th<\/span>is tail-wagging <\/span>good time<\/span> got started, <\/span>why students love it<\/span> and when Lumberjacks can <\/span>join the furry fun<\/span> in the <\/span>Spring 2025<\/span> semester.<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Born out of the experience of Lumberjack CARE Center case managers and semiannual pet events hosted by <\/span>NAU Health Promotion<\/span><\/a>, Dog Days is a no-strings-attached place where students can relax, connect and recover from the challenges they may be navigating in school or life.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly Reber<\/span><\/b>, assistant director of the Lumberjack CARE Center, shared some insight into how Dog Days got started: \u201cSome years ago, we noticed that even with all the support and resources available, something was still missing. We wanted to create something gentle and comforting\u2014a little spark of therapy and ease that could lighten hearts without adding to the load. This is how Dog Days came to be.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"woman<\/a>In a recent survey, students shared that they miss their dogs from home. Interacting with the therapy dogs helps them feel happy and supported. One Dog Days attendee shared, \u201cI have been very stressed lately. The second I walked in today, a dog came right up to me and basically collapsed in my lap. It is the happiest I have been in weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The therapy dogs and their human handlers are part of Pet Partners, a national<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>organization that knows deep and meaningful partnerships are essential for building a happier and healthier world. The organization\u2019s mission is to improve human health and well-being through the human-animal bond. Pet Partners is continuously evolving to meet the diverse needs of global communities with innovative programming, activities and educational opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several therapy teams in the Flagstaff area participate in Dog Days on a regular basis, including Hiram and his handler Randi; Milo and his handler Kat; and Savannah and her handler Liz. These therapy teams share a deep, innate connection, and through this human-animal bond, they improve the physical, social and emotional lives of NAU students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"woman<\/a>
Natalia Bonsell of the CARE Center gave a special shoutout to Milo and his dog mom, Kat Sanchez (left), for her \u201cincredible work to continue to grow CARE Center\u2019s program and support individuals across the Flagstaff community. Kat has a special heart that pairs perfectly with Milo\u2019s loving puppy skills.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Dog Days is one of our favorite therapy visits Savannah and I participate in,\u201d said Pet Partners handler Liz. \u201cSavannah adores the students and loves their enthusiasm. Being a registered Pet Partners therapy team allows Savannah and me to contribute and support our Flagstaff community.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And as one Dog Days attendee added: \u201c\u2026the dogs brought me great joy. I love Milo and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Savannah with all my heart.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall results show Dog Days has been effective in uplifting and relaxing the student population. One student wrapped up many of our sentiments when they said, \u201cDog Days is amazing!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to Pet Partners, case manager <\/span>Rachael Shapiro<\/span><\/b> and student worker <\/span>Suhani Singh<\/span><\/b>, the CARE Center will continue this event from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at the Lumberjack CARE Center on the following Tuesdays this semester:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jan. 14<\/span>
\n<\/span>Jan. 21<\/span>
\n<\/span>Jan. 28\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>Feb. 4<\/span>
\n<\/span>Feb. 11<\/span>
\n<\/span>Feb. 18\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>Feb. 25<\/span>
\n<\/span>March 18<\/span>
\n<\/span>March 25<\/span>
\n<\/span>April 1<\/span>
\n<\/span>April 8<\/span>
\n<\/span>April 15<\/span>
\n<\/span>April 29\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every Tuesday, students have an opportunity to bond with four-legged fuzzballs at Dog Days, hosted by the Lumberjack CARE Center. Below, Natalia Bonsell of the CARE Center gives us a glimpse into how this tail-wagging good time got started, why students love it and when Lumberjacks can join the furry fun in the Spring 2025…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":73667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happenings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}