By Chase Wilson ’18

Due to a sharp increase in students visiting their counselors with stress-related issues, the Counseling Department has initiated a groundbreaking program to help these students alleviate their anxiety. Beginning fourth quarter, Puppies for Loving (PL) will make a litter of 10 golden retriever dogs available at Sherwood.

The puppies, born on March 1, will be looked after by volunteer students until they begin their duty. “The puppies we are raising are perfect,” said sophomore Judy Carlton, “I can’t wait to be able to share them with the rest of Sherwood.”

The program will make the puppies available to anxious students during lunch. Some are skeptical of the benefits of petting and playing with puppies, but the act has been proven to be therapeutic and may lower blood pressure and heart rate. Canines have been used for years to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Counselors hope that PL will help kids struggling with stress which, in turn, would decrease counselors’ workload. Not all are in favor welcoming the dogs to the school. “Everyone will come to pet the dogs, but once they leave who will clean up after the puppies?” wondered an anonymous building service worker. “We don’t have the time to constantly be replacing water bowls, cleaning up messes, and feeding these pups because we’ll want to play with them, too.”

In a poll taken after first semester to measure student interest in the program, 75 percent of surveyed students said that they would benefit from at least 15 minutes of puppy loving a day, while 55 percent said they would like more than 45 minutes. This overwhelming majority of students in the survey think the program will be beneficial, and some indicated that they believe students grades will improve.

Plans are currently in effect to establish a play area in one of the courtyards during lunch periods for interested students. Also, the Counseling Department and administration reportedly are discussing possible “pull out” sessions during the school day for especially stressed-out students to receive one-on-one attention with the puppies.