To kick off finals week the Los Medanos College Library hosted a multitude of de-stress activities from puzzles, games and coloring. However, the biggest hit was the Hug Pack therapy dogs who visited the Pitsburg campus Tuesday, March 7 and stopped by the Brentwood Center Thursday, March 9. “I love it,” Student Rubi Ramirez said. “It’s perfect because who doesn’t love puppies?”
Kim Wentworth, librarian and event organizer said this is an annual event that returned after pausing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every time we do this event we try to change things up,” Wentworth said. “We did bingo this semester but did common threads last semester. The bingo is used to expose different services that the library has to offer.”
She knew the library wanted to bring this event back as there was a clear focus on students.
“Our favorite thing is seeing all the students’ faces,” Wentworth said. “They see ads around and some just walk in and their faces light up.”
The JoyBound People and Pet Alliance, which is based in Walnut Creek, provided three therapy dogs consisting of Dolce, a purebred golden retriever, Cosmo, a purebred white labrador, and Waggie, a purebred black labrador. Each of the dogs were accompanied by their owners.
Ralph Kapostins had Dolce for 3 years and said she attended five events similar to the Hug Pack hosted by LMC. Since he got Dolce, he knew her future was going to be in therapy because “any dog can be a therapy dog, with the proper training.”
“The training started when we bought her to be a therapy dog,” said Ralph adding, “She is a wellness therapy dog at colleges, high schools, hospices and hospitals and does an event every week or two.”
Chelsea Logan adopted Cosmo from a breeder of labradors. Cosmo happened to be the last of his litter and almost got adopted to be a hunting dog but was too sweet.
“I got him when he was only 10 weeks old and he is now about to be 3 years old,” said Chelsea.
Annika Foley got Waggie to become a guide dog. She trained him since he was a puppy and did service work with him. However, when he retired 4 years ago, she got him back and started taking him to wellness therapy events.
“I took him to my high school as a therapy dog. All the dogs come from the campus specially bred to be guide dogs,” said Annika. “I got him 6 years ago and he just turned 6.”
Annika Foley said her favorite thing about the event is watching how happy everyone gets seeing the dogs.
For many students going into finals week, it can be stressful. However many students found the Hug Pack event a good way to shift their focus from upcoming tests and projects to befriend therapy dogs.
“I like all the different options and different types of dogs,” Diana Gutierrez said. “I really can’t choose which one is my favorite.”
“They are so cute,” Alex Chaffee said. “Petting cute dogs is such a good way to relieve stress. Finals week is a stressful time for people and this allows their brains to have a little break.”
