ST. PETERSBURG — Jenny Jellin, a freshman at the University of South Carolina. Jaelyn, from St. Petersburg, Florida, sat in the front row during student orientation. A graduate of Wharton High School in Tampa, Jaelyn had never lived in a dorm and was nervous about meeting new people.
On a recent Thursday, as 200 other students trickled out of the lecture hall for a break, Jaelin sat, questions swirling in her head. Will people like me? Will I have any friends? What if people find me annoying?
Then she saw him.
The 62-pound, 2-year-old “Goldador” (a golden retriever-Labrador mix) cheerfully greets the other new students.
This is Snowbird, the newest recruit at USF St. Petersburg. Snowbird is the school’s first and only “institutional therapy dog,” trained to provide comfort, emotional support and therapeutic benefits to patients. He was sworn in by the school’s police department. In June, she joined Bailey, who works as a therapy dog on USF’s Tampa campus.
Jaelin didn’t hesitate to reach out to pet a snowbird that passed by with its owner.
“I normally don’t go near people, but when I saw that dog I was like, I don’t care anymore,” Jaelin said.
Getting students involved with people and events is just one of the benefits of therapy dogs like Snowbird, said Anita Sagar, director of the Wellness Center and Student Accessibility Services at USF St. Petersburg.
Research has shown that interacting with animals can lift your mood and calm you, and sitting with an animal can change a person’s focus and relieve stress.
It’s especially needed now, as college campuses across the country face a mental health crisis.
According to a national survey by the Healthy Minds Network, a research institute focused on adolescent and young adult mental health, 41% of college students in the 2022-23 academic year had symptoms of depression and 36% had symptoms of anxiety.
As a police dog, Snowbird is Students who have become accustomed For university life Students who feel stressed during exams, sometimes joining students who visit the wellness centre for counselling and victim support.
He also accompanies officers when they respond. Mental health emergency calls. Snowbird Police Chief Lt. Mark Rickenfeld said he’s seen a sharp increase in these types of calls since he took over in 2006, but especially in the past five years.
Rickenfeldt hopes Snowbirds will bridge the gap between students and police. He plans to move his office to a library or veterans center so Snowbirds can be closer to students.
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“If I can help just one person, that means everything,” he said.
Snowbird lives with Rickenfeld, who has wanted to be a police dog handler since he was in grade school.
In his office, a black Snowbird crate sits in the corner beneath an orange police vest hanging on the wall, tennis balls are piled high on a bookshelf, and a dog bone sits on the desk next to his computer.
On his belt he carries a gun, a taser, a walkie-talkie and a small black bag full of puppy treats. Mr. Rickenfeld, 51, envisions the two retiring together, which they both expect will happen in about 10 years.
As he walked around campus with his snowbird on Thursday, students he passed gasped in amazement, smiled and took selfies.
“Are you feeling stressed today?” Rickenfeld asked them.
“He’s gotten so much better since he’s been here,” one student told him.
Another student began researching how to register her dog as an emotional support animal and bring it with her to the dorms.
Belen Valdivieso, a freshman on campus working a summer job, said she had been looking forward to Snowbird’s arrival since she first heard about it in the fall. She said she misses her rescue dog, a half Yorkshire, half Shih Tzu, at home.
“We all need therapy dogs,” Student Services Librarian Emily Mann added, saying Snowbird’s presence is beneficial for faculty and staff as well.
Back in the auditorium, Rickenfeld explained to Jerin what a therapy dog is.
“Do you want him to hug you?” he asked.
Jaelin nodded. Snowbird crawled onto her lap. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Eventually, she felt ready to go out on her own and explore the club fare downstairs.
She had her eye on the school’s “Puppy Raisers” club, where students partner with a local nonprofit called Dogs Inc. to raise service dogs.
Now that she’s discovered Snowbirds, it’s a club she wants to join.