{"id":65333,"date":"2020-04-07T11:48:48","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T15:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=65333"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:44:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:44:43","slug":"therapy-dogs-virtual-cheer-instagram","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/therapy-dogs-virtual-cheer-instagram\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton University Therapy Dogs Offering Virtual Cheer on Instagram"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton University Therapy Dogs Offering Virtual Cheer on Instagram\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In mere days as a result of the pandemic, Carleton University\u2019s campus was emptied of students, faculty, staff and, well, dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton\u2019s Therapy Dogs<\/a> are no longer able to physically engage with students. But that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to their Instagram page, the dogs are now offering virtual joy to their fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bauer goes live today! He\u2019s excited to see all of you and hopes you are all staying safe and well!<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Carleton Therapy Dogs<\/a> (@cutherapydog) on Apr 2, 2020 at 9:09am PDT<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n

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With more than 2,600 followers, @cutherapydog<\/a> is posting live video streams and followers can set their notifications on to let them know when one of the dogs is on live on the story feature. The team is aiming for three to five live sessions each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Program lead Shannon Noonan decided to host virtual sessions in response to a flood of messages she received through the Instagram account and by email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe advantage we have using the technology is that a person does not have to be sitting watching live,\u201d says Noonan. \u201cThey can enjoy it at anytime after we post for 24 hours, so there\u2019s no worries there. Those who are lucky to be online when it goes live only adds to the excitement, and they begin messaging their friends when we go live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gillian Cook, a second-year student who moved out of residence and returned to her home on the outskirts of Erin, Ont., to finish the semester, loves the live sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe therapy dogs have been an incredible support for me throughout my time at Carleton, so I was very happy to learn that they would be doing virtual office hours that allow students to interact with them,\u201d says Cook.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAs somebody who frequents the dogs, the videos provide a sense of familiarity to this unprecedented situation. I also love how the videos can be watched later if you miss them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Keeping the Tradition Going<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Second-year Journalism student Miranda Caley has her notifications turned on for @cutherapydog and was surprised to get a notice that the account was going live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hopped on and saw Elroy<\/a> covered in stuffed animals and thought it was the cutest thing,\u2019\u2019 says Caley. \u201cI thought it was a really great idea to keep the weekly therapy dog tradition going while still practising social distancing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Without the familiarity of the physical classroom, check out @carleton_u tips to studying online to help you transition! https:\/\/students.carleton.ca\/2020\/03\/top-ten-tips-to-study-online\/<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Carleton Therapy Dogs<\/a> (@cutherapydog) on Mar 18, 2020 at 9:43am PDT<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n

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Assistant Registrar Karla Creech is Bauer\u2019s<\/a> owner and while she\u2019s currently on maternity leave, she eagerly signed on to take live videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I began this program, I was blown away by how amazing it is. The students love this program and truly some of them need it and base their days around getting to see the dogs,\u201d says Creech.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cAt Bauer’s last session in December before my maternity leave, one of the students said: `What am I going to do without him here?\u2019 It really struck my heart. I know he is my personal dog, but now he is truly a part of the Carleton community and I realized that some of his regular visitors were genuinely going to miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIf putting my dog on camera for a little bit can bring a smile to even one student\u2019s face, its all worth it,\u201d says Creech. \u201cSome of our students are so connected to these dogs that just seeing their faces can lift their spirits and, in a time like this, we all need a little spirit lifting!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Student Services Staff Joining Sessions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Moose\u2019s<\/a> owner, Tracey Saxton, is a financial aid administrator and was eager to join in after hearing about the concept from Noonan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the prime situation where the therapy dog program provides a break from the stress and anxiety being felt by everyone; students and the dogs handlers included,\u201d says Saxton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Murphy is staying healthy indoors! Make sure to catch him tomorrow in his live session! #virtualofficehours @murphthedog<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Carleton Therapy Dogs<\/a> (@cutherapydog) on Mar 29, 2020 at 4:57pm PDT<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cMoose participated in his first Instagram Live and it was truly amazing and refreshing. I was unsure of what to expect, but the moment we signed on the engagement was overwhelming. We received many comments of: `this is just what I needed right now,\u2019 and `please keep doing this.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen we finished the session, I myself felt a sense of rejuvenation. I hope by continuing to do these videos, we can bring a sense of normalcy to this unusual situation we all find ourselves in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Starting April 6, new elements will be added to the Instagram Live Stories as Student Services staff join the dogs during their live sessions. Followers will see a split screen with our canine friends romping around while staff answer questions posed from viewers and provide general information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zak has been studying hard for his \u201clive\u201d session today. Stay tuned for his virtual office hours, they are sure to impress!<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Carleton Therapy Dogs<\/a> (@cutherapydog) on Mar 31, 2020 at 6:40am PDT<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In mere days as a result of the pandemic, Carleton University\u2019s campus was emptied of students, faculty, staff and, well, dogs. Carleton\u2019s Therapy Dogs are no longer able to physically engage with students. But that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t around. Thanks to their Instagram page, the dogs are now offering virtual joy to their fans. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":65405,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,25],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-65333","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-student-experience"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/65333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/65333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98545,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/65333\/revisions\/98545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=65333"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=65333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}