Therapy dogs help students' wellbeing during exams

Therapy dogs Arthur and Grace have been brought in for sessions to help students during exam season

Therapy dogs have been invited onto a university campus in Devon for sessions to help with student wellbeing during the institution's exam period.

Two dogs, Arthur and Grace, from Bale's Buddies, have been brought into the University of Plymouth alongside their handlers to help uplift the students' spirits.

Student Ben Ellis, who is doing a PhD in marine biology at the university, said being able to spend time with a dog in downtime was "good for morale".

Jessica MacDonald, a wellbeing practitioner who works with Arthur the dog, said it was "so rewarding, so heart-warming" to see how happy the dogs made people.

Jessica MacDonald said the dogs brought happiness to the students

Ms MacDonald said: "Most of the time people come in and ... you just see such big smiles... because it's something so different, especially when you're in a setting like a school or a university - you're not expecting to see a companion."

She said the aim of therapy dogs was to "bring happiness".

"There's obviously so many other benefits, like stress reduction, improved overall mental health and wellbeing, and it also helps with other things like loneliness and isolation," Ms MacDonald added.

Mr Ellis said he was a dog person, adding he found the therapy dog sessions "comforting".

"I mean, they're so happy, so it rubs off on you," he added.

The dogs will be in the library at the university again for a session on Friday.

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].