Dogs Helping College Students Fight Exam Stress

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) -- Colleges are bringing in the dogs to calm down students during finals.

Tufts University near Boston is using playful, therapeutic Australian Shepherds as a way to ease stressful students who are preparing for final exams and may be entering a tough job market.

The Massachusetts school is joining a movement in offering quirky stress-fighting events for students facing final exam woes.

Brian Van Brunt, president of the American College Counseling Association, says more colleges are embracing alternative stress relievers from sponsoring late night yoga to oxygen bars.

For example, Ohio's Oberlin College, who also uses therapeutic dogs, allows students to dance for five minutes in the library during exam time. Harvey Mudd College in California is planning Tuesday to drop 10,000 rubber balls from a dorm roof to anxious students below.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)