When Casey Hof returns to her Yakeley Hall room after class, she doesn't have time to set down her bag before she's covered with sloppy kisses from Sara - her Yorkshire terrier.
Sara is a therapy dog approved to live in the dorms. She might be small and unable to communicate more than a few squeaky barks, but her keen sense of observation has helped Hof, a psychology and criminal justice senior, deal with an anxiety disorder and depression.
"She's really special. I call her my person with fur," Hof said. "If she feels that I'm anxious, she'll come lay by me and make me pet her, or if I've studied too long, she'll make me play with her."
While Hof talks about her, Sara gnaws determinedly on a green bone-shaped treat. Keeping the treat in her mouth, she moves comfortably around the dorm room, jumping onto the two corduroy bean bag chairs, jumping down again, then walking underneath the single bed.
When Hof playfully asks her, "What do you think of wolverines?", Sara responds with a throaty growl and several yaps. Hof grins proudly.
Sara, a 10-year-old dog, did not need special training to become a therapy dog - Sara just was a family pet.
"It's really a natural thing," Hof said. After a high school friend died in a car accident, Hof was diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder. She still attends counseling sessions and takes medication.
When she started at MSU, Sara stayed behind in Elkhart, Ind. For Hof, the anxiety got harder and harder to handle.
"Things would run through my head: 'Did I do this? Did I do that?' until I did them. Then they'd go away."
A self-described perfectionist, Hof had a 2.2 grade-point average her freshman year. Feeling like a failure, she said she tried other methods to cope with the stress. Her mother even suggested yoga.
"It just wasn't working," Hof said. "I was just way too anxious."
Bringing Sara to school was Hof's idea. She had registered with MSU's Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities the summer after her freshman year before she thought of bringing Sara. When she brought her idea to her specialist, they contacted the university. Hof was surprised at how easily they approved her plan.
She showed her doctor's letter and she signed a contract with University Housing agreeing to certain conditions that included keeping the dog on a leash in public, disposing of the waste properly and doing her best not to allow the dog to be disruptive. With that, Sara came to MSU the second semester of Hof's second year - about two years ago.
Since Sara's arrival, Hof said she has seen tremendous improvements in herself. Last semester, her GPA was a 3.5 and she said she is much less anxious.
"My stress level is about as normal as anybody else's," Hof said. "I freak out around finals time, just like everybody else, but it's a normal kind of stress."
Both University Housing and the resource center work together to regulate therapy animals on campus.
"If a student demonstrates a need, we would try to assist them. It's a case by case situation," said Angela Brown, director of University Housing. "If it appears that the service animal is negatively affecting the community, we would try and make changes."
Sara seems to have adjusted well to life at MSU. Hof referred to the dog as "the queen of the room."
Moving at the sound of a bag opening, Sara daintily leans her paws on Hof's lap to eat potato chips out of her hands. She greedily sniffs at the bag for more. Sara sleeps in the oversized bean bag chair when Hof is gone and loves watching squirrels from the window. There has yet to be an accident in the room, but Hof makes an effort to stop by between classes to let her out.
Floormates have not complained to Hof about Sara.
"I make more noise than she does," she said. Neighbors often come to say hello to Sara and relieve their stress.
Katie Schaefer lives across the hall from Hof and Sara. The journalism junior had not heard of animal therapy before, but was quickly convinced of Sara's value for Hof.
"I've seen her when she's had problems, and it's unbelievable what Sara can do. She's helped her a lot when she's had anxiety," Schaefer said.
The two will live together next year in an apartment and both can take advantage of Sara's intuitive sense.
"She noticed my stress and jumped on my lap." Schaefer said. "She's actually pretty good."
Evidence shows that animals can have positive effects on people, said Lana Kaiser, coordinator of the Human-Animal Bond Initiative, an MSU group focused on exploring the relationships between humans and animals.
Kaiser referred to research that shows pets can lower blood pressure and improve the lives of their owners. She added that dogs in particular can have anti-anxiety effects.
"Having a dog makes you feel loved. They have few or little expectations," Kaiser said. "They love you because you're you."
Students are at a big disadvantage in receiving the benefits of animals because they generally are not allowed to have pets in their dorms or apartments, Kaiser said.
"Interaction between humans and animals is a huge part of life in the United States," she said. "Students miss their pets."
Though some people might be concerned about the consequences a small living area could have on a dog, "it doesn't have to have a negative effect," said Bea VanKampen, an animal behaviorist at Animal Manners Plus in Williamston.
"Dogs are group animals. They don't like to be alone all the time," she said.
In case anything ever happens to Sara, an understudy, Lexie, is training for the task. Lexie, a 2-year-old yorkie, lives in Indiana with Hof's parents. Unlike Sara, she has taken special therapy dog classes and has a certificate proving her skills.
Certified or not, Hof loves having Sara and welcomes her friends to enjoy her also.
"I'm always telling people to share the wealth," Hof said. "Even though I have a disability and I need Sara, I'm very lucky to have her."
Elizabeth Piet is a State News intern. She can be reached at pieteliz@msu.edu.
