High school students get visit from pets to help them de-stress

Marietta High School held its annual "Pet Your Stress Away Day," Tuesday.

Many pets were brought in by students and the rest were brought in by the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley.

"I feel like dogs are just calming and everybody loves dogs and we’ve been doing this for like three years now and we’ve seen good results," said Jillian Middleton, student, Marietta High School.

Research shows that there are many health benefits from pet companionship. Benefits include improving social skills, reducing stress, and decreasing blood pressure.

"Dogs are such a good de-stresser because they're there for you, they can tell your emotions, they know that 'okay my human's upset so I need to go over and calm them down' ," said Fredley Tynan, volunteer, Humane Society of the Ohio Valley. Or you can just pet them and you just know that they love you and they're there for you."

The group Students Solving Problems took the blood pressure of students before and after they pet the dogs and found that their blood pressure lowered once they pet the dogs.

Student solving problems is dedicated to raising awareness about the health benefits of companion pets and promoting animal adoption at local shelters.