The Information Lobby in the Fondren Library Center was humming with the “Oohs” and “Awws” of students getting cozy with pups during the annual Paws and Take a Break event hosted by the A-LEC Monday afternoon. A fenced off area in the back of the lobby corralled a handful of registered therapy dogs and their owners from Paws Across Texas, a non-profit organization that focuses on animal-assisted therapy.

“The dogs come from all walks of life,” said Virginia, one of the volunteers at the event. “Some are rescues, some are show dogs, some are our own pets.”

The canines of Paws Across Texas are trained to be particularly obedient, friendly, and of course, house-broken. It was evident by the swarms of students showing these cuddly creatures affection that they were pros at being comfortable and kind around strangers. And on the receiving end, you could see the stress disappear from students’ faces as they cooed “Awww, who’s a good boy!” at the various dogs.

To be able to de-stress people by simply being cute and huggable? Now that sounds like the dream.