Chobe, Maremma dog goes “to work” every day at the University of Padua, at the Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Ethology in the Agripolis campus. Assists, accompanies and does not lose sight of his human reference, Professor Paolo Mongillo, who teaches veterinary physiology and ethology on the Agripolis campus. CLike Chobe, also Reiko, Mustu, Rina, Achilles and other dogsspend their days with their humans at the University of Padua, about fifteen animals, between offices and laboratories, which are now a consolidated daily reality: they bring well-being, reduce stress, facilitate social dynamics. «Before it was just an accepted custom, now there is a regulation that allows it, dogs can stay in the Agripolis university complex with their owners – reveals Paolo Mongillo, professor of Veterinary Physiology and Ethology at Comparative Biomedicine -. Since 1999 there were professors who arrived at the university with their animals, but now the presence of dogs in the workplace is official and regulated».
Agripolis apripista
An experience in which The University of Padua is among the first in Italy, together with the University of Verona and the Iuav of Venice. And if in other departments, such as Pharmaceutical Sciences, it is a pleasant, accepted but unofficial custom, in Agripolis animals in the workplace are now an institutionally foreseen reality. «We thereLet’s work on dog behaviora research activity that until some time ago was also the excuse to have our dogs with us whenever we could – explains Professor Mongillo – . But Over the years we have worked to ensure that the presence was regulated so as to become a benefit for the whole community and not a problem for anyone.”
Benefit for two
But how does a dog’s day work “at work”? “We care that dogs are well – explains Mongillo – and certainly they are much better with their reference humans than at home alone all day. Obviously they are taken out three, four times a daythis is also a benefit for those who are with the dog, it stimulates movement, getting up from the chair, increases well-being”. The dog Chobe, an 11-year-old Maremma sheepdog, has practically grown up getting used to spending her days at work with her human. Like her, the others who arethey wag their tails between the studios and classrooms of Agripolisin a cheerful riot of different breeds, large and small, from the Maremma to the Cocker.
“There have never been any problems,” Mongillo points out. The Laboratory of Applied Ethology on the Agripolis campus is, in short, a happy placewhere university professors, researchers and animals coexist joyfully.
Kora and the human mother
At the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Padua, it is instead at home Kora, Margherita Morpurgo’s delightful fox terrier, associate professor of Pharmaceutical Technology. «Kora is a friend of everyone, from the doorman Paolo who keeps her special prizes which she is fond of, to students and graduate students who compete to cuddle her and take her for a walk – says Professor Morpurgo -. When someone is sad or stressed they come to Kora and immediately feel better. She is now considered the “therapist” of the Department”. At the University, Kora arrives cheerfully every morning with his human mother Margherita Morpurgo, he plays with a ball or other toys he brings from home, wanders around the corridors to greet researchers he knows. And when Professor Morpurgo is busy in class or in the laboratory, she waits for her crouched on the chair in her study. «Then, at lunchtime it’s a competition to take her out – reveals the teacher – she is happy to compete for everyone’s attention. Problems? Never. Kora does not approach anyone who is not happy to interact with her. And he has the extraordinary ability to reserve a special way for everyone to enter into a relationship, depending on the character of the people, he implements a different routine with great empathy, it depends on who he has in front of him.”
The others
But in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kora, she’s not the only one four legs that crossed that threshold, before her there was Lamù, a shiba dog. Benefits? «It’s positive for everyone – underlines Morpurgo – dogs at work reduce tension and anxiety, bringing well-being to the entire environment». And of course the dogs are also better off, alongside the humans of reference noThey don’t suffer from loneliness or abandonment syndrome.
