Big Red Pawp Up | Counseling and Psychological Services

Pet a dog and de-stress. Certified therapy dog teams visit monthly at Love Library for students, faculty, and staff. Additional Pawp Ups will take place throughout the semester, so stay on the lookout!

Why you should visit our therapy dogs?

Dogs live in the present and can help us live in the "here & now" too!

stress relief & comfort
healthy distraction from academic stress
reduce loneliness & homesickness
boost your overall mood
build a sense of community

Community Partners

The therapy dog teams at Big Red Pawp Up events are certified and provided by:

Requests

We encourage all members of the campus community to join us for our free and recurring monthly Big Red Pawp Up events (see calendar below).

CAPS offers therapy dogs for UNL related events that are centered around mental health, suicide prevention, and student well-being. If you are interested in requesting therapy dogs to be present at an event, please complete the form below. We ask that this request is made as early as possible and no less than one month prior to the event to allow for planning purposes for the therapy dog teams.

If we are unable to accommodate and assist with coordination of your request, we will share information to local therapy dog organizations.

Request a Pawp Up

Upcoming Big Red Pawp Ups: Fall 2026

CITY CAMPUS

Love Library South

Peterson Room (LLS 221) | Wednesdays 12-1:30pm

September 9th

October 14th

November 11th

December 9th

INNOVATION CAMPUS

Nebraska Innovation Campus

1st Floor Link | 11:30-1 PM

December 10th

BRPU Request Form

Name: Required

Phone: Required

Email: Required

Affiliation to UNL: Required

Student

Faculty/Staff

Other…

Name of Event: Required

Event Description: Required

Date: Required

Please note we require at least one month's notice.

Time: Required

Location: Required

Expected number of attendees: Required

Intended audience (student, faculty/staff, all UNL community, public): Required

How many dogs would you like to have attend? Required

We may determine more or less dogs are needed for the event in some cases (number of expected people, goals of event, well-being of dogs).

How will having therapy dogs present support the goals of the event? Required

Do you have approval from the building or space coordinator for therapy dogs to be present? Required

Will parking be made available or reserved for the volunteer dog teams? If not, where do you recommend volunteers park for this event? Required

Big Red Pawp Ups are organized in compliance with the University Policy on the Use of Animals.

Hosted by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), University Libraries, and Department of Entomology.

HERO area