CALGARY - Bow Valley College (BVC) is set to host puppies from the Pacific Assistance Dog Society (PADS) from April 13-15, 2015.

The six PADS puppies and their trainers will come to BVC's South Campus for some supervised cuddle time with BVC students. College students will get to interact with the puppies and have some cuddle time over a three-day period next week.

These puppies are training in the PADS program to one day become guide dogs for persons with a physical disability or who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. These sessions are very important for the puppies as it teaches them to focus on their handler's instructions in the midst of large groups. The puppies also benefit from being introduced to new social settings and interactions with different people.

BVC students will also enjoy the opportunity to take a break from studying and writing their finals, to cuddle with the puppies. This fun activity helps students to decompress for a while, and then re-focus their energy on their studies.

"This time of year can be quite stressful for students because of exams and job hunting concerns, so the Student's Association of Bow Valley College (SABVC) and BVC is happy to provide this opportunity for students to relax and de-stress in a unique, fun way," says Jay Decore, General Manager, SABVC.

The event is part of BVC's Random Acts of Kindness to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Puppies and their hard working volunteers are being supplied by PADS.

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Editor's note:

The puppies will be at BVC April 13-15, 2015, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in room S1024. If you would like to come and film or photograph the puppies please call our Media Relations Officer listed below, so that she can get you into the room.

About Bow Valley College

Bow Valley College - Calgary and region's only Comprehensive Community College - with more than 15,000 full- and part-time students, is a leader in business and health career training, adult upgrading, and English Language Learning. BVC's Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES), workplace training for immigrant professionals and employment services provide a wide range of services for businesses and professionals. 

About PADS

PADS is a registered charity that breeds, raises, trains and places life-changing assistance dogs for people with disabilities (other than blindness) and to support those client/dog teams for the working life of the assistance dog.  Our dogs are trained to meet or exceed international standards as established by Assistance Dogs International.  PADS services all of Western Canada and relies entirely on fundraising, grants, and donations to finance the care and training of PADS' amazing dogs. PADS dogs are provided at no charge to our clients. For more information about PADS visit www.pads.ca