USF St. Petersburg’s newest mental health helper is a very good boy

ST. PETERSBURG — Jenny Gelin, an incoming first-year student at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, sat in the front row of student orientation. A graduate from Tampa’s Wharton High School, Gelin has never lived in a dorm and is nervous about meeting new people.

As the other 200 students trickled out of the auditorium for a break on a recent Thursday, Gelin stayed seated, questions swirling through her mind. Will everyone like me? Will I be able to make friends? What if they all think I’m annoying?

Then, she saw him.

A 62-pound, 2-year-old “goldador” — golden retriever and Labrador mix — eagerly greeting other incoming students.

That’s Snowbird, USF St. Petersburg’s newest employee. Snowbird is the school’s first and only “facility therapy dog” trained to provide comfort, emotional support and therapeutic benefits. He was sworn into the university’s police department in June, joining Bailey, a therapy K-9 at USF’s Tampa campus.

Gelin didn’t think twice about reaching out to pet Snowbird as he walked past with his handler.

“Usually, I don’t go up to people, but then I saw the dog,” Gelin said. “I was like, I don’t even care.”

Encouraging students to engage with people and events is just one benefit a comfort dog like Snowbird will bring, said Anita Sahgal, director of USF St. Petersburg’s Wellness Center and Student Accessibility Services.

She said research indicates exposure to animals elevates mood and makes people feel calmer. Sitting with an animal can shift people’s focus and help move them away from distress.

That’s especially needed now as college campuses across the nation face a mental health crisis.

Forty-one percent of college students had symptoms of depression and 36% had symptoms of anxiety disorder during the 2022-23 academic year, according to a national survey from the Healthy Minds Network, a research organization focused on adolescent and young adult mental health.

As a police dog, Snowbird will help students who are getting used to college life or are stressed during exams. He might sit in with students visiting the wellness center for counseling or victim advocacy.

He will also accompany officers when they respond to crisis calls related to mental health. Snowbird’s handler, Master Police Officer Mark Lickenfelt, said he’s seen a sharp rise in those types of calls since he started in 2006 — especially in the past five years.

Lickenfelt wants Snowbird to bridge the gap between students and law enforcement. He is going to move his office to the library or veterans center so Snowbird can be closer to students.

“If I can help one person, that’s all that matters,” he said.

Snowbird lives with Lickenfelt, who has wanted to be a K-9 handler since he was in elementary school. It shows.

Underneath the orange police vest hanging on his office wall is Snowbird’s black crate nestled in the corner. A pile of tennis balls sits on the bookshelf. A dog bone lies on his desk next to the computer.

On his belt, he carries his gun, Taser, radio — and a small black bag of puppy treats. Lickenfelt, 51, pictures the pair retiring together, a step he expects for both of them in around a decade.

As he walked Snowbird around campus Thursday, students he passed reacted with gasps. Smiles. Selfies.

“Are you guys stressing today?” Lickenfelt asked them.

“Now that he’s here, it’s a lot better,” one student told him.

Another started researching how to register their dog as an emotional support animal to bring to the dorms.

Belen Valdivieso, a rising junior who was on campus for a summer job, has been excited about Snowbird’s arrival since she first heard about him in the fall. She misses her dog at home, a half-Yorkie, half-shih tzu rescue.

“We all need a therapy dog,” added Emily Mann, a student services librarian who said Snowbird’s presence will be just as beneficial for faculty.

Back in the auditorium, Lickenfelt explained what a therapy dog was to Gelin.

“Do you want him to give you a hug?” he asked.

Gelin nodded. Snowbird crawled onto her lap. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths and calmed down. Eventually, she felt ready to head out on her own and explore a club fair downstairs.

She would keep her eyes peeled for the school’s Puppy Raisers club, where students partner with local nonprofit Dogs Inc. to raise service dogs.

It’s a club she knows she wants to join now that she’s met Snowbird.