Comfort dogs Brookie and Bear make appearance at Olin Wellness Day

It’s just another typical Friday at WashU Olin Business School: student gathered to study at tables in the atrium, staff members setting up a reception in Frick Forum, a couple of black Labrador mix puppies bouncing from lap to lap outside a second-floor classroom …

Wait … what?

Yeah, you read that correctly. Welcome to the first WashU Olin appearance of Brookie and Bear, a pair of rescued puppies trained as comfort dogs for the benefit of the entire WashU community. The Record shared their full story a few weeks ago. On Friday, the two adorable 14-week-old pooches were the featured guests for Olin Wellness Day, arranged by the graduate programs office to give students a respite.

The 2.5-hour event included mindfulness sessions, Wii video game activities, puzzles, coloring books and a Play-Doh sculpting contest. Oh, and all the exuberant tail-wagging you could possibly stand.

We also heard that Brookie (for Brookings Hall! Get it!) and Bear were asked to visit with the Board of Trustees, which met at Olin on Friday (March 3, 2023). The two pups are treated like WashU employees (they even have ID cards), working regular hours, with a fairly straightforward job description: Spread the cute, cultivate the calm.

And if you can’t get enough of them in person, don’t worry. They have an Instagram page.