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When Sara Chambers, the receptionist at Lewis & Clark Law School, saw how stressed many of the students became during finals, an idea popped into her head.

She let the dogs in.

Chambers proposed pet therapy for the students to Martha Spence, the law school鈥檚 associate dean for Academic Affairs and Admissions. Spence thought it was an excellent idea.

A former group leader for Guide Dogs for the Blind, Chambers had worked extensively with therapy dogs and knew their power to heal, calm and care for humans. She began bringing her own dog, a German Shepherd named Tex, to the law school when he was seven weeks old to train him as a therapy dog.

鈥淭ex was practically raised at the law school, and they were really great to let me train him here,鈥� Chambers says. 鈥淗e was kind of the unofficial ice-breaker and the ambassador for the pet therapy program.鈥�

Now nearly 10 years old, Tex has since retired (although he still comes to the law school for an occasional visit). The school鈥檚 pet therapy program is still going strong, however. The Delta Society, an international organization that certifies therapy dogs and trains handlers, provides a pair of dogs for the law school each year.

The current canine duo, a Portuguese water dog and a black Labrador retriever, walk to the school with their handler, who lives nearby. The handler has told Chambers that the dogs whine with excitement as the approach the school. Once inside with the students, though, they turn into seasoned professionals.

鈥淭here may be times when there are just a few students and other times they are surrounded by many students at the same time,鈥� Chambers says, noting the dogs remain calm and unflappable regardless of how many hands are petting them.

Final exams run for two weeks, and the dogs come in four or five times during that period. Each time, they stay for about an hour and a half. Chambers says she is talking with the Multnomah County Animal Shelter about bringing a puppy during the next round of finals.

Spence notes that it鈥檚 fitting for Lewis & Clark to have a pet therapy program given that the school is home to an internationally renowned Animal Law Program that is LLM certified.

Spence says she receives emails from several students each year thanking her for providing the pet therapy program.

鈥淪ome of the students have dogs, but others have left a dog at home and miss them,鈥� Spence says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice for them to be able to take a break from studying and just hang out with a dog for a while.鈥�