--- title: Piglets Are Now Being Used to Combat Student Stress description: Nottingham Trent University has discovered the best way to ease tension during exams canonical: https://time.com/3901311/piglet-therapy/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-29T12:42:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:36.519Z og:title: Stressed Students Now Using Piglets to Calm Down og:description: Nottingham Trent University has found the best way to ease tension during exams og:url: https://time.com/3901311/piglet-therapy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stressed Students Now Using Piglets to Calm Down twitter:description: Nottingham Trent University has found the best way to ease tension during exams twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stressed Students Now Using Piglets to Calm Down > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4e2a8c49-d1ce-43ce-9ba7-4a57fe150a07&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet Boo. Is This the Internet's Cutest Dog? [Watch (HLS stream): Meet Boo. Is This the Internet's Cutest Dog?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6qldqUSm.m3u8) (1:34)  _Published 2011-09-12. Boo, a five-year-old Pomeranian with over 1.6 million followers on Facebook, has just released his first book_ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 29, 2015 12:42 PM UTC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley May 29, 2015 12:42 PM UTC Gone are the days when college students managed their anxiety by gorging themselves on bacon. Today’s university students would rather use [pigs](http://mashable.com/2015/05/28/piglets-exam-stress-students/) for cuddling. Students at Nottingham Trent University in the U.K. have organized an event for their peers to kick back and relax during exam season by spending a few minutes petting and playing with piglets, _Mashable_ reports. The organizers had a popular event last year featuring a puppy room to raise money for guide dogs. This year’s piglet room will raise funds for the same cause, and the seven piglets are joined by barnyard friends like two goats, a donkey and chickens. But most folks just seem excited about the #PigletRoom. > [](https://twitter.com/NTSU%5FPresident/status/603475400518410240) > [](https://twitter.com/NTSUvpEDUCATION/status/603497867144200192) \[[_Mashable_](http://mashable.com/2015/05/28/piglets-exam-stress-students/)\] ### Mini Horses and Toddler Friends May Be the Cutest Thing Ever Published in LIFE  3-year-old cover girl Cynthia West with Chauncey. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ronnie getting sized up. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ronnie stands uncomfortably with normal horse collar. He eats only four pounds of hay a day compared to 40 pounds for draft horse. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young girl with Chauncey the miniature horse. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Chauncey and 2 larger horses. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cedric being held by a trainer. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia riding Cedric. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia with two miniature horses at the Lilliput Ranch in California. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia showing some love for Cedric. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ronnie and the Great Pyrenees are taken for a walk. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ## Transcript [ CROSSTALK ] Boo is a 5 year old Pomeranian who became famous by having a Facebook page with photos of him. And is just become popular all over the world, with 1. 6 million. He's so cute. If you look at Boo's Facebook page. Because people, like, within an hour, of a picture being put up with very simple caption, people go crazy. They'll be like 10, 000 likes. Hundreds of comments within an hour. So we thought, that's what, people want. Just cute photos of Boo, and we decided to do a, a book and pitch it to his owner. And she liked it, they worked on the book together and it came together really quickly. We just have people from all over the world that always say he's the cutest dog they've ever seen, and where can they get a dog like him, what kind of dog is he? So we've deemed him the cutest dog in the world, and no one has come forward to deny it. This is the cutest dog I think I've ever seen. You are cute in an ugly way, or ugly in a cute way. He's very, very mellow. Super loving. Like he just wants to be with people, and be petted, and just be happy. Would you like a Boo button? Oh, I would like one. I get emails from people all the time that say like, they look at his page if they've had a bad day, or if they're feeling down and it cheers them up. And he is perfect for that. I'm gonna get all the ladies in this bar right here. The Boo barrel. I got the Boo bunny. 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