In need of some golden sunshine? Visit the Pride Center located on the first floor of the Student Experience Center on Tuesdays to meet Pumpkin, the therapy dog in the Pride Center.

Pumpkin is a 6-year-old Golden Retriever who has been working at the Pride Center every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for nearly a year.

Her owner, Elizabeth Kennedy, works here at Oregon State University as the director of Gender Based Prevention and collaborates with the Director of the Pride Center Cindy Konrad, who suggested Pumpkin come in.

Kennedy, who has had Pumpkin since she was six weeks old, calls Pumpkin a natural and a “love bug.”

“She really loves people and has since she was a baby. When I met her at six weeks, she came up to me and just laid in my lap, she’s always loved people,” said Kennedy.

As soon as you walk into the center, Pumpkin eagerly runs over and greets everyone with a tail wag and a lick hello. If you’re still not convinced to go visit this ray of sunshine, there are many benefits of petting dogs including an increase in serotonin and without judgment, according to Konrad.

“Mostly her job here is to provide love and companionship, non-judgmental love and support, she is just gonna love you however you show up everyday,” Kennedy said.

If you’re ever feeling down and in need of some puppy love, the Pride Center has just the solution for that, and so does Pumpkin.