Even at corporate conferences, it’s typical to offer snacks and beverages, perhaps even a happy hour, to give attendees a quick break from a long day of listening, learning and networking. But at the recently concluded Dell Technologies World, who literally let the dogs out?

“It is the most fun event to do because there’s so much technology and so much going on here,” said Alicia Halloran, therapy dog handler for Michael’s Angel Paws. “It’s so wonderful to have people come by and squeeze our dogs and make them feel at home, and think about and talk about their dogs. … They don’t have an opportunity to do that at the conference because they’re working.”

At the annual show, Halloran was eager to demonstrate the benefits of therapy dogs at corporate events. The dog handler spoke with Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at the Dell Technologies World event in Las Vegas.

The conference marks the second year in a row where dogs are in the spotlight, with Michael’s Angel Paws making a bow-wow type of approach to technology — by introducing therapy in the mix of cocktails, discussions and networking.

Dogs as stress relievers

Dogs can play a pivotal role in a person’s life, helping to reduce stress. According to a Virginia Commonwealth University study published in spring 2012, “employees who bring their dogs to work produced lower levels of the stress-causing hormone cortisol.” The study revealed that, as the workday went on, average stress level scores fell about 11 percent among workers who had brought their dogs to work, while they increased 70 percent for those who did not.

Halloran’s dogs Odie and Gracie had no comments on the research — they were too relaxed!

“You kind of figure out if your dog is good enough for it,” explained Halloran about the dogs going through therapy training. “That’s important — they have to want to do it.”

Interesting to note, Dell EMC’s Chief Executive Officer and founder Michael Dell made a donation to provide three scholarships through Michael’s Angel Paws program for three therapy dogs to focus on veterans’ assimilation, part of a broader effort to mitigate the woes of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“Those are dogs who are therapy dogs, and they will go everywhere with someone and really take care of them. It’s a beautiful donation and experience for the veterans to be able to have that,” Halloran said.

As the saying goes, a dog is man’s best friend.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Dell Technologies World 2018 event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE