At Every Student Aberdeen, we’re thrilled to announce our new ongoing partnership with Yogi & Cindy Bears, a certified therapy‐dog team that will be visiting our student accommodations and offering services to our residents. Whether you’re struggling with exam stress, feeling isolated, or simply need something to brighten your day, the Bears and their handler, Norman, are here to help. Read on to learn more about these gentle giants, and how you can get involved in upcoming sessions.
Who Are Yogi & Cindy Bears?
Yogi and Cindy Bears are a team of Newfoundland dogs certified in:
- Water Rescue: Trained in safe water‐retrieval techniques, ready to assist in aquatic emergencies.
- Animal Assisted Activities (AAA): Engaging with people of all ages to promote well‐being.
- Therapy Dog Work: Providing comfort, companionship, and emotional support to those in need.
Alongside their owner, Norman, Yogi, Cindy, and their little sister Buttercup travel around Aberdeen, visiting schools, care homes, community centres, and now Every Student sites , to share their unique gifts and companionship!
They are able to aid in a variety of areas, including:
- Working with companies and staff to prevent falling into ill mental health
- Building self‐esteem
- Overcoming anxiety and building confidence
- Accessing the community and reducing social isolation
- Encouraging social interaction with others
- Assisting individuals with training assistant dogs
- Supporting physical mobility, such as fine and gross motor skills
- Helping to change unhelpful patterns of behaviour
The Story of Yogi & Cindy Bears
We sat down at the Old Fire Station with Norman to discuss the charity, and get to know him and the bears!
Q: Hi Norman! Can you tell us a little bit about Yogi & Cindy Bears and how the charity started?
‘Yogi & Cindy Bears are an assistance dog and water rescue team. We support people with complex needs, as well as people with physical and mental disabilities. The dogs are called Newfoundlands and they’re really chilled – they’re big furballs who love cuddles!
‘Yogi & Cindy Bears has been established for about 6 and a half years, but we have only had a charity status for about 3 months now. As swimmers (we are life guards and Rescue 3 accredited) we saw a niche in the market where something like swimming can be very therapeutic, and something like an assistance dog provides safety and support in that environment.
Now, we operate both as a water safety team and as assistance and pet therapy services for adults and children throughout a wide range of client groups.’
Q: That’s amazing! Can you introduce us to the dogs?
‘We have Buttercup, who is one year old and from Hungary. Cindy is three is and is from Belarus, and the big chap is called Yogi, and he is 6 and a half years old and from Poland.’
Q: What kind of training do the dogs have?
‘They’re all medically trained. Yogi is bio sensory, which means he can detect up to 30 minutes before a cardiac and epileptic seizure. He needs to spend some time with you to get to know you first.
Cindy works more with things like ADHD, PTSD and bipolar – she is more therapy based.
Buttercup is a puppy and still in training, but eventually she will be trained the same way as both Yogi and Cindy. She helps just by being herself – she’s quite a character!’
Q: Can you yell us more about how you can benefit our residents in Aberdeen?
‘We can offer something at Every Student that no other accommodation provider currently does. If you’re feeling depressed, or maybe homesick or stressed about exams, you can come down into a nice relaxed environment and pet the dogs, and chat with us – we won’t judge you but we are here to support. It could be something as simple as missing your dog back home and needing that kind of connection.
Along with organised sessions, we also offer support where you can contact us, say you’re having a bad day, and we can come and visit you with one of our volunteers and a dog as we have something called Right of Access. Sessions can be shaped around you, for example if you want to go for a walk in the park and talk things through or even just need some support to pop to the shops.
It’s great for families of students living away from home to know we have that kind of support in place for them.’
Q: What if students want to get involved but have allergies or sensory issues?
‘Because our dogs are assistance and they’re interacting with the public all the time, we keep them extremely clean. We have things like drool rags to clean them up, and they get groomed often. This means you don’t really have too much of an allergy problem with them.
When we go for walks, you don’t have to worry about bringing treats to feed them… or picking up poop! We bring everything that is needed and everything like that is managed by the charity.’
Q: If our students want to use your services, what do they need to do?
‘They just need to contact us and say look, I’m feeling a bit down, or whatever it may be, I would love to go for a walk or see the dogs.
Moving to university and away from home can be quite a big and sometimes traumatic change – it’s overwhelming. Something as simple as sitting with the dogs and petting them can be very calming, and our volunteers can listen to you and provide additional support.’
Q: How can dogs help with mental health issues specifically?
‘As humans, we are always prejudging somewhere along the line. You might even look at the dogs and say ‘oh my gosh, they’re huge!’. The difference is that a dog doesn’t do that. A dog’s task is simply to care about you no matter what.
Dogs don’t care whether you got a like on social media, if you’re popular or whether you’ve been in the gym – they just want to be loving towards you.
Dogs can give you a great sense of purpose – for example, it’s motivation to get out of bed to go on a walk because the dog simply need to pee!’
Why It Matters
Mental health – especially at university – can be fragile. Whether you’ve never really interacted with dogs or you’re already a huge “dog person,” these sessions are designed to lift your spirits, offer space away from your university workload, and provide you with support in a safe environment.
Upcoming Sessions & How to Get Involved
We will be running more drop-in sessions across all of our sites in Aberdeen, while also offering additional services mentioned to our residents. If you need help, are struggling with your mental health, or just need support, you can get in touch with the Yogi & Cindy Bears team, and you can also get in touch with your Every Student Team who can provide additional support and advice.
Got questions of your own or want to know more?
Feel free to drop us a line at marketing@everystudent.co.uk, and we’ll do our best to get you the answers you’re looking for. Otherwise, keep an eye on our social feeds for photos, updates, and behind‐the‐scenes stories from Yogi, Cindy, and Buttercup.
You can contact Yogi & Cindy Bears here:
