Arteta's idea to remove "stress" from Arsenal players: a dog inside the locker room

“She's beautiful!”, “Oh! I'm joining Arsenal right now”, “dogs are really incredible” and so on a million comments and affectionate emoticons. A few weeks ago, in 'X', the house of hate, Arsenal published the official photo of this season's team and it was all love. Because? Because in front of the players and the coach, the Spanish Mikel Arteta, was 'Win', the Labrador retriever who has accompanied the team since last spring.

At Arteta's own request, 'Win' lives in the sports city of London Colney, north of London, so that players like Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale or Bukayo Saka can “develop a family atmosphere among themselves” and “reduce their level of stress”, according to the technician. The idea seems brilliant. A recent study from the University of Lincoln, precisely in the United Kingdom, showed that levels of cortisol – the stress hormone – dropped considerably in adolescents who attended dog therapy even when they had only completed one or two sessions.. But there is a but. Or a few.

“The relationship with dogs is very romanticized. The mere presence of a dog does not create an effect. It seems easy, 'I put a dog in a locker room and the atmosphere relaxes', but it doesn't work like that. The dog is a tool to work on objectives in a different way, there must be a professional behind it, the results must be evaluated and you have to think about the health of the animal,” explains Mireia Bosch, psychologist, director of Entrelazadogs and coordinator of the master's degree in Assisted Therapy. with animals from the Higher Institute of Psychological Studies (ISEP) of Barcelona. Although the best-known therapies with animals are accompanying horses or dogs to elderly people or minors with autism, for years they have also been used for 'business coaching' and group management, the branch that Arsenal is now discovering.

Win, on his throne. THE WORLD

According to Bosch, in these cases, “the aim is to break with hierarchies and relax the environment.”. In the eyes of a dog there is no coach, no captains, there are no ranks and furthermore a player should not always appear strong, I can be as I am. “That's very useful in a locker room.”. “The problem is that in the case of Arsenal it does not seem that there is a professional to conduct these sessions,” says Bosch and he is right.

Based on the information provided by Arsenal, Arteta chose 'Win' herself as the team's mascot and she “lives with a member of the London Colney staff”. In fact, since the goodbye of David Priestley, who was at the club since 2014 until the arrival of the Spanish coach, the official team has not made public whether or not it works with a therapist.. “We always talk about being a family and being united. I really feel like we are a family and we needed a mascot to represent that. I chose Win carefully and, in my opinion, she is the perfect representative of who we are now. His name is Win and he needs a lot of love: to win you always need a lot of love,” Arteta commented to the Gunner website in May.

“It is a problem if there really is no professional in charge. To reduce stress in a group, continuous sessions must be organized in which the dog is the protagonist, even if it does not have an active role.. It shouldn't be a circus, an entertainment, you have to know what each moment demands,” analyzes Bosch with a final concern: Who takes care of Win?

“Win must have his breaks”

“It is possibly the most delicate matter. A Labrador is probably very calm, but she will still need a guide to help her.. You must have your breaks, your unloading walks, a protocol to de-stress…. In a post-match, for example, you experience really powerful things and any dog is a channeler of emotions.. I have seen animals with epileptic seizures from working long hours with many people, animals with diarrhea after an argument or an episode of tension…. The initiative of incorporating a dog into a sports locker room is super interesting, very cool programs are being made in many areas, but it has to be done well,” concludes Bosch, who calls for an exercise of responsibility

“She's beautiful!”, “Oh! I'm joining Arsenal right now”, “the dogs are really incredible”, read in 'X' under the official Arsenal photo this season with Win at the helm and it was all love, but there are a few buts.