Its purpose is to help teach veterinary students how to perfect the practice of acupuncture on dogs.

Dr. Narda Robinson, CSU's Shipley Complementary and Alternative Medicine chair, says acupuncture on animals is a growing field.

"We can improve our clinical outcomes for treatments like arthritis," Robinson said.

However, while teaching acupuncture, Robinson says the plastic models she uses don't give the students a real feel of where the needle should go. So Robinson turned to CSU engineering students.

"And I said, 'Can you build us a dog?'" Robinson said.

The students went to work.

The mechanical engineers first created a fake, yet anatomically accurate, head of a Labrador retriever. The electrical and computer engineers matched that with a virtual image of the same head.

One intended result is to be able to move a special stylus over the dog and see a dot glide along the same spot in the virtual image. The students can then pinpoint the right spot for the needle.

"With SimPooch we can reproduce the feel," Robinson said.

Once the kinks in the technology are worked out, Robinson expects it to drastically change how animal acupuncture is taught.

"We don't need to put animals through certain stressful procedures," she said.

Robinson says there are plans to build the rest of SimPooch. After all, there are acupuncture points throughout a dog's body.