To Protect, Serve and Comfort

Last Wednesday, Doc and I stopped by a picnic at work, to celebrate those in recovery, when we ran into two of our special duty Columbus Police officers, Sergeant Johnson and Officer Rippey. They both watched me being raised from a puppy and Doc and I were more than happy to show off my new skills since I came home from training.

They exclaimed how calm I was acting and that I was listening much better to my commands. You know that the police force also uses dogs in their line of work, so they both knew what they were talking about. The police also use therapy dogs to provide calm and support for victims and witnesses, creating a sense of safety. The dogs help to build a bridge between officers and the community, just like I help Doc when patients are scared when they first come for treatment. The police also use trained K9 dogs to sniff out explosives, drugs, missing people, and fleeing suspects. It’s our nose that knows everything and helps to track things down. I can even tell when someone is feeling stressed, as I can smell cortisol, the stress hormone that excretes in your sweat. Like Doc always says,” You can’t fool a dog.”

Doc said she doesn’t think I would do a very good job on the K9 unit because I can’t stay that focused and would let the suspect go if they gave me a belly rub and a treat. Just like people, we are all good at different things.

After the officers admired my good behavior, we decided to take a photo together.  Officer Rippey and I thought we looked kind of gangster, but everyone said I am too cute and handsome to look gnarly, even if the two officers on either side looked like my bodyguards. Anyway, it’s always good to see out special duty police officers that help to keep the staff, patient’s and this therapy dog safe. We are very thankful for the work they do and are glad that they are part of our team.