Police departments are adding comfort dogs to their ranks
GLASTONBURY — Connecticut Police Departments have long welcomed trained dogs into their work, but instead of sniffing out drugs, the Wolcott Police Department’s newest furry member is tasked with comforting citizens and officers, part of a growing state trend.
Mallard, a 7-month-old English Labrador retriever, was sworn into the Wolcott Police Department July 29. Mallard, joins approximately 14 other police comfort dogs in the state. His role with the department, for which he started training at 9 weeks old, is to support citizens and officers who have experienced a crisis or trauma, according to a Wolcott Police Department press release.
“I see the benefits every morning that he goes in there,” said Animal Control Officer Roz Nenninger, Mallard’s handler. “Every morning, every afternoon, every shift change, every stupid silly thing that he does that just puts a smile on everybody’s face.”
Since 2018, local police departments have been adding trained comfort dogs to their ranks, including those at Uconn, Groton, Yale University, Middletown, Naugatuck, Watertown, Hamden, New Haven, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Waterford, and soon Torrington.
Word has gotten out about Mallard and residents are reaping the benefits. A local child with severe ADHD was recently unable to return to summer camp, so, his mother contacted Nenninger. “Just by chance I was here ... and she’s like ‘is there any way I could bring him up so he could just spend a little bit of time with Mallard?’ And I’m like ‘yeah, by all means!’ ”
Wolcott Animal Control Officer Dana Natrillo said she could visibly see the child relax and that he became more talkative as he petted and played with Mallard. Nenninger said this interaction demonstrated the importance of comfort dogs in terms of mental health for residents of all ages and for officers themselves who regularly deal with high-stress situations.
Animal-assisted therapy is used to help ease anxiety, relieve stress and offer comfort and cheer. Mallard, who has already completed several American Kennel Club training programs, also improves police-community relations, Nenninger said.
“People will not approach as openly if you’re just standing there with a badge and patch on your shirt than if you have a dog,” she said. “People go up and say ‘can I pet him’... and it just opens the door. You can see the relaxation on people’s faces and it just starts normal conversations with people.”
When Mallard is not helping residents or officers at the police department, he’s assisting Nenninger at the pound. He has recently begun scent-work training to assist in finding lost persons, Nenninger said.
In early July, more than 25 therapy and service dog teams across New England gathered for a conference on comfort dogs in law enforcement arranged by the
Groton and Uconn police departments.
Uconn Sgt. Justin Cheney, who handles 5-year-old Tildy, said he hopes the conferences will become annual. “It was great to connect with other handlers and ... it was great to see support from other departments who are looking to start a facility dog, or service dog, or comfort dog program within their own department.”
Uconn Police Department, which started its program in 2018, has recruited two extensively trained “facility” dogs within its
team.
“They’re trained just like service dogs but instead of working just one-on-one with a client, they usually work with large groups of people or are trained to be able to be in large group settings,” Cheney explained.
The Groton Town Police Department was next to welcome its first police service dog, Mcdonald, in 2019, according to Yale Police Department Officer Rich Simons. The department’s current therapy dog, Chase, joined the team later; he lives
and works with Groton Officer Heather Mcclellan. Both canines, like several other police comfort dogs in the state, were donated by Puppies Behind Bars, a New Yorkbased nonprofit that trains prison inmates to raise service dogs.
“When I started 28 years ago, I used to bring my own personal dogs into work with me after hours to interact with the kids at school and staff members,” Simons said. “And I realized that [service/therapy] dogs were getting popular for helping bridge the gap with the community.”