Chief of Police John Schick invests some quality time with Joey, the department’s latest member and Peer Support K9. (Special to the Daily Record)
The latest member of the Cañon City Police Department was officially invited at the yearly Heroes Banquet on July 15. More than 200 guests beautified the Abbey’s reception room and the safety of Fremont County locals was enhanced by the CCPD’s latest addition.
However, the brand-new “officer” has 4 paws, a fluffy tail, and huge brown eyes.
Joey, a 1-year-old Standard Apricot Parti Poodle, formally signed up with the department in early June and was invited to the neighborhood as the department’s Peer Support K9 throughout the banquet. Though he’s been at the department less than 2 months, he has actually already begun to embody his function of fan, nurturer, and the foundation of the department.
“Police work is inherently stressful,” Chief of Police John Schick said. “The levels of vicarious and accumulative emotional trauma are regrettably significant and part of the officer’s daily landscape … Joey recognizes and responds to personal stress, offering himself as a release for our officers and others with nonjudgmental affection. [He’s] a safe space for the officers to let their guards down and just focus on reducing their levels of stress.”
Schick concerned the department in late 2020 and, though he came packed with concepts, among them was to achieve a well balanced Peer Support K9 for the improvement of officers and support staff. His hope lined up completely with the objective of Joe and Sandy Esposito, who arrange and host the yearly Heroes Banquet.
“I think that every service dog is a hero and every first responder and every veteran is a hero,” said Sandy. “We met John [Schick] and his beautiful wife at a dinner theater and we just hit it off and so we had a conversation and I asked, ‘Have you ever considered a support dog?’ and he said, ‘Yes but they’re too expensive’ so I asked if we could sponsor one.”
Service dogs and the important work they do are near and dear to the Espositos as Sandy went spontaneously blind in her sophomore year of college. Since that time, she has actually had various service dogs of her own and she and Joe have actually worked to sponsor and contribute 57 dogs to veterans, kids with specials needs, and everybody in between — and Joey is the latest addition to their great.
Certified peer assistance dogs like Joey can cost $50,000 since of the extreme training they go through and the Espositos rely mainly on occasions like the Heroes Banquet to money their work.
After getting in touch with Schick, the Espositos started looking for a fitness instructor that works particularly with first-responder and military-grade service dogs and discovered Rocky Mountain Service Dogs Project in September, based in Utah. Founded and run by 28-year police veteran Raelene Penman, the Espositos understood she would be an ideal suitable for the requirements of the department.
Originally, Penman started the search for a Golden Retriever puppy, however she discovered the ideal prospect in Joey, a young poodle, who had an apparent character for a peer assistance dog. Unlike previous years, the Espositos were entrusted with sponsoring a dog for a wide range of functions and relied on Penman in her option.
“It’s not just a dog for one person, it’s a dog for the community,” Sandy said. “For my husband and I, this is a ministry, it’s not just fundraising.”
Joey was called in honor of Joe’s boy, Joey, who passed away all of a sudden in 2017.
Joey’s handler and CCPD staff member Kathy Herrin, invested a week in Utah together with Penman in mid-June to learn how finest to utilize Joey’s several skills in the department and is already pleased with his combination into the organization.
“[He’s] very, very empathetic. When somebody is struggling he’ll go up to them and put his head on their knee,” Herrin said. “He’s trained to detect and be a comfort for anxiety and he’s also been trained to assist in panic attacks by administering deep pressure therapy.”
Joey has actually already passed the very first stage of the AKC Canine Good Citizen program and he will be evaluated in the staying stages as he continues to turn into an adult peer assistance dog. When not at the department with Herrin, he goes to Wal-Mart, church, and the gasoline station and triggers smiles anywhere he goes.
As his combination into the neighborhood likewise continues to establish, Schick and Herrin strategy to have him as the main ambassador of the department — which implies he’ll be anywhere and all over the neighborhood may require him. Whether that be at the yearly Shop with a Cop occasion or simply out and about, Joey will be a positive force for the department.
“We also hope to expand Joey’s training and capabilities to serve our community as a comfort dog for our crime victims,” included Schick. “The courtroom can be a daunting and scary place for some victims, particularly our younger victims, and Joey can help them in the courtroom when testifying.”
The possibilities to make use of Joey’s good nature are limitless and both the officers and support staff at the CCPD anticipate seeing what he can do to make the neighborhood more powerful.
“We had an active shooter false alarm at one of the elementary schools a couple of years ago, and I would’ve loved to have had Joey, once we realized that there wasn’t a problem, to just kind of hang out with the kids in the rooms just to make everybody a little bit more comfortable,” said Police Commander Tim Walsh. “If we were to have that happen today, one of the first calls would be to Kathy to bring Joey in.”
The CCPD is continuously working to keep Cañon City safe, whether it be on 2 legs or 4.
