work like a dog
Charlee
the Campus Comfort Dog By Nancy Dewar
It was a beautiful end-of-summer day when I had the pleasure of meeting Cal Cochran, an officer with the University of New Hampshire’s Police Department, and his sidekick Charlee, a one-year-old yellow Lab with a very important job. Students had returned to campus the previous week. As they approached me, Cal and Charlee were sidetracked by two female students. “Oh, can we pet your dog? She is adorable!” “Of course,” Cal exclaimed. “That’s her job.”
Charlee is an emotional therapy service dog. While many service dogs are responsible for sniffing out drugs, low insulin levels or physically assisting humans, Charlee’s primary responsibility is to provide comfort to students and faculty members as well as strengthen the bond between the police department and campus members. Her “job description” focuses on three key areas: community relations, mental health and victims of crime. And she certainly possesses the qualifications to do her job well…a loving heart, an endlessly wagging tail and a love for love-pats!
Nine police departments in New Hampshire currently have comfort dogs. Charlee is the university’s first, and she arrived on campus last February from Hero Pups, a Stratham-based non-profit that provides service dogs to veterans and first respondents. UNH Police Chief Paul Dean reached out to Laura Barker, Hero Pups founder, last summer to explore the possibility of getting a campus
Her “job description” focuses on three key areas: community relations, mental health and victims of crime. And she certainly possesses the qualifications to do her job well…a loving heart, an endlessly wagging tail and a love for love-pats!
20 seacoastbarkmagazine.com
