work like a 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

pup. “Our Chief is big on mental health and knew how successful other comfort programs have been,” Cal said. The department was promised one of two dogs, a girl and a boy. So, when they had students at the Child Development Center select names, they had to be non-gender specific. They came up with three – Charlee, Harley and Bailey – and Charlee won. Cal was also a winner, as he applied and was selected to be the dog’s handler.

Charlee lives with Cal and his rescue dog Roscoe, and they are together 24/7. In addition to his standard professional duties, Cal schedules events for Charlee to attend such as dorm visits and a variety of others. “Charlee is an awesome way for us to bridge the gap. We are here for the students to keep them safe, and she makes us way more approachable.” Charlee is a natural when it comes to community relations and PR! She also is an expert when it comes to reducing anxiety, which is common among new students and more prevalent now with COVID. “When the freshman arrive, everything is all new; and they are excited to see a dog. The relationship between dogs and people is one you can’t describe in words,” Cal said from the heart.

Charlee also is an enormous ice breaker in dealing with victims of crime. When a victim calls for help, they are very vulnerable. Cal explained how Charlee helps ease these difficult situations. “When a 6-foot tall male walks in the room to get them to open up, it’s not that easy. We see people in the worst moment of their life, and those first moments can make or break the healing process. Charlee immediately bridges the gap and turns it into a positive interaction. I don’t have to work as hard anymore to get them to talk.” Interactions with the police can be frightening. Add a dog to the mix, and it is much less confrontational.

Exploring police interaction more with Cal was interesting. I laughed when he told me, “Even I, when I’m off duty, get a bit nervous when I see a cop. I’ve had people tell me that they never thought of a policeman as a regular person until they met Charlee; and we just started talking about dogs.” Charlee also plays an important role in making the police more approachable. “The kids think OMG there’s a dog in the car, and they come over to us just to say hi.”

In Charlee’s first six months on the job, she’s had over 2,000 interactions with students and the community. That’s pretty darn good considering the campus was shut down for months due to COVID. This summer the town of Durham had a police cruiser parade to boost community morale, and Charlee received numerous “Hi Charlee’s” along the route. She has over 800 followers on her Instagram page (UNHPDK9Charlee) and welcomes more! All in all, Charlee loves her job and the PAWSitve impact she is having on so many. Hey, who wouldn’t love a job where they get nothing but an outpouring of love and where they literally can sleep on the job in their crate in the cruiser!

Officer Cal Cochran feels the same. “I have the best job in the department. Before getting Charlee, I thought it was kind of funny. I’ll just ride around with a dog… never realizing the amazing effect this dog would have on so many. How lucky am I? I get paid to hang out with a goofy, yellow Lab. She’s here to be loved, give love and doesn’t judge.”

(www.HeroPups.com)