Employee Spotlight–Haddie

BY CINDY JONES

Haddie is a four-year-old Springerdoodle and works as a K9 employee for the Roy City Fire Department. She was chosen to be part of the Fire Department’s Mental Health Awareness Team because of her calm demeanor and her natural ability to interact with people. Everyone at the Fire Station and in the Roy City offices loves Haddie and looks forward to her visits.

Haddie was trained at Don’s Pet Care and Training Center with Four Paws for Patriots, which is an organization that trains service dogs for disabled veterans and first responders. The training is a year-long program where the dogs learn specific tasks according to the work they have been chosen for. Haddie is a certified Psychiatric Service Animal and provides support for Roy’s first responders.

Her handler, Fire Battalion Chief Mike Hadley, says that Haddie is brought in after any incident in which the firefighters have been under stress or gone through any kind of trauma. Haddie knows it's time to go to work when her vest and Fire Department Badge are on. She calmly approaches people around the room, promoting stress relief and interaction. Mike says that Haddie seems to instinctively know who needs help and can offer comfort when it's needed most.