Community can help name Franklin Police Department's new comfort dog

FRANKLIN — The Franklin Police Department will be the latest to adopt a new four-legged member of their staff. Officers will soon work with a comfort dog, according to a Facebook post on Monday.

A comfort dog helps reduce stress and anxiety for officers as well as community members. They can be used in courtrooms to help someone testifying.

This is not the first comfort dog to work with Franklin police, but when the handler left roughly two years ago, so did the dog. Chief Daniel Poirier said after seeing the effectiveness of a comfort dog, he wanted to hire another one.

“Myself, I'm not really a dog person, but after seeing the first comfort dog we had, it definitely works. It's definitely a great program,” Poirier said.

The department's dog will come from a nonprofit called Hero Pups in Stratham, which trains support dogs for veterans and first responders. Founder Laura Barker said her new dog will be in good hands at the Franklin Police Department, and with new handler Det. Kendall Poirier. Kendall is married to Chief Daniel Poirier's cousin.

“I have total confidence in her ability to do the job, but it does take the whole department to provide support and use teamwork to get that dog in the community,” Barker said.

The police department is looking to the community in selecting a name for the dog. Right now, people can give recommendations on Facebook at facebook.com/100064370962368. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were almost 200 suggestions.

The female Labrador is 13 weeks old, and going through basic manners and obedience training, before moving on to environmental training, then advanced manners and obedience. Environmental training is especially important for dogs working with first responders. Civilian therapy dogs tend to do their jobs in calm spaces, like libraries or hospitals. But a facility comfort dog has to do their job in chaotic environments. Barker believes the dog will be perfect for the new handler.

“She has a versatile personality. She doesn't mind chaotic environments, and we can tell that already. She doesn't mind just sitting in the office,” Barker said. “When Kendall is out doing her work and doing the job, this puppy will be able to adapt to any environment.”

Det. Kendall Poirier will start working with the dog full-time when she turns 1 years old. As part of the dog' s training, and to help her adapt to her new home and partner, she will be introduced to the community on a part-time basis.

“Det. Poirier will start taking the dog home, maybe for a weekend, couple days, and then the dog will go back to resume its training,” Chief Daniel Poirier said. “But to help integrate it with Kendall and her family, she's going to take the dog home and start implementing the training in the community.”

The comfort dog will come at no cost to taxpayers, through a sponsor arranged by Hero Pups. The dog will also receive complementary care from the Franklin Veterinary Clinic, and free dog food from Tractor Supply Co. in Tilton.

In a Police1 survey of 2,833 officers asking about supports needed for officers’ physical and mental health, 14% percent of respondents said their agency had a therapy animal program. Chief Daniel Poirier believes dogs are successful, especially in the high stress environment of police officers.

“They have debriefs, the departments do. High stress calls, dangerous calls, calls that can be very traumatic to officers, say, dealing with a child that may have died, or an officer involved shooting, or something,” he said. “There's a debrief for, and they can use those dogs to help open up. It's amazing.”

Hero Pups was founded after Barker’s son, wounded in combat in Afghanistan, was comforted by a dog in the hospital. Barker, who has a background in pet rescue and working dog training, thought Hero Pups was a natural next step in her life.

“To me, it was obvious. As soon as I saw that therapy dog in the hospital, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is what I have to do,’” she said.

Most of the dogs are trained to be psychiatric service dogs for people, particularly veterans, with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other mental health conditions. But if a dog's personality is not a fit for such a role, they might be considered as a first responder comfort dog. Now, the fully volunteer organization has 243 working dogs, from service to comfort.

With a new dog hired in Franklin, Barker gave the police department credit for bringing this service to their city.

“I would like to say that I am thrilled to be working with Franklin again, and they have a wonderful department that's looking for ways to continue helping their community.”