ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — Three four-legged recruits are becoming members of the St. Lucie County Fire Rescue. Two white labs, and one labradoodle and goldendoodle mix will join the ranks as therapy dogs.
Kona and Pierce, two 6-month-old white labs, and Birdie, a year-and-a-half-old labradoodle and goldendoodle mix, are the inaugural recruits of the departments new therapy K9 program.
Dog Training Elite owner tells WPTV about the benefits of therapy dogs
All three dogs were trained by Graham Walker, co-owner of Dog Training Elite Treasure Coast in Fort Pierce.
Battalion Chief Aaron Shaw, who will be Kona’s handler, told WPTV these dogs will help firefighters deal with stress and trauma they face on the frontlines and assist victims too.
“Dogs just have a way of hitting the reset button,” said Shaw. “It's one more tool that we can utilize to help our brothers and sisters cope.”
Birdie is already on the job with her owner and fire investigator, Jessica Buldoc.
“Everybody always touts the fire department for being these strong, physically and agile folks that respond to their houses and carry all this heavy stuff," said Buldoc, "but they're also carrying heavy stuff in their minds.”
A heavy load that Walker said these therapy dogs can alleviate.
“[They] are a significant way to help them navigate through some of the awful stuff that they have to see,” he said.
Walker is still training Kona and Pierce in obedience and impulse control.
“We need the dogs to be sound desensitized, so sudden noises and sounds,” said Walker. “There will be trucks going, there will be fire trucks, potentially things like that.”
Walker said dogs have helped him deal with PTSD and he’s confident they’ll come to the rescue of first responders.
“I’ve seen dogs work with veterans who would be dead today and had tried to commit suicide, and the dog intervened, and they're still here,” said Walker.
