Teddy is certified as a Therapy Dog, Reading Companion, and K9 First Responder Therapy Dog, along with his junior handler Caleigh and her father, adult handler George, himself a retired disabled municipal police office sergeant.
Uniformed K9 First Responder Teams (K9FR) bridge the gap between a traumatic event and the connection to mental health support. The team offers a compassionate presence leveraging the human-canine bond to help restore a First Responder’s emotional and cognitive equilibrium, often in the aftermath of violent acts. In this capacity, Teddy has deployed to events ranging from public relations to critical incidents and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) debriefings. K9FR Canine Teddy offers those in need his wonderful inviting demeanor and uncanny ability to work a group and find the individuals in need of his team’s direct attention. He is a proven icebreaker, and folks who meet his remember his name long after.
Teddy has gone in prison, following the untimely death of a young corrections officer. He visited officers on duty at their posts within cell blocks, giving attention fully to staff while navigating a locked down facility and ignoring the many distractions and unusual surroundings. He worked a series of CISM debriefings for a large contingent of EMS personnel after a beloved coworker killed himself in a very public setting. This serious deployment required working seamlessly under COVID restrictions with masking and sanitizing. Nevertheless Teddy found the folks needing his attention, those close to the deceased whom he showered with attention. Most recently, Teddy and George deployed to support the US Capitol Police, providing one-on-one and group attention and distress opportunities.
As a therapy dog, Teddy visits pre-, elementary and high schools, for education, socialization with an animal, and as a member of one school’s Suppress the Stress club. Attending adult day programs for developmentally disabled adults, Teddy has proven loving and attentive while being respectful of people who are nervous in his presence. The latter requires him to wait for the human to literally reach out to him, reversing the usual human-canine greeting roles. In all these settings, Teddy has proven himself capable of everything from 1-on-1 to working a room of up to 100 humans during visits.
Teddy is the ultimate non-judgmental listener as a Reading Companion dog for educationally challenged children. He visits classrooms, libraries, and group meetings for both teachers and students. Even in this setting, Teddy will find and focus attention on that individual who, it will be found out, has had recent trauma or family difficulties and needs some extra fuzz-therapy time.
Teddy trains and competes with his now high-school-aged human Caleigh in conformation, junior showmanship, obedience and other performance events, and is the first K9FR trained through the 4-H program.
Steadfast Bright Lights Prince Theodore THDD CGCA CGCU TK
