What is a “therapy dog?”
A specially trained therapy dog provides comfort, affection, and support to people in various settings, such as hospitals, schools, nursing homes, and disaster areas. Unlike service dogs, which are trained to assist individuals with specific disabilities, therapy dogs interact with a wide range of people to improve their emotional and mental well-being.
I recently got to meet a therapy dog named Abe, a gentle and obedient six-year-old golden doodle with a tail that never seems to cease wagging. The meeting was set up by JP Martin, owner of the photography studio Whiskey and Wiles on South Main. We met at the studio. JP took photos while I conducted the interview.
Abe was accompanied by his handler, Captain Steve Charles of the Winchester Police Department. I asked Capt. Charles how the police department came to possess a therapy dog.
“Abe was purchased in partnership with the [Clark County] school board,” he told me. “The school board paid the upfront fee for him, and we pay for all the upkeep, along with some donations. It’s a community partnership.”
Capt. Charles told me he is not only Abe’s handler, but the dog also lives with him.
“He’s part of my family. My kids love on him and wrestle with him and everything.”
At the police station, dispatchers assist in Abe’s care and benefit from his skills.
“He’ll stay inside with dispatch because taking calls all day long causes them a lot of stress that sometimes doesn’t decompress very well. So he just hangs outside dispatch. He’ll literally [lie] underneath their feet. They play with him, they walk him, whatever. And while he’s doing that, they obviously love on him, they take him for walks, get some time out of the room, stuff like that.”
But like his friend and handler, Abe doesn’t always hang around the police station. Their favorite and primary activity is visiting schools. The original plan was to try to get to two schools a week.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of loss in our school system in the past two years,” Capt. Charles says. “And I’ve taken him every time we’ve had a loss like that. Maybe a child passed away in the school system, things like that, and we go there and just let [the kids] love on him.”
In addition to emotional support, the students benefit from the presence of Abe and Captain Charles in other ways.
“I’ll walk the halls with him. It’s a good link for the kids to see a police officer in person, but also with something that kind of helps bridge that gap. I know for a fact there are kids there that would never approach me. But they come up to talk to me because of Abe. So there’s a positive experience there, and maybe they’ve never had that with a police officer. It allows them to have an interaction that they otherwise would never have had. He’s an extremely useful tool for all that.”
I asked if these interactions with students help break down barriers between police and the public.
“Absolutely. I tell [the students] that calling us doesn’t mean somebody has to go to jail. We’re there to fix a problem. Sometimes jail is the solution, but not always — we try to find the best solution for the problem. This allows the kids to see that side of us and lets me have conversations with them that they otherwise wouldn’t have.”
Sadly, our casual chat then took an unfortunate turn.
“Just recently, we got some really grave news,” Captain Charles began. “Abe was starting to act abnormal, kind of unusual for him. I took him to the vet. And they found a mass on top of his kidney and colon area. They sent me to a specialist who confirmed that Abe has a very aggressive terminal cancer.
“That was about a month ago. We’re at the point now where we’re not going to schools because he’s, as you can see, when he walks around, he’s very slow. His breathing is labored, but he’s still getting around and doing much better. We didn’t expect him to make it this long. So we’re just kind of counting every day as a blessing, hanging out with him, and loving on him as much as we can.”
I could see the labored breathing as Abe stood quietly while we spoke, but he never winced or whined, and his tail wagged nearly constantly. Later, he demonstrated his obedience skills, doing the standard things: sitting, lying, shaking hands — he even does a great “high five.”
The captain’s voice quivered a bit as we wrapped up the conversation.
“The communities love Abe, the school system, of course, loves Abe . . . [pause] and it’s very sad, but it’s. . . he’s made a big impact in the time he’s been here. I can guarantee that.”
I can vouch for that. Abe is a very good boy.
Photo Gallery
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Late edit: We received word on Monday that Abe passed away and was laid to rest just two days after this interview. While I am greatly saddened, I am grateful to Capt. Charles and JP Martin for allowing me the opportunity to meet Abe and write about him for the community.
