Doc the comfort dog reports for duty in Camas

The Camas Police Department’s newest staffer was caught snoozing on the job again.

On his third afternoon of work, Doc (short for Dr. Watson), an 11-month-old French bulldog, meandered past his squeaky doughnut toy, plopped his roly-poly body into the police chief’s lap and cast a soulful look toward a visitor before falling into a contented slumber.

Camas Police Chief Tina Jones didn’t mind. After all, relaxing — and helping others relax — is all part of a day’s work for Doc, a working dog trained to provide comfort and therapeutic benefits to first responders and other police department staff.

Jones picked up Doc from a breeder in Southeastern Oregon earlier this month and brought him to the police department for the first time July 14.

The puppy was an instant hit.

“He just brings comfort, love and joy to our team,” Jones said. “When we make our rounds, people can love on him as much or as little as they want.”

Camas police staff who have spent time with Doc say it’s hard to be upset around the gentle, brindle-colored Frenchie.

“He’s so mellow,” Camas police Officer Lawson Parkhurst said of Doc.

“Nobody can be grumpy around him,” added Shawna Sommerville, the police department’s lead records clerk.

Doc lives full time with Jones and comes to work when the police chief is in the office. The arrangement is more equitable for her team members, who work two different shifts, Jones said.

“The only way to really make it happen, and make it equitable, was if I was his handler,” Jones said.

‘A real blessing’

The idea of having a comfort dog available for police staff was still in its infancy when Jones unsuccessfully pitched the concept to her superiors at the Portland Police Bureau in the early 2000s. But comfort dog programs are much more prevalent today, Jones said.

Several law enforcement agencies in the Portland metro area have comfort dogs on staff, including the Gresham, Sherwood and Tualatin police departments and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, and the Battle Ground and Camas police departments.

Rafferty, a 3-year-old black Labrador retriever, joined the Battle Ground Police Department as a comfort dog in September and has been a valued member of the department’s peer-support team since, said Battle Ground police Lt. Jason Perdue, Rafferty’s handler.

Perdue said he has noticed a lot of changes in his department since Rafferty’s arrival.

“He brings a sense of calm to the officers and staff, not only after critical incidents, but on a daily basis,” he said.

Perdue said many Battle Ground police staffers seem more comfortable talking to their supervisors when Rafferty is around.

“It’s easier to have conversations when you can pet the dog and lower your anxiety,” Perdue said. “He’s been a real blessing that way.”

Rafferty, a trained guide dog who preferred relaxing to guiding, is motivated by food, cuddles and plenty of petting, Perdue said.

“He’s a very docile, relaxed guy and loves the affection he gets from people,” Perdue said.

Over the past year, Rafferty has proven to be an invaluable source of comfort following traumatic events, Perdue said. He has offered comfort to a woman who lost her husband in a fatal car crash, as well as Battle Ground officers who responded to a call involving the death of an infant.

“Officers will often go home after something like that, but in this case, we had a debrief from a peer-support standpoint, and Rafferty was in there,” Perdue said. “He helped keep us together.”

Soon, Rafferty will provide comfort to children going through Clark County’s court system.

“He’ll be an unbiased addition to the witness box,” Perdue said.

Nearly a year into leading his department’s comfort dog program, Perdue said it’s been more work than he expected. But the pros outweigh the cons.

“The benefits for our officers and staff have been pretty remarkable,” Perdue said. “We realize that police work is taxing on our people, and it’s not been until more recent years that we’ve seen we really need to lean in and take care of our people so they can take care of people.”

Citizen steps up

Though Jones longed to start a comfort dog program in Camas, it was a generous donation from a lifelong Camas resident that turned Jones’ idea into reality.

Penny Baz, a 1970 Camas High School graduate who worked as an Evergreen Public Schools educator for 32 years before retiring, comes from a philanthropic family. Her parents donated land to the city of Camas that now makes up much of the Washougal River Greenway Trail, and her aunts and uncles regularly donated to local causes.

“My family liked to give back to the community,” Baz said. “So when I had to take a distribution from my retirement, I thought, ‘It’s only right that I do the same.’ ”

Baz was trying to come up with a worthy cause for her donation when she saw a television program about dogs that work with law enforcement agencies.

“I called Chief Jones and asked her, ‘Do you need a dog who catches people? An apprehension dog?’ But, she said, ‘No, as a matter of fact, we’re moving toward drones for that, and there are apprehension dogs around the community if we need one.’ ”

Instead, Jones pitched Baz on the idea of training a comfort dog to work with police staff.

Baz agreed to donate an undisclosed sum of money to the Camas Police Department to purchase Doc and pay for his and Jones’ training sessions at Paws for Responders, an Oregon-based company that trains dogs and their handlers for comfort dog programs inside police, fire, EMS and 911 facilities.

Jones and Doc still have a few training sessions, but the friendly Frenchie is already settling into his role as a comfort dog.

“He really is perfect,” Baz said of Doc. “He’s not very vocal like some of the French bulldogs I’ve seen. He’s just a perfect addition, and I look forward to his future with the police department.”

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; [email protected]