Loyal by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh

Author:Rebecca Ascher-Walsh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Published: 2017-03-07T05:00:00+00:00

Zoey welcomes attention with a K-9 Comfort Dog vest and a Green Bay Packers collar. Credit 44

Zoey is the first dog to be placed at a university and given a full-time job description. She works side by side with 10 handlers and alternates between living with two of them. Thanks to Zoey’s upbringing, she thrives on the frequent changing of the guard. While most dogs latch on to one human leader instinctively, Enters says Zoey has been trained to have multiple alphas. Since she understands that whoever is holding the leash is “top dog,” the team has a transition process during which one handler passes the leash to the next so that Zoey can make the mental adjustment. “The necessary ingredient in the handler and comfort dog relationship is that Zoey trusts and respects every one of us,” Enters adds. “She has 12 very best friends.”

Accompanied by those friends, Zoey—who responds to more than 50 commands—roams the hallways, allows students to pet her, goes into classrooms for presentations on stress relief, and is present in Enters’s office when students come to speak with him. Off campus, she performs community outreach in nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and camps. Hetzner praises her work on and off campus. “Zoey is an example for the students of what it means to be a caring, loving, contributing member of society. Dogs are really good teachers.”

Zoey’s ability to listen has most impressed Enters, who frequently brings Zoey to work. After 35 years in the counseling field, Enters has witnessed the months it can take to build rapport with students, but with a dog in the room, he says, there can be an immediate bridge for conversation. “There are traumas that people experience in life, such as being sexually or physically assaulted, that are at times almost impossible to talk about,” he explains. “But with Zoey, they can.” One student agreed to testify in court against the man who raped her, as long as Zoey could be by her side. She was.

When Zoey is “de-vested,” or not at work, her favorite way to blow off steam is to tear boxes to shreds. At work she is rewarded with games of fetch. “One of the things we discovered early on is that when she’s vested, she has an intentionally meek posture to be approachable, but some of the students interpret that as her being depressed or oppressed,” he explains. To show Zoey’s playful side, he gets students to play tug-of-war with her or to chase her.

“There’s no question that Zoey and her presence enhance the emotional being of our campus,” says Enters. “All you need to do is walk down the hallway when we’re with her and see the expressions on the faces of the people who approach. They’re always smiles.”

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