The Victims Services Unit has a new and diligent team member — of the canine variety.
Puppy, as he is called, is an almost two-year-old border collie, heeler, shepherd cross who has been working with Victim Services and his handler, Kristina Moller, since September.
Born on the Gang Ranch and with Moller since birth, Puppy was trained as a cow dog and meant to go to another family as a working dog.
The lifestyle didn’t work out for Puppy, and he returned to Moller and her family.
“When this opportunity came up for the therapy dog program, Mike, my husband, was like, why don’t you use Puppy,” she said.
The name came from the fact Puppy was destined for another family at first, so Moller felt like he wasn’t theirs to name. They just called him Puppy, and the name has stuck.
Puppy provides therapy or emotional support to victims of a crime, alongside case workers like Moller, or her co-worker Cheryl Jacques.
“Cheryl and I deal with victims of all ages who are in crisis, and for a lot of people, having that dog there who is that calm quiet presence is really reassuring for them. It’s been really successful with a number of clients that we’ve had, especially for kids.
“He’s that stable support and for a lot of people when they come in he’ll go and go up to them and lean on them as they are sitting in our office and put his paw on their knee. A lot of people get comfort out of that.”
Puppy is entering his third level of training out of four at the Caring K9 Institute. He is learning non-verbal commands, for courtrooms, as well as how to be around many different types of people.
When he is fully trained, which Moller is hoping will be in May, he’ll be certified to go to court with victims.
“It’s stressful going through our court system,” said Jacques. “To be able to have — especially when you connect with animals — to be able to have an animal with you through this service is so healing for people and makes that process so much less daunting.”
Victims Services in Williams Lake is based out of the RCMP detachment and works to support victims of crimes, anything from domestic abuse, to break and enters, to sudden deaths.
When certified, Puppy will be able to go anywhere a case worker might be able to go when appropriate, whether with a victim making a statement to police, someone simply receiving support, or someone testifying on the stand.
The majority of clients they’ve used Puppy with have been youth so far, says Jacques, adding they won’t force victims to meet Puppy, knowing some people have aversions to dogs.
“It is very daunting for anyone to be a victim of a crime but to be a youth, but if they are not scared of dogs, it really lowers their stress levels. It is really daunting to talk to a stranger who is an adult about sensitive issues, so to have Puppy be there really de-escalates their stress.”
Puppy is not the only therapy dog in town, as Community Based Victims Services also have a therapy dog in training.
An additional benefit to having Puppy at Victims Services has also been for the RCMP members, said Jacques.
“The RCMP members are in contact with a lot of stressful situations, and they come into our office just to hang out with Puppy and pet him and I see that as so beneficial to our detachment. It’s been an extra bonus because I don’t think it was something that we were planning on having as a service but it has been amazing for our members.”
Moller and Puppy work at Victims Services part time, and the rest of the time Puppy spends time on the ranch out of town.
“Here he is just this mellow dog who sleeps a lot, lays on his mat in the office a lot and engages with everybody,” said Moller, adding that on the ranch he is 100 per cent different.
“He is just so excited to be out there, he likes to chase the cows when we are out there.”
“The difference is Puppy wearing the vest and Puppy not wearing the vest,” says Moller. “When Puppy is on the ranch, he is not wearing the vest, he knows he is not working. When he comes here, he knows he is working, because he has the vest on.”
