Orlando’s Working Dogs
August 6, 2020
Work Like a Dog Day (Aug. 5) is a holiday honoring people who put in that extra bit of hard work to make sure the job is done right. But it also recognizes the strong work ethic of canines, especially service and other working dogs.
Around Central Florida, canines work in hospitals as therapy dogs, help guard the farm or herd animals and assist law enforcement officers on the job. Seeing-eye dogs help lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles and animal-assisted therapy has shown to help lower the stress and anxiety of people struggling with trauma. Meet some of Orlando’s hardest working dogs who are used to, well, working like dogs every day.
As a firefighter who spent 35 years in the job, Jackie Spence has seen the toll her career can take on fellow first responders.
Spence said oftentimes it’s hard for a first responder to admit they need support, but having a dog nearby can help in processing traumatic events.
“We’re the ones that render the help so we don’t ever think we need help, and it’s really starting to affect us,” she said, pointing to the rate of suicide among first responders. “When they don’t want to talk about the incident, they’ll be more than happy to pet the dog. Usually, we see the dog helping to bridge the gap between them wanting to open up and actually opening up.”
Merlin serves as more than just a therapy dog, but as a “crisis response dog,” as Spence puts it. Her team with K9 Helping Heroes includes other dogs and handlers who are first responders, as well as a civilian outreach side for the general public.
Spence said that not all dogs are fit to serve in such a capacity, but that Merlin has an inherent empathy that allows him to be so effective in his role.
”It’s just amazing what the dogs are capable of sensing and they don’t have to say anything. They just stand there,” she said. “He’s an extremely loving dog and he loves his job. You can tell how happy he is when he’s been making visits.” It would be challenging (but funny) for a human to run behind a group of several dozen or more sheep, attempting to drive them all in a similar direction.
This is where herding dogs excel. At Linden Hollow Sheep Farm in St. Cloud, Natalie Cole and her grandmother, Sherry Lee, help dog owners in training their border collies, corgis, Aussies, Beaucerons, shelties and more to learn the ways of the herding dog.
The job of such a canine is to bring sheep, geese, ducks or cattle toward a person or to a certain area of the farm while keeping them all together as a group.
In training a herding dog, the process starts with basic obedience and “perimeter work” before the pooch ever gets close to the livestock.
“We’ll walk around the perimeters with them so they can see the sheep. We’ll get them to lie down, get up,” Cole said. “The main thing you want to make sure that you have first is some kind of control, otherwise it can be disastrous.”
She also pointed out that individual dogs and breeds herd differently, which makes training an adaptive and tailored process for each canine. Some are excited and bold, such as Jake, a border collie who comes to train at the farm. Others, such as Cole’s border collie, Tibbie, can be a bit more reserved.
For some dogs that train at Linden Hollow, herding is a fun exercise to help them burn off energy. For Cole and her family living on the farm, herding is a practical and necessary job the dogs perform each day.
“I definitely couldn’t do all this farm work without these dogs,” Cole said. The relationship between a police K-9 and handler isn’t strictly a professional one, but a deeply personal one that extends far beyond the hours they’re on shift together.
K-9 Deputy Lauren Hernandez, who works for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, Stich, have been working and training together since the dog was a puppy. He also goes home with her every night and rarely leaves her side.
“He lives with me full time, so anywhere I am, he’s with me — short of going to the grocery store or something,” Hernandez said. “He’s definitely a part of the family.”
She had to complete almost 500 hours of training to become a K-9 deputy, and Stitch was there learning with her almost the whole way.
The Belgian Malinois’ job involves more than simply taking down bad guys. “Stitch is what we call a dual-purpose patrol dog. He’s trained in locating and apprehending people, and he can locate evidence. If you were to throw your keys out, he could find those. He’s also trained in locating illicit narcotics,” Hernandez said. “Their noses are somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 times better than humans. Our main purpose of utilizing the dog is for their nose.”
And while Stitch knows when it’s time to work, he can also be a fun-loving, silly dog when he’s off the clock.
“He knows when it’s time to be serious and he knows when he can be relaxed and laid back. He’s very good at distinguishing between the two,” Hernandez said. “At home, he’s a big goofball. He’ll run up to anybody who will give him attention and roll over on his back to get his tummy scratched, just like any other dog.” The K-9 handler hopes that people understand the work of a police dog involves more than just handling criminals.
“A lot of people think these dogs are just vicious and they attack people, that’s not the case at all. Part of his job is apprehending people, but that’s a very small portion of what we do in the grand scheme of things,” Hernandez said. “We locate missing kids and a bunch of different things, it’s not just going after criminals all the time.”
Most Recent News
Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life
June 2, 2021
When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]Students Get Therapy Dog
January 8, 2021
When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]Therapy Dogtor
January 8, 2021
Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]Therapy Dog Pups
January 8, 2021
When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]Puppy Cams
January 7, 2021
A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]Pet Committee
January 7, 2021
When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]The Right Rescue Dog
January 7, 2021
If your New Year’s resolution is to add a canine family member, good for you. Somewhere out there is the perfect puppy or adult dog for your family. You have a lot of things to think about when you begin to look for that new family member, puppy or dog? Large or small? Purebred or […]Police Dog Attack
January 7, 2021
A resolution headed to the Duluth City Council on Monday could put to rest a lawsuit filed by Teri Lynn Ehlers, an employee of the Patch Motel, who was bitten by a Duluth police dog named Oakley. Former Duluth Police Officer Marc Johnson was a registered guest of the Warroad establishment May 28, 2018, when […]PAWS With A Cause
January 7, 2021
Pebble Hill Plantation and the Thomas County Public Library are pleased to announce the upcoming Enlightening Bites program, “PAWS With a Cause,” on Friday, January 8, 2021 at noon in the Flipper Room of the Library. The program is being presented by Jeri Anderson, field representative. Anderson is recently retired from the City of Monticello, […]Police Canine Team
January 7, 2021
Kingston Police revealed in a news release late Wednesday afternoon that they’ve been keeping a four-legged secret for roughly three months. The force announced it added a second canine unit, with the arrival of police service dog Dak this past October. He is working with Const. Jeff Dickson, while police service dog Bask is working […]
