Meet Eddie, the CCSD police department’s first therapy dog

Therapy dog Eddie can sense when someone is stressed and knows how to respond in a soothing way, like placing a paw on the person’s lap.

The retired service dog is smart and intuitive to the emotions of people, said Dani Bozzini, a spokesperson for the national nonprofit organization K9s For Warriors. “He knows how to give that comfort when needed and picks up on things humans can’t.”

Now the 6-year-old black Labrador retriever is using his comforting talents in a new role started in early December as the Clark County School District Police Department’s first “station dog” in early December.

K9s For Warriors donated Eddie to the department through its “Station Dog” program, which has placed more than 50 therapy dogs at first responder agencies across the country. Eddie is the first in Nevada and the first at a public safety agency within a school district.

Eddie’s guardian is Monique Abarca, a social worker for the Clark County School District Police Department.

Research has shown the benefits of therapy dogs, Abarca said last week. The department also started a wellness program last year for police officers and their families.

Abarca co-responds on calls with police officers. The previous day, she and Eddie responded to a call about abuse allegations and helped deescalate a situation as Abarca was working with a child.

“She didn’t want to go home and Eddie was able to help calm her and get her to talk with me (so) I could collect all the information I needed to best help her,” Abarca later wrote in a message to the Review-Journal.

The presence of a therapy dog is disarming, said Abarca, who has three school-aged children. “It allows kids to be a little more open.”

Eddie also will support the department’s officers who’ve responded to critical incidents.

‘A lot of spunk in him’

Eddie previously spent four years helping a military veteran living on the East Coast who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The veteran returned him to K9s For Warriors in September when life circumstances changed and he could no longer take care of him, Bozzini said.

Due to his age, Eddie isn’t allowed to be a service dog for another veteran — the cutoff age is 4 — but he was transitioned to a new role in the organization’s Station Dog program.

Eddie has “a lot of spunk in him,” Abarca said.

He was trained to recognize signs of stress and he responds in ways such as nudging the person or putting a paw on their lap, she said.

Earlier this month at Valley High School, Eddie stretched out on the floor in the school’s administration office as Abarca talked with a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter. He wore a vest with a handful of patches, including one that read “psychiatric service dog.”

“Eddie at work is very patient and loves getting pets and scratches,” Abarca later wrote in a message to the Review-Journal. “At home he is a total couch potato. He enjoys cuddling and sleeping in the bed with my boys.”

She called working with Eddie a blast and noted that it’s fun to see children interact with him.

He’s also a great tool as a therapist in “building rapport and connecting with students and their families, she said.

Abarca, one of four police department social workers, is normally assigned to a specific region that includes Valley High but now that she has Eddie, she’ll respond to other regions as well.

In addition to responding to calls, Eddie soon will also make appearances at community events.

When his work for the day is done, Eddie goes home with Abarca and her husband, school police Sgt. Bernardo Abarca.

The family has two other dogs — a Weimaraner named Astro and a Doberman named Rocky — and Abarca said they get a little jealous when Eddie goes to work with her.

School police spokesman Lt. Bryan Zink said he’s grateful to K9s For Warriors for providing a therapy dog at no cost. He said he hopes the police department will get more therapy dogs, noting he’d like to see them outnumber working K9s.

A handful of individual schools in the Clark County School District, including Sierra Vista High School, also have their own therapy dogs.

Station Dog program

K9s For Warriors’ main purpose is to end veteran suicides, Bozzini said. The organization has paired service dogs with almost 1,000 veterans who are suffering from PTSD, a traumatic brain injury or military sexual trauma.

The nonprofit created its Station Dog program in 2019. About 25 percent of the canines that have been placed are retired service dogs, while others find themselves in circumstances such as not meeting medical requirements needed to be a service dog.

With his calm demeanor, Eddie was amazing with the children of the veteran he previously served, Bozzini said.

Now, as the station dog for Clark County school police, “he is literally perfect for this placement,” she said.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com. Follow @julieswootton on X.