Therapy dog helps with crisis intervention team

Dale Coats of Sisters and his dog Buddy have something in common: they are both trained and certified for the Tri-County School Response (SRT) crisis intervention team.

Coats has over 10 years of experience when it comes to understanding the benefits that therapy dogs can bring into different situations.

"I feel like I'm a pioneer when it comes to expanding an area where therapy dogs can help," said Coats. "We have just scratched the surface as to where these amazing animals can be used." Coats' dog Buddy is a gentle 7-year-old golden retriever that was certified through Therapy Dogs International when he was 2 years old.

"We got Buddy after our dog Lucky passed away in 2006," recalled Coats. "Lucky was also a certified therapy dog."

Therapy dogs are specially trained to offer companionship and comfort. These special canines are brought into hospitals, prisons, schools and disaster areas to provide their unique services to people in need.

In the beginning, Coats started Buddy with Partners in Care.

"His very first call was from a friend whose dad was dying. I brought Buddy over for a visit right away," said Coats. "My friend told me that it was the first time his dad smiled in a long time."

Dale Coats is always taking the initiative to find new areas that therapy dogs can be beneficial.

Three years ago Coats was watching a local news station, listening to the director of Tri-County School Response. He was amazed at the work they were doing in the schools. Tri-County School Response Team is a volunteer effort among specially trained teachers, counselors and community people who are willing to aid schools and community in response to crisis.

The focus of the crisis team is working with schools in the aftermath of student and staff death or other tragedies that overwhelm their usual abilities to

cope.

"I decided to call and find out if they had ever used a therapy dog in the past as part of the crisis intervention," Coats said. "They had never used a dog before."

Coats and Buddy both attended 30 hours in the Crisis Management Institute so they could be part of the School Response Team.

"When there's a tragedy in one of our county schools, a team member gets called, and then they bring in our team so we can teach the teachers how to respond," said Coats. "They have a special safe-room, usually the library; that's where Buddy goes and lies down on a blanket."

The safe-room is where students and staff can go if they need a break from the mainstream for a time. The team members assist the staff and students in addressing issues of grief.

Buddy is a team member.

"Kids will usually go right up to Buddy and hug him," said Coats. "They just open up and start talking things out around him; Buddy's presence seems to make it easier for them to cope."

Buddy is the first dog to be certified with the Tri-County-school Response Team for Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson Counties.