Police dog Charlie provides emotional therapy, safety skills at Adrian schools

ADRIAN — Typically, the image of a police dog is of an intimidating German shepherd that looks like it could rip a suspect's arms off.

Charlie is not that kind of police dog.

Charlie is a copper-colored goldendoodle who works at the Adrian schools with School Resource Officer Joshua Perry. His miniature poodle genetics don't really show, except he sheds less and he's a little smaller than a typical golden retriever. He rarely barks, and when interacting with students, he is far more likely to roll over on his back to get a belly rub than he is to do anything remotely aggressive. In fact, that gentleness was a trait that Perry sought out when looking add a canine partner to work with him in the schools, and the dogs are not trained to be aggressive.

The Adrian schools looked into adding a dog for safety reasons and to provide emotional support for students and staff, Superintendent Nate Parker said.

"He has become an iconic part of the school," Perry said. "Everyone wants to see Charlie."

"We're very grateful for our partnership with the Adrian Police Department," Parker said. "Officer Perry is a huge asset to us and a big part of the team, and Charlie has only added to that."

Because of Adrian's experience with Charlie, the Madison schools have added a dog for their school resource officer and the Tecumseh school board is expected to soon approve a dog for the SRO there.

Perry said Parker last year asked for ideas to improve safety in the district. He said he wanted to be more proactive in addressing potential problems.

"One of the things that was discussed, because of my expertise in the dogs, they wanted to know if I would be able to train a dog that could detect guns and weapons like that," Perry said

Perry has been the Adrian Police Department's K9 officer for years, going back to when the department got its first patrol dog, Copper, in 2007. He also is a dog trainer and judges tracking dog competitions.

"There's a lot of research around therapy dogs and weapons detection dogs," Parker said. "…We know the benefits it can have for students and schools and our SRO already has the capacity to do that. I think it was a slam dunk."

Combining the traditional police dog skills of being able to detect contraband and track people with being a therapy dog is a first for a public school in Michigan. Perry said he was unaware of any other similar programs before he and Charlie teamed up.

Dogs can be trained to detect most anything, Perry said. Charlie is trained to detect weapons, particularly guns and ammunition, and explosives. Tecumseh's SRO, Sgt. Scott Lambka, has talked with the school board about having the dog there also be able to detect vapes and illegal drugs. All of the dogs are trained to track people, which would be useful in situations such as finding a child who has gone exploring away from the playground. The dog and handler also could be called upon to help find a person with Alzheimer's who wanders away from home.

Perry and Charlie are available to help other school districts, too. He gave an example of a threat at a Lenawee Intermediate School District building where they were able to check out the building, determine it was safe, and get the students back to class.

The dogs also are trained to subtly indicate to their handlers if they smell something suspicious. Perry said when students stop to pet Charlie, he's checking them out.

"He's sitting there sniffing and actually checking them for weapons, and they have no idea at all because he's giving that emotional support," Perry said.

There is a deterrent value in having a dog at school, Perry said, in that students are less likely to bring weapons or other contraband to school because they know Charlie is there and can detect those kinds of things.

Having Charlie in the schools helps make them feel more welcoming, Parker said.

"Lots of students have pets, so when there's a pet around or a dog around, it just makes them feel more welcome. It helps them to be able to say 'hi' to Charlie or pet Charlie," Parker said.

It's one more way the schools can help students with emotional needs, such as anxiety, Parker said.

"The emotional support value of the dog is amazing with these children and the ability for me to interact with the children," Perry said.

Perry has been Adrian's SRO for about three years. Before he got Charlie, about 10% of the students would interact with him, even just saying hello.

"Once I got Charlie, about 95% of the children will interact with me," he said. "They'll come up and pet Charlie and they'll interact with him, so it gives me an opportunity to know the kids better and know how they normally act so I can tell if they're having a hard day. And Charlie is very good as well at picking up on their emotional status."

That goes for the adults in the schools, too.

"One unintended thing that we did not consider is the teachers and school staff utilize him just as much as the children for that emotional support as far as when they're having a rough day, they will come in and just sit here (in the office) and interact with Charlie and destress and let all that frustration of the day go out," Perry said.

There have been several times already where Charlie has helped calm down a situation where a student with autism or an emotional impairment is having an episode that teachers or staff were unable to resolve. Perry gave an example of an elementary student who was "having a rough day."

"Charlie walked over and literally flopped his body — the child was cross-legged on the floor — and he just plopped himself right down," Perry said, "and the child grabbed onto his hair and started digging into his hair and petting him and it just completely calmed him down. Within a few minutes the child was back to normal and was able to go back to class."

There was another situation at the high school where Perry and Charlie came across a student with an emotional impairment who was laying in the hallway, throwing a fit and the teacher could not get her to go to class. Perry said he hadn't met the girl before, so he asked her if she likes dogs. She said yes, and Charlie laid down beside her. She started petting him, and she relaxed.

"I said, 'I tell you what: If you'd like Charlie to walk you to class, I'll let you walk with Charlie.'"

The girl got up, and they walked across the school to the gym, where her class was.

"The teacher looked at me," Perry said, "and she said, 'We've been out here for almost two hours, trying to get her to move. You just accomplished what we were trying to do in two hours in five minutes.'"

He said the staff was looking at him "like I was this great individual."

"I said, 'It's not me, it's the dog,'" Perry said. "These children that are special needs or have some of these mental or emotional issues, he just clues right into it, and they really, really react well to the dog."

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Having a dog like Charlie costs about $10,000 to $15,000 a year, Perry said. That includes training time for the dog and handler as well as expenses such as food and veterinarian bills.

The cost can be covered through mental health and safety grants that schools can receive.

Charlie has a "teacher's schedule," Perry said. During summer vacation, Charlie will be at home with Perry, but he'll have training — or continuing education — to work on.

The dogs live full-time with their handler.

Ideally, Perry said, every school district that has an SRO would have a dog. He said its best to have a law enforcement officer in charge of each district's dog program in case a situation were to lead to a criminal case.

The goal of having dogs like Charlie is to make the schools a safer and friendlier environment for the students, Perry said.

"In years to come, as these children look back on their school careers," Perry said, "I would expect that when they start telling stories, there's to be stories about the emotional support dogs and how they affected them during their school time."

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Police dog Charlie provides comfort, safety at Adrian schools