Police / Fire Dept Therapy Dogs
Comfort Dogs for 1st Responders' Departments in the Chicagoland Area
Are you looking for a Police Therapy Dog for your department? How about a Fire Therapy dog?
SOUL Harbour Ranch Animal Therapy Program is dedicated to helping Chicagoland-area police and fire stations impact others through a First Responders Therapy Dog!
Meet Charlie, a therapy dog with the Mount Prospect Police Department and Grady, a therapy dog with the Village of Buffalo Grove Police. Both of these amazing dogs received specialized training through SOUL Harbour Ranch to become therapy dogs. They provide comfort and emotional support to the department staff and the community. They have been registered/certified therapy dogs since 2023 and are a benchmark for the fabulous mentorship we can provide!
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SOUL Harbour Ranch will seek out sponsorships and/or grant money in the amount of $5000 for Chicago-area police and fire departments to pay for acquiring/adopting a healthy puppy, initial veterinary care and training costs.
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The stations will identify a designated handler for the dog. This has to be someone in the department willing to take on the responsibility of having a dog at the station AND at home. Accommodations need to be made at the station for the dog if the staff/handler is not available (a dog room, and/or other designated handler/staff). We want this dog to be a part of the Department during the day, impacting staff and the community. After work is done, then the dog will go home with the handler and be a part of their family.
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In most cases, the station will choose to own the dog; however, some dogs are owned by the officer/staff/firefighter. Only the department can make decisions of what YOUR therapy dog team will look like.
There are many logistics to think about, such as station insurance, overtime pay for training outside office hours, costs associated food, bedding and toys, plus ongoing veterinary care and training (which never stops!)
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We will provide ongoing mentorship, training and assistance with "mock" therapy testing to ensure the teams pass national therapy testing standards. See our 2025 Therapy Animal Initiative, made possible through a grant from the Barrington Area Community Foundation. Our certified dog trainer Lu Anne Smith is second to none and use positive training techniques. (She also oversees all of the training through the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at Northwest Community Hospital and the training through Chicagoland Dog Rescue). We also encourage teams to join us as volunteers with the dog and become a part of our SOUL Harbour Ranch Therapy Animal Program!
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Let us help you IMPACT your department and your community through SOUL: Sharing of Unconditional Love...it's what our therapy animals do best, and what YOUR future therapy dog could be doing for for your department and community!
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Please call Jodie Diegel at 855-408-7685 (SOUL) for more information or see our CONTACT page to email