New program pairs paramedics with wellness dogs for fire hall, police station, hospital visits

A new program in Haldimand County is pairing paramedics up with wellness dogs to visit fire halls, police stations, hospitals, and patient homes.

“Tanner is very friendly, he’s engaging, he likes to meet people. He’s very calm. He’s also very soft and cuddly,”

Tanner is a 1-and-a-half-year-old Golden Doodle who was originally trained by autism dog services but he wasn’t the right fit. Tanner landed the perfect job with Haldimand County Paramedic Services.

Tanner’s job is to work with community paramedics and clients at home to bring a sense of calm, reduce anxiety and decrease loneliness.

On a normal work day, Tanner and Haldimand County paramedic Nicole Selby will see three clients, visit a workplace, and do one community outreach stop as well.

“I actually read a study recently that said interaction with a dog after a traumatic event can decrease the incidents of PTSD disorder by approximately 80 per cent… having that factor alone is a huge benefit for our staff,” Selby said.

Tanner has been in the field for about a month and a half now. If Tanner detects high anxiety and stress in clients he is trained to do a grounding technique to put his weight on someone to make them feel more secure.

Tanner is one of four wellness dogs in Haldimand County, and soon there will be eight handlers trained to work with them.