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Brown University welcomes therapy dog to relieve stress on campus


Elvy, The Department of Public Safety at Brown University's therapy dog, with Brown University students. (WJAR)
Elvy, The Department of Public Safety at Brown University's therapy dog, with Brown University students. (WJAR)
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The Department of Public Safety at Brown University has added a four-legged officer to the team, but it’s not to help fight crime.

Instead, Elvy the black lab is the university’s first ever therapy dog. She's being trained to comfort both students and faculty and serve as an ambassador for the department.

"She's a sworn officer, but she has no policing powers. Her main aspect is being there for the student body and brightening up a room,” said Officer Dustin Coleman with the Department of Public Safety.

Officer Coleman, who is Elvy’s handler, suggested the idea after seeing other service dogs report for duty on college campuses in a similar capacity.

"I visited Yale University, who had a dog named Heidi. I saw how much she bonded the police department and with the student body. I saw the officer walk through campus and it took him 45 minutes to get through campus. They knew him by first name and his family. In my five years of policing, I never saw anything like it, so I knew it was something I had to do,” explained Coleman.

Officer Coleman reached out the Puppies Behind Bars program in New York, which trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for veterans, first responders and law enforcement.

“Up until a year and a half, she was raised by inmates. Those inmates would raise her during the day to teach her all the commands. On the weekends, she would go into New York with foster families. They would teach her loud sounds on the train, they would go to concerts, they would go to parties, you'd see other dogs and babies pulling on her tail, so that she's used to stuff like that so she can calm down,” Coleman said.

After completing the program, Coleman took Elvy to home to Providence, Rhode Island. He says she's already made an impact in the few short weeks she's been on campus at Brown.

“It takes me about 45 minutes to walk through the main green when it should take me a couple minutes. I have students stopping me. I have football players screaming her name as I walk across,” he explained.

When Elvy isn’t going for walks across campus, she can be found comforting students who need support. Officers say students and faculty can set up appointments with Elvy whenever they need to destress.

"She's available to student groups and individuals who are having a difficult time, whether it be students, staff or faculty. Her training does wonders that just helps relieve stress that's going on,” Lt. Kevin O'Connor with Brown University DPS explained.

Officers say she has also provided emotional support to the department and has improved police-community relations on campus.

"Elvy is also here for us, the police officers. It's a very difficult job. The men and women face some difficult times and Elvy's there for that, as well, to take care of us,” O’Connor said.

Coleman added, "I see the student body is looking past my uniform. They're seeing me as a father, a husband, a person, as a dog lover. It's really been a big bonding and opening up process. I feel like I've been able to really tell the student body what we do here at Brown University and they're learning what DPS does."

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