Our Therapy Dogs Supported Firefighters During Our Big Wildfire - Celhaus German Shepherds WyomingCelhaus German Shepherds Wyoming

Therapy Dogs Support Firefighters fighting the Elk Fire
October 2024

On Saturday, October 19, I received an email from the Firefighter Health Coordinator on Rocky Mountain CIMT1, whose name is Susan. That team had just taken over responsibility of the 96,000+ acre wildfire in our Bg Horn Mountains. She was looking for therapy dog and handler team(s) to visit firefighters in camp before and/or after shift, sometime between approximately 6-9 am and/or 7-9 pm. After seeing the fire one night from my front yard (below), I said I would help in any way possible and come whenever she wanted a therapy dog.

She said that they’ve been fighting fires all summer, and some of the team helped after the hurricanes. They’re exhausted. She is very proactive on mental health for all team members – and said that the best help she has found is therapy dog visits. She said in all the years she’s had only one firefighter who didn’t want to pet a therapy dog. I was thrilled to have a chance to do something in gratitude for their work to save our beloved mountains. I contacted the other two local therapy dog handlers Saturday night, and they said they’d visit, too, so I was confident that we would have good coverage.

This was an amazing experience! The firefighters were fun to visit with. Many showed me photos of their dogs and talked about being anxious to see them again. We swapped silly dog stories and talked about the best things in life as the therapy dogs gave them love and encouragement. I was moved by the beautiful thank you card and loved the included photos of our fire.

On Monday, when I finished Reading Dog at Tongue River Elementary in Ranchester, I drove to find the main camp out of Dayton. I only had time to meet Susan and see where to go since I had to hotfoot it home in time to feed dogs and grab a different one to head to a nursing home visit.

Tuesday morning, I took Lovely and Hopeful to the camp from 6-8 am. Hopeful stayed in the car while Lovely visited for an hour; then I switched dogs. Susan managed to get some photos of Hopeful visiting in the dark, but none of Lovely. Kevin was also there Tuesday morning with his therapy dog, Ruger, whom you can see in the background in the first two photos, and in the last photo.

Kevin’s son had 4 pups left from a litter of Golden Retrievers, and Kevin took the pups to the camp that evening. Ruger was not too crazy about the puppies getting all the attention.

The other good time for therapy dog visits, when shifts change, is 7-9 pm. On Wednesday, when the weather deteriorated, they moved the firefighters from the Dayton camp into Sheridan and put them up in motels (rather than the camper trailers used in the camps). Headquarters moved to the Exhibit Hall at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. I took Justice to visit at the Exhibit Hall and around the camp area Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, they moved the other camp, which had been close to Big Horn, into Sheridan also. On Friday morning, I took Hopeful to visit at the Exhibit Hall at 6:30 a.m. She wore this year’s Halloween costume. I had a lot of fun asking various firefighters if they wanted to visit the “pumpkin.” We got smiles, chuckles and a lot of interactions. Hopeful had a blast. She loves tummy rubs, and she collapsed several times when she sensed she was visiting with someone who would indulge her.

I also took a bunch of Hopeful’s trading cards, which were a great hit. (see her trading cards). On Saturday, Susan said that the trading cards were nearly gone. On Sunday, I gave her all of Lovely’s trading cards that I had. I’m giving Spirit’s trading cards to the participants in Reading Dog at both schools this year. I also enclose one in each weekly letter that I send to a bunch of nursing home residents, so I don’t have any “extras’ of her cards at the moment.

If you don’t know much about how therapy dogs work, Hopeful’s photos will give you a great introduction. Look at how often she is giving people some body pressure, leaning into them so that the physical connection supports her interactions. It’s often quite subtle and look like she’s just leaning on people, but she’s doing it deliberately.

Susan was asking about the possibility of a dog being both a service dog AND a therapy dog. Not many can switch without stressing between caring for their person and visiting with other people, but Jamboree from my JJ litter does it gracefully. I contacted Laurie and asked if she and Jamboree could possibly come to Sheridan and visit with Susan. She jumped at the chance, so on Friday at 10 a.m., Laurie, Jamboree, Spirit and I went to the Exhibit Hall. While Laurie and Susan talked service dogs, Spirit visited with firefighters. Unfortunately, Susan was too busy to take photos of Spirit.

On Saturday evening, I took Justice, dressed in last year’s Halloween costume (a dragon) to visit. I again got great reactions as I asked people if they wanted to pet a dragon, promising that he’d give kisses rather than bites. We had a blast. Susan did get one photo.

Varoom! is going through a MAJOR shed, so she didn’t get to visit. I don’t have any photos of Lovely’s or Spirit’s visits, but Susan took a bunch of photos of Hopeful’s visit. Look for her trading cards in the photos.

Also look at my shirt. I always wear cheerful colored shirts to the nursing homes. The school kids love them too. This year, for winter, I decided I didn’t have cheerful enough ones. It’s been a rough summer, so I decided to up MY comforting a notch. I asked Kilpatrick Creations if we could create shirts for each therapy dog. I needed long sleeves for winter, but light fabric because the nursing homes are kept warm for the sedentary residents. I gave them two photos of each dog – a head shot to go on the front of the shirt with their name, and an action shot for the back. Until now, the weather has been too hot to wear them, but it finally turned chilly, so I wore Hopeful’s and Spirit’s shirts during their visits – and Justice’s on Saturday. They definitely brought some smiles. The motto of Alliance of Therapy Dogs, with which I’m associated, is “Sharing smiles and Joy” – and we’re serious about living up to it. You can find if there are any ATD therapy dogs in your area, and/or find a tester/observer if you would like your dog to be certified as a therapy dog, on their website, Therapy Dog | Therapy Dog Organizations. I am the tester/observer in our area. Enjoy these photos!