Marin therapy dog group for first responders expands nationwide

By Sharon Chin

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    MARIN COUNTY, California (KPIX) — A Marin County woman who provides four-legged emotional support for first responders has expanded her nonprofit across the country.

When Kerith the golden retriever and her companions come to visit a fire station they bring smiles. Just ask Kerith’s human, Heidi Carman.

“Kerith lives for this,” said Carman. “She’s so excited when she sees her firefighter and first responder friends in general.”

The feeling’s mutual for Capt. Mike Lewis and his colleagues at San Rafael Fire Station 51.

“It definitely lights up our day as well,” Lewis said.

“I really feel like we’re changing lives and making their mental health a little bit better each visit,” added Carman.

When we first met Carman and Kerith, Carman had just started First Responder Therapy Dogs in San Rafael. The pair would visit police and fire stations, hospitals, and other places to help relieve the trauma that emergency responders experience in their jobs.

Then word got around.

“People saw what Kerith was doing on social media and reached out and said, ‘How can I get involved?'” said Carman.

Kerith has her own Instagram account, with 16,000 followers, more than twice as many as the First Responders Therapy Dogs Instagram account.

In three years, the nonprofit grew from serving first responders in California and Oregon to those in 42 states.

Recently, volunteers have visited the base camp at the Thompson Fire in Butte County and offered comfort in Oakland after the death of firefighter Caeden Laffen.

The teams, funded mostly by private donations, have made more than 3,000 visits, reaching more than 150,000 first responders nationwide.

“It’s a resource to use and an instant release of stress that’s built up, potentially negative energy we do come across in the fire service,” Lewis said. “And with her, it brings that happiness and smile that relaxes our brains a bit.”

It’s also rewarding for volunteers like First Responder Therapy Dogs board member Emily Janowsky who serves with her dog, Rocket.

“The excitement, the calm that comes over people when a dog comes in, it’s a magical reaction, it really is great,” Janowsky said.

For Carman, Kerith and their friends, the fire season is the busiest time of year – their bags are packed, and they’re ready to go.

“When we go to fire base camp and visit all the firefighters who are working so hard and away from their families, it’s such a huge difference,” Carman said.

This all started when she was training Kerith as a puppy for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

But Kerith was too friendly with everyone for that role, so Carman trained her as a certified therapy dog instead. The smiles they leave behind keep the good work she started with Kerith going and growing.

Carman’s goal is to have First Responder Therapy Dog teams in every state. For information on training needed for therapy dog certification training, visit firstrespondertherapydogs.org.

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