Comfort dog Indy joins Dixon Police Department

DIXON – Indy, a 3-year-old blue heeler mix, is becoming a familiar face at Dixon’s Reagan Middle School.

Donated to the Dixon Police Department by the Paws & Stripes College, Indy – and her handler, school resource officer Ryan McWethy – are pioneers of the new therapy dog program at RMS.

McWethy has 17 years of experience in law enforcement. He became Reagan Middle School’s SRO in 2022. On April 15, Indy, a certified American Kennel Club therapy dog, started her first day at the school. Since then, she’s been getting acquainted with all the students and staff.

Indy’s job right now is to help when needed. Indy will provide comfort during interviews with students and to those who have been through traumatic situations. Students also will be able to spend time with Indy if they’re having a tough time. An idea for the future is to set up some type of reward program with the students, McWethy said in an interview with Shaw Local.

“Just having a dog around can be really calming to people,” McWethy said.

The Dixon Police Department was inspired by the Sycamore Police Department’s therapy dog program it had started with Dooley, a certified AKC therapy dog, in September 2022.

Dooley is assigned to Sycamore Middle School with SRO Kaitlyn Pedersen. Dooley’s primary role is to offer support to students, staff and community members, according to the Sycamore Police Department’s 2022 annual report.

Sycamore PD connected the Dixon PD with Paws & Stripes College, a program that trains and certifies therapy dogs that are then donated to police and fire departments all over the country.

The program rescues dogs from animal shelters in Brevard County, Florida. The dogs are then paired with jail inmates and trained in basic dog obedience. Some of those dogs, such as Indy and Dooley, are selected to move on to more advanced training and serve as part of Paws & Stripes College’s Law Enforcement and Multidiscipline Crimes Against Persons Therapy Dog program.

Indy and McWethy will be at RMS for the rest of the school year. Once the students leave for summer break, Indy will be out and about attending community events.