The state Capitol often feels like a dog-eat-dog pressure cooker. But it can also be a dog-meet-dog paradise.
In true Colorado fashion, some lawmakers and even Gov. Jared Polis frequently bring their dogs to work at the seat of power in Denver. While the state Capitol isn’t officially a pet-friendly workplace, there’s an unspoken allowance for the dogs belonging to lawmakers and staff — so long as the four-legged friends don’t disrupt daily proceedings and keep to private offices.
The pups provide much-needed relief in times of tension in the legislature. Despite their occasional potty accidents and nipping, they’ve also inspired several bills.
Meet the dogs of the Colorado Capitol.
Gia and Gov. Jared Polis
For just about as long as Gov. Jared Polis has been in politics, Gia has been in his life.
Polis and his husband, Marlon, adopted Gia in 2009 from the Humane Society in Englewood. She was little more than 8 weeks old and so small that she fit in a baseball cap. At about 2 pounds, she had been rescued from a hoarder’s home.
She was the perfect size for the couple, who wanted to be able to take their dog to and from Washington, where Polis was starting out as a U.S. representative.
“Marlon and I knew we wanted to adopt a dog,” Polis said. “I think we had been to one or two places looking. Then when I saw Gia, we were just like, ‘that’s the one.’”
Nearly 16 years later, from Congress to the governor’s mansion, Gia and Polis are still inseparable. She attends news conferences and bill signings. Gia was there when President Joe Biden’s first national monument, the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, was being hashed out. (There’s a picture of that in the governor’s Capitol office.)
She’s even helped inspire legislation limiting the fees landlords can charge tenants for having a dog or cat, often known as pet rent.
“She was our first child before our two human kids,” Polis said in his office this month, where Gia was perched like a princess in an opulent chair opposite the governor’s desk. “She helps keep us in shape because we walk her every day — like several miles. Marlon walks her several miles. I usually join them for an evening walk. She’s a bossy only-dog-of-the-house kind of thing. She runs the place.”
Gia, who is an only pet, also has a … spunkier side. She once nipped Republican state Sen. Ray Scott during a bill signing. Polis said Scott must have had something on his jeans.
“I don’t know what he had been getting around in, but some scent that was on the jeans definitely got her pretty excited,” the governor said. “She’s a terrier. She likes to go after squirrels and rats, and she gets super excited when she smells something.”
The governor said Gia once lunged at a protester who approached him.
“She’s always pretty happy,” he said. “She’s in a good mood when she comes with me to work,” which is once or twice a week.
Pippin and Rep. Karen McCormick
State Rep. Karen McCormick, a Longmont Democrat, is the only veterinarian in the Colorado legislature. When she’s not in committee or on the House floor, you can catch her hanging around the Capitol with her trusty companion Pippin, a 5-year-old golden retriever.
“He’s my 10th golden in my life since second grade,” she said. “I am very much his person. He is tuned in to my every move and mood. We just make a good partnership.”
Pippin has a job at the Capitol: keeping people happy. McCormick said it’s not unusual for someone she doesn’t know to drop by her office to love on Pippin — and to get his love in return.
“He works hard all day and goes home exhausted,” she said. “He’s just giving out love all day.”
On a professional note, McCormick said exposing young dogs to many different environments pays off later in their lives. Pippin has been a Capitol frequent flyer since she arrived in the building.
Sometimes late at night, when the Capitol is empty, McCormick will play fetch with Pippin in the long hallways.
McCormick didn’t come to the legislature to work on veterinary issues, but she has used her expertise to influence pet care policy. She was outspoken in her opposition to a ballot measure last year that created a new class of veterinary worker — veterinary professional associates. The initiative passed and now she’s trying to make sure it’s implemented the right way.
“I want these folks to have job prospects,” she said, referring to veterinary professional associates. “There’s just so much uncertainty right now and there’s so much hesitation in the veterinarian field of this that they’re hesitant to take on this new position. I think smoothing some of that out and making some of those expectations clear will be really helpful to those students when they graduate and also to potential employers to hire these folks.”
George, Seamus, Tyson and Rep. Ryan Armagost
State Rep. Ryan Armagost has a professional connection to dogs. When he was a sheriff’s deputy in Larimer County, he was on the canine team as a trainer and decoy agitator. (Agitators are the people who wear padded suits to get attacked during police canine training.)
But don’t let his tough-guy résumé fool you. He has a very big soft spot for his four dogs, three of which he rotates through the Capitol.
“We don’t deserve dogs,” Armagost said, “I kind of set my limit at two dogs and now I have four, so I’ll never do this again.”
Seated in his office decorated with mini Trump figurines and gun rights posters, Armagost was surrounded by his favorite cast of canine characters.
There’s George, the youngest of Armagost’s dogs at 4 years old. He’s a wooly Siberian husky and a foster fail — meaning Armagost meant to foster him and then couldn’t live without him.
There’s Seamus, a rescue dog who is about 7. He’s a pit bull mix.
Then there’s Tyson, who is 8 years old and also a rescue dog. He’s a pit bull-American bulldog mix.
“They’re generally pretty laid-back dogs and pretty good at helping people keep a good mood, which is much needed around this place,” Armagost said in his office as the three dogs lounged around.
During tough moments at the Capitol, Armagost finds that returning to his office to have one of his dogs lay their head on his lap or give him puppy eyes can make a big difference.
“It’s definitely a way to decompress,” he said.
Armagost’s love for animals has prompted some of his legislation. This year, he’s a lead sponsor on a bipartisan bill to prohibit the sale of pets in public spaces, like a street, park or market.
“The problem is people are frequently parking their vehicle with a box full of puppies in parking lots and putting up a cardboard sign, ‘puppies for sale,’” he said. “And this has contributed to the puppy mills situation.”
Armagost said he chooses which of his dogs to bring to the Capitol based on fan requests or how they seem to be doing at home. If one of the pups seems a little down, the Berthoud Republican takes them on a trip to the Capitol.
Armagost’s fourth dog is Buster, but he doesn’t get to come to the Capitol because he’s an anxious pup. Buster is a Great Dane-Italian mastiff mix.
Queso and Sen. Faith Winter
The origin story of Sen. Faith Winter’s dog, Queso, explains his name.
Queso was found roaming East Colfax Avenue. Winter and her family adopted him when his previous owner couldn’t be located. But his time on Denver’s streets took a toll. He smelled bad — like stinky cheese, the senator’s daughter said — and thus the name Queso, Spanish for cheese, was born.
That was 10 years ago, back when Winter was a state representative, and in the time since, Queso has become a fixture at the Capitol. He used to roam the halls with Gary, then-Sen. Kerry Donovan’s pup. The pair are best friends.
“He provides so much emotional support to both me and others,” said Winter, a Westminster Democrat, as Queso — dressed in a tuxedo — sat in her lap. “People will often text me so that they can come visit him if they’re having a bad day.”
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During a tense negotiation about Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, lawmakers and lobbyists gathered in a conference room passed Queso around to ease the tension.
Queso has also been the source of some humor. One time, he peed in the Senate president’s office.
“Queso wasn’t a fan of President Fenberg,” Winter said, referencing former Senate President Steve Fenberg. “I don’t know why.”
The pup also has a serious side — as serious as the bow ties he sometimes wears. He helped out on the bill to constrain pet rent and was at the bill signing with Gia.
Peaches and Rep. Dusty Johnson
Rep. Dusty Johnson got Peaches six years ago when she was going through a round of chemotherapy to treat an aggressive tumor.
“I’m her support human, she’s my support dog and we balance each other out,” said Johnson, who is now in remission. “People forget about animals that they are really good for mental support, but they need their own mental support because they take the tension on themself.”
That doesn’t mean Johnson doesn’t rely on Peaches for help. She calls the pup her secretary and her therapist. But Johnson hopes Peaches also helps break stigma around mental health.
“It’s OK not to be OK,” Johnson said while watching Peaches, who was dressed to the nines in a navy blue sweater and red collar with rhinestones. “And we need to end the stigma on that. She’s messaging that it’s OK. It’s not OK if you don’t ask for help.”
If Peaches could speak English, Johnson said the Shih Tzu-Lhasa Apso mix would tell the world that Johnson has the attention span of a squirrel.
Peaches was on the campaign trail with Johnson. It wasn’t a question of whether Peaches would join her at the Capitol, too.
Johnson is in her first year as a lawmaker, and Peaches appears to be making herself at home at the Capitol complex. She gets human food scraps at lunch and lots of pets. She gets to run early morning laps around the legislative office building across from the Capitol.
Peaches even recently followed a colleague’s aide into the men’s bathroom.
“I’m like, ‘All right! That’s your dog for now!’” Johnson said.
This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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