Ryder, a 4-month-old golden retriever puppy, can be seen trotting alongside Northeastern University Police Department officers since his official training as a wellness dog began during the fall 2024 semester.
The Northeastern University Police Department, or NUPD, recently introduced Ryder as a new wellness dog, joining existing NUPD canines Cooper and Sarge. The three musketeers of Northeastern go around campus to comfort community members.
“I feel it takes my mind off things and makes me happy,” said Jasmine Ostroff, a first-year mechanical engineering and design combined major, about seeing Ryder on campus. “Dogs are good for destressing.”
Ryder’s handler, Armando Soto, a patrol officer for NUPD’s community engagement unit, said Ryder began his training as a wellness dog in October. His training regime involves a lot of obedience: being told to sit, stay and be calm so people are able to pet him, Soto said.
Part of the training involves positive reinforcement, meaning Soto tells Ryder “good boy” or “good job” so he knows he demonstrated positive behavior. Currently, Ryder is training to become a wellness dog like Cooper. Soto said Ryder’s breed as a golden retriever assists in being a comfort dog because of their energetic nature, and the more they train, the easier it is for them to handle crowds.
“Every moment we come out [with Ryder], we hear ‘Oh my god, that just made my day,’’’ Soto said.
Soto recalled that during midterm season, students would say that Ryder “made [them] feel better” after interacting with the new puppy. Soto said he often hears students say, “I miss my dogs at home.”
“It’s just the few minutes that they spent with them that makes a big difference in the smile and the way that they act,” Soto said. “It makes us happy because we are helping people in such a small way, [but] it’s a big thing.”
In 2022, NUPD welcomed Sarge, an American labrador retriever, to campus. He was born in 2021 and was originally in Puppies Behind Bars, an organization that trains incarcerated people to develop puppies into service dogs.
Sarge is trained in bomb sniffing, a “helpful skill to have for Northeastern’s big events,” university media outlet Northeastern Global News wrote in a 2022 article. His handler is Sgt. Joe Corbett, and when he is not roaming around campus, Sarge can be found in the community engagement office along with Cooper and Ryder.
Cooper, who made his way to campus nearly three years ago, was the university’s first wellness dog. Soto said that officer Rachel Joliffe, the handler for Cooper, heard about the wellness dog program from the organization Golden Opportunities for Independence, or GOFI.
GOFI provides trained service dogs for people with disabilities, and the dogs can help them with a variety of tasks including walking and navigating. After service dogs — including emotional support animals — started becoming popular, the concept started reaching police departments around Boston. This is when Joliffe talked to the owner of GOFI, initiating the movement at Northeastern and the NUPD’s community engagement unit, Soto said.
Ryder and the other wellness dogs provide more than just comfort; they help NUPD’s community engagement officers improve their relationship with students.
“It opens up the doors,” Soto said. “It makes that connection between us and the community, especially the way life’s been lately. People don’t want to interact or have any police.”
“They are the biggest connection, you know, then we get to talking about ‘How is your day going?’ or ‘How are classes going?’ and we open up communication, that helps us break that ice between [students],” Soto added.
Soto said he is “thrilled to be working here with the dog.” He has worked for NUPD for 30 years, and he said his biggest dream was to be a canine handler.
Students recalled Ryder’s warm and comforting nature fondly. Srivatsan Ramanujam, a first-year mechanical engineering major, said “everybody loves the dogs” and they are “super important” to have on campus.
First-year chemical engineering major Brandon Trott said “he loves his dogs” back home, and that Northeastern’s community dogs “remind [him] of [his] dogs.”
Becky Zheng, a first-year computer science major, said that the “sensory” element when petting a dog is “a big thing if you are having a panic attack.”
“It brings you back into the real world,” she said.
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