Tiverton, Rhode Island police department’s new therapy dog draws love

A Rhode Island police department is swearing in its newest hire and he’s cute, cuddly and ready for duty. 

The pup, a black lab named Blue, made his social media debut in August, calling himself the first-ever comfort and therapy dog officer for the Tiverton Police Department, about 23 miles southeast of Providence.

The police department picked him up from Boonefield Labradors, a company that breeds and trains labrador retrievers as therapy and comfort dogs.

According to the police department, the program was officer Shaun Wilson’s idea.

“Officer Shaun Wilson is trying to convince the chief that we should have a comfort dog,” the Tiverton Police Department posted on Facebook on Aug. 25. 

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Blue isn’t the first therapy dog in the area. There’s also Hank, who was Boonefield’s first comfort dog and Brody with the Bristol Police Department a few towns over, according to Facebook posts.

Blue’s first few days on the job were quite busy and full of fun. 

He met his fellow officers, as well as members of the fire department. He visited town hall and got a checkup at the veterinarian’s office. He later got to meet Tiverton High School students, he went to a concert and he stopped by Starbucks for his first pup cup.