Just a few weeks ago, Deputy Long traveled to Florida once again for three days, training and picking up a happy new dog that you may have seen around school since spring break. Camo, a black lab, was adopted by Deputy Long in March to be a therapy dog for Southeast of Saline. Unfortunately, Piper, the previous therapy dog, simply wasn’t a good fit for our school. Thankfully, she went to a good local family within the area.

   Deputy Long went through the same free program, in Brevard County in Titusville, Florida. The program involved rescuing dogs and having inmates and dog trainers work with the rescues. Camo was donated to the sheriff’s office for detecting narcotics but didn’t have enough time to finish his training, so he was instead donated to the therapy program. 

   Just like Piper, Camo has two different personalities. At school, Camo likes to be outgoing and calm because he knows he is on the job. At home, he enjoys being wild and carefree, rarely listening because of his free reign while not on the job. Camo also loves meeting new people, especially kids, and walking around the school. 

   The process of getting Camo was the same process with Piper. Deputy Long already had training experience with the previous therapy dog, meaning that Deputy Long only had to train with Camo personally, instead of once again taking classes. Camo has been doing great so far at Southeast, and if you are happy around him then he is happy. Some fun facts about Camo, he only listens when he is off the leash and Deputy Long is currently trying to teach him a couple of tricks, so he might learn a couple before the end of the year!