Paw and Order! Therapy Dogs for Kids Testifying in Court
Hello everyone this is Krista with episode #149 on the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. Here's a cool thing that I just came across. Nominate your dog to be a part of the Dog Aging Project. This initiative brings together a community of dogs, owners, veterinarians, researchers, and volunteers to carry out the most ambitious canine health study in the world, and your dog can be a part of history. The Dog Aging Project will follow 10s of 1000s of companion dogs for 10 years in order to identify the biological and the environmental factors that maximize healthy longevity. How cool is that? All dogs, young, old, mixed purebred male, female, healthy, and even those with chronic illnesses are considered. So just go to https://dogagingproject.org/ to nominate your dog today to be a part of an unprecedented research platform, examining how genes lifestyle and environment influence aging. I enrolled Winston and yes, your dog can also help uncover what factors are associated with better health and a longer life.
Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode.
Kerry Cooke and her daughter are dog lovers. They’ve both found comfort and solace in dogs through their individual journeys to deal with trauma and adore going for long strolls with their pups. But they found carrying around water and a bowl to keep their canines hydrated burdensome. Carlsbad, California-based Cooke, who had always dreamed of being an entrepreneur, suddenly had her lightbulb moment – and thus SPLEASH was born. Her invention is a handle that attaches to a leash and holds 12 ounces of water along with a mini bowl, so any leash is immediately converted into a dog-friendly hydrating station. Today Cooke and her daughter are relishing running this new venture together, and are giving a portion of the proceeds to organizations that support domestic violence survivors.
Hi there dog lovers! Ready for another informative episode? Well, we are about to chat with Kerry Cooke about Paw and Order! Therapy Dogs for Kids Testifying in Court. And Kerry, I have been looking forward to this interview for quite some time. I think we set this up almost a year ago. So could you please introduce yourself and share why are you so passionate about having therapy dogs allowed in the courtroom?
Paw And Order
Hi, yeah, thanks, Krista. Thank you for having me on the Wag Out Loud. We're really excited to talk about Paw and Order. So I recently started a company called Tail Chasers. I invented a product. And we wanted to really sort of pay homage and honor somebody who was impacted by domestic violence in the most profound way. And my daughter and I both had to testify in court in the trial. And we wanted to make sure that no other child to have to go and testify has to do it without the support of a therapy dog. Because we were lucky enough to have a therapy dog sit in the court waiting area with my daughter before she had to testify. You know, it was very, very emotional, emotionally charged situation. And to have that loving, beautiful dog sit with her and have her focus go to that animal was just…it meant everything to me, as her mother to see her, you know, coping with everything that she was going through, and then doing so with the aid of this therapy animal. So as we started setting up the company and started thinking about, you know, really what our mission is, and really what we want to do, we wanted to have something positive come out of such a negative situation and raise awareness and raise funds to help support others who have to go through a similar situation. So we've partnered with PetPartners.org to help certify therapy dogs for court. And we're trying to raise money for them every year through the sales of our products, but also through doing you know, the largest dog walk and things like that to again raise awareness and raise funds to help certify more dogs to help more kids.
That is fantastic. Well, I love that you're giving back and the focus of this because before I chatted with you about this, I never knew that this was even a thing that you know dogs are more and more available in courtroom situations, so I can't imagine the whole experience of testifying in court, you know, it has to be stressful, as you said emotional, and especially for children, who are asked to probably recall traumatic experiences or memories. And I think we all know that the studies are out that they show that interacting with a dog lowers stress, puts us at ease. So having dogs in the courtroom to actually comfort victims just makes sense. So can you walk us through? How did you actually get to have a therapy dog with you and your daughter, when you went through this experience?
Kerry’s Story
Um, you know, that was very, very interesting and sort of slightly convoluted way that it came about. But I'm so thankful for all of the different things that had to fall into place for it to work out for us. I believe, you know, we live in in San Diego County, and this case was at the San Diego court. And they had just started allowing dogs to accompany victims who had to testify. And, and we were in a unique situation, we were being called to testify for the murder trial. And as you can imagine, again, very emotionally charged, and my daughter was, was going to testify, we went back and forth. So much about whether or not it you know, would be too much emotionally for her to testify. And a lot of the courtroom sort of experiences that you engage with are determined by what the the actual accused person wants, because it's their right to face their accusers. And we wanted to actually have her testify in what's called “in camera”, which means in a different room, so that she wouldn't have to be in the same room with the person that, you know, was the accused, and we, unfortunately, it was their right to, you know, say yes or no to that, and they wanted to see her testify. So the next step was okay, if we can't, if we still feel it's important enough for her to testify, and we can't do it in a different room on a camera, then, you know, what else can we do to help make her more comfortable, so they floated this new idea of having a dog accompany her. And, you know, right away, I was like, Oh, that would be amazing. She loves dogs so much. We at the time had three dogs at home, one of which was her, like her own very own emotional support dog who had helped her through some of the earlier stages before it got to trial. Because she cried into every night, this yellow lab named Leila, who was her heart dog. And I knew that as much as she loved Leila, and you know the other dogs too, but Leila really was her special understanding, emotional support. And they said, you know, we can offer a therapy dog for her, it's most likely going to be a yellow lab and her eyes just lit up on like, I knew that would be the right thing to do to help take her her mind off things. So they arranged for the dog to come wait with us. We had a special meeting/greeting room where we met the dog where she got to be more engaged with the dog and familiar with the dog. And then on the day of the testimony, we waited in the hallway with the dog, which was just I can't even put into words how much it meant to me to have that distraction for her. So she was 11 years old at the time, and, and being able to focus again on this amazing dog when there was, you know, just so much happening in the hallway of the court. It was yeah, it just meant everything to me. Again, unfortunately, the accused gets to dictate many times what happens with the people who are going into the court to testify. And the defense team actually refused to let the dog go in and sit in the courtroom with her. That was just another example of what a horrible person, he was to not allow this young child to utilize the therapy dog in the actual jury, you know, in the box, testimony box, witness box. And we were, you know, fairly distraught about that development when it happened. And we just decided, okay, we’ll put all that love and affection into the dog before you have to go in. And then we had a stuffed animal that she got to hold in the witness box. But sitting there in the court watching her testify the little giraffe that she was holding, you could just see the neck of the giraffe shaking as she sat there recounting some very, you know, troubling, traumatic things. But I think having the therapy dog, I could see the difference in her demeanor in her confidence when we were in the hallway versus in the box to testify. I just want to make more, more parents, more children more comfortable if they have to go through something similar by making more therapy dogs available to help support families who are going through their gut wrenching emotional situation.
Absolutely. And I didn't even know that this existed. And when I dug a little deeper, I learned about the Courtroom Dogs Act. Do you want to shed any light on that where we are with that? And do all states allow therapy dogs in the courtroom?
Right now, to my knowledge, they're still working on it for federal courts, Dianne Feinstein and Corwin introduced a bill to allow therapy dogs in federal courts just this past June. I know, individual states have different regulations and are starting to really embrace this. I think it was Pennsylvania, who is the most recent state to allow dogs to accompany folks in court in and that was in like late September. So not every state allows it in their their state courtrooms. And they are working on a bill to pass for a federal courtroom.
Good. And does the dog have to be accompanied by the handler? Or are they just they're in the courtroom. And the dog is actually most of the time in the box?
In the hallway and the handler’s really nearby. I know. As I mentioned, unfortunately, we weren't allowed to have the dog sit while she testified with her. But what would normally happen is they would sit at the feet of whoever who's testifying, so they can reach down and pet the head and feel that comfort and support. The handler would be most likely in the in the courtroom somewhere in sort of the gallery. But they do they're such well trained dogs. They are so calm, and they have to go through a you know, a big certification process, which is what Pet Partners actually does. They help work with and train and do the certification for the therapy dogs that sit with kids in court.
Okay, well, I want to dig a little deeper into that, but we're just gonna take a quick break right now for a sponsor ad. So we'll be right back.
SPONSOR AD
We so appreciate our friends at Tail Chasers, makers of SPLEASH for being this month’s sponsor.
How do you conveniently carry the water your dog needs while making your routine walks safer AND more enjoyable? The answer is SPLEASH!
This is a handle that easily attaches to your existing leash (whether that be made out of leather, rope or nylon) and is designed to hold up to 12 oz. of water.
SPLEASH is a patent-pending spray leash handle available in two color options and is perfect for:
Hydrating your dog on-the-go with its flip-open cup.
As well as Protecting yourself, your dog, and potential off leash animals, with a 14-foot protective spray radius of water…it’s like a super cool water gun built into the handle of your leash! You can also use the spray to clean off paws or cool your dog down on hot/long walks.
SPLEASH is a brilliant product that gives me an added sense of safety when I’m out on walks with Winston.
Order your SPLEASH today and walk YOUR dog with confidence and ease. Check them out at www.SPLEASH.com and as a Wag Out Loud pawdcast listener, you get a 15% discount by using the code WOL at checkout
We are back, and we are having an amazing chat with Kerry Cooke, talking about Paw and Order. And I am just so thrilled that there is this program to allow therapy dogs in the courtroom. So Kerry, we were just talking about, that these dogs do have special training, and they have to be good at reading people and reading the stress of people. So are these dogs just like, you know, I had Winston as a therapy dog for assisted living centers when he was younger? Would it be the same certification? Or is it a little bit different?
Therapy Dog Training
I am not 100% positive, if it is different than the standard training that they that they take dogs through, but it's really, it's almost more of a handler and the dogs that are that are being trained. They obviously have to be very well behaved animals and follow all of the cues, they have to pass all the health standards and make sure that their their, you know, animals welfare is protected along with the people that they're there to help. So there's, you know, guidelines on the minimum age and a maximum length of visit to sort of prevent the animals from being over exhausted or overworked. You know, they make sure that they keep up with all the veterinary care and those types of things. So the animals that they do bring to support the kids are really very well trained. Very well. acclimatized to the courtroom setting, they go through numerous loud banging noises, disruptive arguing, because all of those kinds of things are in that courtroom environment that they could be exposed to, and they need to not react. So, you know, the, as I mentioned, just, you know, our emotional state in being in the courtroom, the animals pick up on those types of things. So they do have to have that extra intensive training to deal with this high anxiety group of people that they're thrown in with when they're accompanying somebody to testify. Sure. I mean, if you can imagine, not only is the person that they're accompanying to testify in court anxious, and setting off all of those anxious signals to the dog that's so so are, you know, the defendants and the families that are there, and sometimes the courtroom can get very heated. So they do have to be very, very calm animals.
Yes, absolutely. And are there certain breeds that are most often used in courtroom cases?
I've just been experiencing, you know, educating myself as we started this company, and started to really want to, say pay it forward, but but endorse and work with and try and fund more therapy dogs. It seems to me that there's not any one specific type of dog that's used all the time. I mean, the yellow lab is obviously a very loving kind of type of dog. And that's the dog that we had, but I've seen, you know, German Shepherds, and little Pappilon dogs. They've, they have other therapy animals to the support, like rabbits and birds, even not for court rooms, but for, you know, other therapy related support. So, I think it's, you know, obviously, way more about the temperament and the capabilities of the individual animals. That has to be right, than any one breed.
Some argue that the fact that let's say a child needs a therapy dog in the courtroom already signals to the jury that there's something that they need therapy for, you know, a child is already sympathetic. So give a child a dog and they're much more sympathetic. What do you say to that?
Well, I think that was the exact reason why the defendant in the case that we were involved in didn't want to, you know, the dog to come in to it, they were already dealing with this child to, you know, was a witness and saw, you know, saw some things that that they wanted to communicate felt it was important to, to be known. And sitting, you know, this cute little blonde 11 year old down for the jury to talk about what she saw with the company of a dog would have just been too much. So it is within the defendant’s right to be able to, you know, refuse certain things that happen in their case, because it is their, you know, their life on the line, so to speak. But overall, what they found is that the therapy animals really helped to lower the stress level enough, but also open the witness up to almost sort of that comfort level where you feel like you're talking with the dog, and you can tell the dog anything, so they're able to be more free with their memories, and more open with what they're experiencing, because they are bringing the animal with them and having that extra support. Right. As I mentioned, you know, I feel like I saw the courage and the strength that she got from the therapy dog we sat with in the hallway. And we were out there for quite some time. So she had a really long time to enjoy that dog, and she loved on its neck so much and was talking to it. And I I feel like that distraction for her helped get her to a point where we could, you know, walk in and she could face the, you know, this daunting task that she was about to embark on.
Right. Well, I did find a study by Wolford College in South Carolina. they did a study on they had mock jurors and reviewed real cases and had the dogs present. And what they found was surprising to them, that having a dog in the courtroom did not make any difference to the way that the jurors saw the case. So as I mentioned before, you would think that having a therapy dog there with a victim already elicits sympathy, that it would make the victim seem well more like a victim. And people would feel sorry for them. But this study showed no impact with a dog present. So I thought that was really interesting and just supports this program even more.
Let's talk about Spleash. So that is your product that you have come up with under your company tail chasers. And you're using the sales of Spleash to support this organization that you chose called Pet Partners that has this therapy dog program supporting victims in court. First talk about Spleash. We'd love to learn I know about this product. I love this product. I think it's genius. And then tell us why did you choose Pet Partners out of all of the different organizations?
Spleash
Yeah, thank you. And thanks for the opportunity to spread the word about Spleash and about, you know, our our mission in supporting Pet Partners. We really appreciate it. As a bootstrapped startup, you know, you have to get out there and raise awareness and do it on a shoestring budget. So it's been a fun ride and a big learning experience and it's been really great because I do you know, now my daughter is grown and I do get to work with her. She's our creative director. She's my inspiration for for really all things and our dogs and they're a huge inspiration for us. And Lola, who is our biggest dog right now she's 91 pounds. She's a black lab/Weimaraner mix and we live in Southern California and it's always hot. Not always but right now it's a little bit chilly outside but it still is generally warm and sunny most days and walking with a black dog in Southern California you have to really monitor the time of day that you're walking the heat and make sure you bring your water. And I was always leaving without the water and get a couple blocks away and go, I have to go back and get it. Like there's got to be a better way to do this. And not keep forgetting the water. And I had one of those squeezy water bottles, you know, things that I would hang off my pant loop thing or off the leash itself, but it was always just a bit clumsy. And one day I was filling it up and sort of throwing it over at Lola like trying to cool her down. And I thought that a squirt gun would be great to, you know, to use on a walk. So I went home and duct taped a squirt gun to the end of my leash. And I started discovering all the great ways that you can use water. By squirting it on a walk with a dog, cleaning their paws, cleaning up messes on the sidewalk, spraying away any off leash animals that happened to you know, charge up at you you're not ready for. And you know, I Googled it and nothing like it existed yet. So I started on a great journey of researching and developing and launching a new product, which is Spleash. It’s a spray leash handle that you attach to your leash is it fits any regular sized rope, leather or nylon leash and holds 14 ounces of water and can spray at least 14 feet. And so we're hoping everybody will Spleash their leash. And the portion of all of our sales are going towards supporting this great organization, which I chose because it is national, it covers certifying dogs in all states and trying to work with organizations to help foster that and improve the situation for therapy animals in all areas that are used. They don't just focus focus on the kids in the courtroom. They focus on all in therapy, animal certification, but they specialize in working with kids in court as well. So I just wanted to choose an organization as we grow that could support hopefully, and they could support more therapy animal certifications every year.
That sounds amazing. Well, I've tried the Spleash product. And I encourage everyone listening to check it out, because it does make life so much easier when you're out for a walk for your dog. And it's just genius to bring the water with you not only to spray on your dog, but it has a little flip in the handle so that the dog can actually drink right from the handle as well. And as you mentioned, Kerry, you know, there are those irresponsible dog owners that have their dogs off leash. What do you do when you're there with your dog, at least spraying the other dog will hopefully deter them and give you a chance to protect your dog. So again, so many reasons why I love this product. And Kerry is offering a very generous offer to our listeners. If you would like to try out the Spleash, listeners get a 15% discount, just use the code WOL2022. And you can get that just by going to Spleash.com. And ordering there. And of course, all of this information, including the Pet Partners link, all the links are going to be here in the show notes. So you know people definitely should share this episode. I didn't know about courthouse therapy dogs, so I'm sure a lot of other people don't either. And as we are wrapping up, there is one statistic that I found, you know, I asked you how many states are doing this. And I found that as of October of last year of 2021, there were at least 272 courthouse facility dogs working in 41 states. So that's great. But I think this program needs to go even further. I'm excited to hear that hopefully the legislation will be accepted on the federal level as well. So I can't thank you enough, Kerry for bringing this information to us for creating an amazing product and also supporting the Pet Partners Program. Do you have any parting words for us?
Other than to just say thank you so much, Krista. We enjoy the Wag Out Loud pawdcast and are really excited to help again bring awareness to the great service that Pet Partners is, is providing and supporting other people and trying to bring that the memory and keep the memory alive of a beautiful woman who lost her life to domestic violence, named Jennifer Stark. And to make sure that we can make comfortable other children who are going through a traumatic event in their life, you know, summon up the courage to do the right thing and testify.
Yep. And once again, dogs are amazing. They touch every part of our lives. So Kerry, thank you for sharing your story. Again, where can everyone find out more information about you and Spleash?
https://www.facebook.com/TailChasersLLC/
https://twitter.com/TailChasersLLC
https://www.instagram.com/spleash_your_leash/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/tail-chasers-llc
https://www.tiktok.com/@spleash_your_leash
Okay, thank you, Kerry. Appreciate you.
Thanks, Krista.
Thanks again to our friends at Tail Chasers, makers of the Spleash leash handle. Spleash your leash and Hydrate, Protect and Walk Your dog With Ease, but don’t forget to use the code WOL for 15% off of your order at www.SPLEASH.com
Thanks for listening. You'll find some helpful links in the show notes and if you enjoy the show, please be sure to follow and listen for free on your favorite podcast app. And please, please share your feedback. Visit WagOutLoud.com for great product recommendations with discounts, amazing online events and fantastic resources. That's also where to visit our Bark About It page where you can suggest topics, guests or products. Be advised that this show offers health and nutritional information and is designed for educational purposes only. You're encouraged to do your own research and should not rely on this information as a substitute for nor does it replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your dog's health, you should always consult a veterinarian or a nutrition expert. Have a tail wagging day and we'll catch you next time.
Hey Winston was that another tail wagging episode?
Don’t forget to Subscribe for FREE and please leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify I Stitcher I iHeartRADIO
The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a veterinarian, licensed nutritionist or other qualified professional. The host as well as guests who speak on this podcast express their own opinions, experience and conclusions, and Wag Out Loud LLC neither endorses or opposes any particular views discussed here.