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The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office added two new full-time furry employees to the force this summer: therapy dogs Maverick and Teddy.
The nearly 1-year-old goldendoodles join Ben, the first pup in the department’s Therapy K-9 program. His job is to cuddle up to local students during breaks from class, officers stressed on the beat and victims during forensic interviews. The new dogs will follow in Ben’s paw prints.
“He has done so much great work in the short time that we’ve had him,” said Sheriff Christina Corpus. “He touches people’s hearts.”
The county sheriff’s office, like law enforcement agencies around the Bay Area, is finding therapy dog units to be a useful new tool to support their workforce, comfort crime victims and engage with the community.
Ben, also a goldendoodle, and his handler, school resource officer Deputy Danielle Martinez, have dropped in on at least 150 local events and school visits in Redwood City and elsewhere in the county, according to the sheriff’s office. Beyond community work, Ben also helps put victims at ease during difficult conversations with law enforcement.
“We do forensic interviews,” said Martinez. “That is where, I would say, mostly children, who have been victims of crime – sexual assaults, like more sexual crimes– are able to go through this interview in a comfortable, very supportive environment.”
Victims pet, play with, sit with, or even snuggle Ben —whatever puts them most at ease — throughout the process. He has helped in at least eight forensic interviews.
Corpus also said that Ben, who joined the department in 2023, was hired to help county employees cope with the traumas they face on the job.
“We see a lot of things that happen that, you know, stay with us and we just can’t erase,” said Corpus.
The department purchased Ben and the two new dogs from therapy dog breeder Cali Pals in Hollister for $5,000 each. Veterinary expenses, including a monthly pet insurance fee of $52, are covered by the Sheriff’s Office, according to Gretchen Spiker, the director of communications. Dog handlers also receive a $185 monthly stipend to “supplement the cost of food, grooming and pet supplies,” said Spiker.
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department launched a therapy dog program in 2021, and Capt. Clinton Tada said its two pups are also used to help support the emotional wellness of staff.
“Having those tools, therapy dogs – it’s something we have found relieved some of our officers from those day to day stresses,” said Tada.
In addition, the dogs partner with school resource officers to visit campuses and attend community events. They are used in the field when dealing with victims of sensitive crimes, juvenile victims, as well as vulnerable communities, like unhoused folks or senior individuals.
“Any kind of interaction that we can use as a tool or asset, to not gain compliance, but break down barriers between law enforcement and community trust,” said Tada.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Los Gatos police are not alone in bringing therapy dogs into their workforce. A labrador-cocker spaniel mix joined the Berkeley police oversight office last year, and the Campbell Police Department welcomed a Bernedoodle to their ranks in 2020. Therapy dogs also joined the Atherton and UC Davis police departments this summer.
Lynette Hart, a retired professor of anthrozoology and animal behavior at UC Davis who studied human-animal interactions, said that courtroom dogs, which provide emotional support to victims who testify, paved the way for therapy dogs in law enforcement.
“They demonstrated to all the people in law enforcement ‘Wow, this is really powerful. It calms everyone down. It’s useful. It doesn’t create chaos that we envisioned. It doesn’t lead to disasters. It’s working smoothly,’” said Hart.
As of July 2024, there are 326 courthouse dogs working across 41 states, including at the San Mateo County and Santa Clara County district attorney’s offices, according to the nonprofit Courthouse Dogs Foundation. Courthouse dog programs date back to the late 1980s.
Hart also said she believes the increase in these programs is part of a social movement that is concerned with mental health.
Research repeatedly shows that therapy and service dogs benefit emotional wellness. One study found that university students’ moods improved after interacting with therapy dogs during finals week. Another showed that twice-weekly sessions with a therapy dog led to significantly lower stress levels in school children. Researchers also found that service dogs helped lower anxiety and depression in veterans.
But studies specifically examining the benefits of therapy dogs in law enforcement are few and far between — a fact laid out in a 2021 study exploring such programs. Researchers interviewed eight Royal Canadian Mounted Police members about how dogs helped reduce their stress levels. Participants described the program as “a break from work” that “relieved their stress, improved their mood and helped them to change perspectives.”
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department said it’s difficult to track the efficacy of therapy dog programs.
“You tend to measure success by community trust and interaction and those conversations,” said Tada, adding that the department keeps track of the number of events the dogs attend and requests for their support.
Martinez also logs Ben’s deployments on the job. For one, doing so helps him earn titles associated with the American Kennel Club (AKC) therapy dog certification he received this spring. He also earned the AKC Good Citizen Canine certification, which trains and tests dogs on skills like accepting pets, walking through crowds and listening to calls and commands such as cues to sit.
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office therapy K-9 Teddy and his handler school resource office Deputy James Hajik. Courtesy San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. 
Therapy K-9 Ben sits by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office in Redwood City on Feb. 16, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier. 
Therapy K-9 Ben receives pets from Woodside High School students on Feb. 16, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier. 
Ben, a therapy K-9 with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, rides in the back of a cruiser in Redwood City on Feb. 16, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier. 
School resource office Deputy Danielle Martinez smiles while walking therapy K-9 Ben through Woodside High School campus on Feb. 16, 2024. Photo by Magali Gauthier. 
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office therapy K-9 Maverick and his handler school resource office Deputy Andrea Dion. Courtesy San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
But keeping track of his accomplishments also allows Martinez to figure out the path forward for the new pups in the program. She wants to understand what’s working and what’s not.
“With him being the first therapy dog in the sheriff’s office, he’s already done a lot of amazing things,” said Martinez. “And I want to keep that going and really be successful at this position because it’s new for me and new for the office – it’s new for everybody. I want to make it the best that it can be.”
Maverick joined school resource officer Deputy Andrea Dion on the coastside, while Teddy is serving the San Mateo County Bayside communities with school resource officer Deputy James Hajik.
As for Ben and Martinez, they’ll continue spending every day together, expanding the types of calls for service he answers and perhaps branching out into courtroom work.
“Ben and I have an unbreakable bond,” said Martinez on a walk through Woodside High School campus. “We have become best friends. We go everywhere together. If I’m going somewhere, he’s coming with me on duty and off duty.”
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I appreciate the value of therapy dogs, but it’s dumb to use taxpayer funds to purchase $5,000 designer dog breeds when almost half a million dogs are euthanized every year in shelters. Rescue groups are overflowing with great dogs who could easily be certified as therapy dogs.