On the afternoon of Friday March 3rd, the Bedford Hills Fire Department opened its doors to its four legged friends from the Good Dog Foundation for a special afternoon training. The Good Dog’s mission is to ease human suffering and promote recovery from trauma and stress using animal-assisted therapy. Unfortunately, one area in which these dogs are increasingly tasked to are disaster sites around the country. Its highly-trained and fully-certified volunteer teams each consist of a human handler and therapy dog have responded to events such as Sandy Hook and the Boston Bombing.

To better acclimate the dogs to the sights, sounds and smells of an emergency scene, our members donned turnout gear and played with the dogs. The dogs were then led around Engine 198 to familiarize them to the loud sirens that they might experience while responding to a disaster.

As expected, the dogs exemplified professionalism. The day wrapped up with treats for both humans and K-9’s

For more information about the Good Dog Foundation or how you can get involved, visit: http://thegooddogfoundation.org/