Bark Of The Town: Officer Maggie Soon On Duty
By Angela Mac
CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Offer Thomas Paolera will bring Maggie to AHS for comfort and cuteness this January.
Officer Thomas Paolera and Maggie pose for a photo.
Maggie is an Australian Cobberdog and is soon to be AHS’s new comfort dog. She will not have any patrol functions like a police dog would but she will be there if you ever need a furry friend. Students and faculty members can find her in Paolera’s office from Monday to Friday starting this January.
Senior Evelyn Wheel asked a question many were thinking, “Will she be roaming around the school?”
Maggie will be under Paolera’s control at all times, whether they are in his office or in the classroom. In his office, Paolera has a crate and bed for Maggie when he needs to leave and a bean bag chair for students to hang out with him and the new comfort dog.
Paolera is working on a system allowing teachers to request that Maggie be a part of the classroom. Students who are comfortable around dogs will be allowed to interact with her, and students who wish to stay away can do so easily. Students with pet allergies need not worry: Maggie is hypoallergenic, which means she has reduced allergen production and minimal allergy risk. This is because of her wavy fleece style of hair, causing her to shed infrequently in comparison to other dog breeds.
The Andover Police Department bought and assigned Maggie to Paolera.
“She’s a Department employee, but I’m her handler so she comes home with me,” said Paolera.
Comfort dogs are prevalent in Critical Incident Stress Management teams (CISM) that use dogs like Maggie to debrief people after critical incidents for victims of crimes as well as police officers and firefighters that are involved.
Maggie was anticipated to join AHS before the new year, but her arrival was rescheduled to January due to the absence of a specific policy for comfort dogs. The Andover School Committee already has a service dog policy in action but there is no specific policy for comfort dogs like Maggie.
Interim Principal Betty Taylor stated that they are looking “at other schools that have a policy on it” in order to draft one for AHS.
“I know most kids love comfort dogs. You know, it’s a nice distraction,” stated Taylor. “[At AHS] she’ll be a comforting presence, something that just cheers people up.”
Maggie underwent a lot of socialization and obedience training before her introduction to AHS. She did a three-week board and train in Amesbury, MA, where Maggie stayed with the trainer. They conducted general obedience training with commands like sit, heel, and down and with raised dog beds.
“I trained her to go on her bed and then knock it off until she settles down,” laughed Paolera.
With her trainer, Maggie works on no biting, no barking, and being very friendly and approachable with people: “Not jumping on people and things like that,” said Paolera.
Paolera loves the joy that Maggie brings to his home: “She’s awesome. She makes me, my son, my wife, you know, happier and is a lot of fun to be around. So that will be a big part of her purpose at school.”
