Marion ‘Berry,’ therapy dog in training

Hulke found a Washington nonprofit that raises, trains and donates therapy dogs to other organizations, mostly schools. Feeling her house’s emptiness after kid’s departure for college, Hulke asked to puppy-raise for Camp Doodle Woods for a month or two.

She brought home “just a big ball of love” with human-like eyes named Marion “Berry.”

That was in July of last year, and Marion is now a 46-pound ball of charcoal fluff. “Everyone in the offices fell in love with Marion,” Hulke said.

Marion will get her canine citizen training with the nonprofit this July, then three months’ basic obedience training at a boarding facility (which costs about $6,000). Then, she’ll get evaluated for a therapy dog license and insurance.

Hulke plans to put in the paperwork for Marion to stay permanently while Marion’s in training, and then she hopes the county can help raise some donations to help Camp Doodle Woods recoup Marion Berry’s costs, “because it’s not cheap to get a dog trained.”

Marion has already proved her worth.

“We do a lot of visits to dispatch. They’ve had a lot of hard calls lately, even a lot of deaths,” Hulke said. “... I used to be a dispatcher. I understand the trauma that you can go through on that side of the radio. So visiting dispatch has been a priority for us since I brought her here.”

A few weeks ago, a very small child drowned in the Columbia while Hulke was out of town. Returning, she checked in with the dispatchers from that call.

“She said to me, ‘I almost called you on Saturday to ask you to bring the dog in after that happened,’” Hulke recalled. “And so that’s when I knew, ‘Okay, it’s working.’ If dispatch is wanting her when they’re stressed and upset ... So she’s serving her purpose well.” She later added, “Every time I take her potty in that part of the parking lot, she’s like, ‘Let’s go to dispatch!’”

Hulke admitted it’d be nice to have another dog available in the county, but for now it’s just Marion.

Marion helps the people Hulke oversees, too. “I supervise primarily the women, and a lot of them have a lot of trauma going on. And so, she’s been very good with women that have come in who are really struggling,” Hulke noted. “I had one, one day, that was just falling apart. Her kids had been taken away. And Marion just sat down right next to her and let her love on her,” Hulke recalled.

Marion reads temperament well, and can offer enthusiasm when a person is okay and comfort when they’re in crisis. “Her job right now is really just to be loved by anybody who needs some love during the day.”

Hulke’s coworkers like Marion too — and Marion likes going to work: “She loves Monday mornings!”

The presence of a dog relaxes people, Hulke said. Marion lowers their blood pressure and just “calms their system down.” And because Marion’s a doodle, she hasn’t caused any allergies.

Information from the National Institutes of Health and other studies shared by Hulke show that interactions with animals can lower cortisol levels, lower blood pressure, and improve moods.

The previous therapy dog program was also used to help calm people during questioning about “activities.”

Also “Marion and I enjoy visiting classrooms at the local schools to help connect with students and give them an opportunity to interact with law enforcement in an environment that they feel safe,” Hulke added.

She wants a good balance of public and peer work for the dog.

The most important thing in a therapy dog is temperament: “Calm, gentle, having empathy, but not too much. They don’t want a dog to be too sensitive, because it can be traumatic for them if somebody’s in crisis,” Hulke explained.

For this, she wanted a doodle that didn’t weigh above 30 pounds. Oops! “But somebody pointed out to me a while back that it’s good to have a therapy dog that people don’t have to get too low to pet,” she noted.

Too bad Marion enjoys getting petted while laying flat on the ground.

“She’s got a very quirky personality, and she’s very loved at this point,” Hulke said.