Photo: Wilmington Police Department
WILMINGTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – The Wilmington Police Department announced their latest member on Wednesday: an 11-week-old Bernedoodle named Zena.
Zena is joining the department’s Health & Recovery Unit to help Wilmington residents struggling with mental health, substance abuse and other behavioral health issues. The department said Zena has started basic training and over the next year she will be taking part in extensive training so she can become a therapy dog.
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“Zena has an excited but calm temperament, loves meeting new friends, and has recently learned about her love of snow and chasing leaves in the wind,” WPD said in statement. “Zena was individually selected out of hundreds of dog breeds due to the good nature and learning ability of Bernedoodles.”
Zena is also hypoallergenic and has already learned many of the basic commands including “sit,” “lay,” and “touch.” She is still working on “stay.”
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Zena’s handler, Samantha Reif, is the department’s in-house social worker and will be attending all of Zena’s training courses. The duo will be exploring different parts of the town over the next year to help with Zena’s exposure and socialization training.
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