- Video shows the MSU Police Department's first-ever comfort canine, River, and his handler, MSU Police Lieutenant, Kim Parviainen.
- River is currently the one and only comfort dog at MSUPD and his role is to offer comfort to the spartan community.
- “We typically do go out into the community and do some foot patrol, just take a walk, and let people pet him...Hand out some stickers and trading cards to give him some exercise, but also to interact with our community," said Parviainen
I'm your MSU neighborhood reporter, Lauren Lendzion, and today I got to catch up with a very special friend: Meet River, a comfort canine, and the newest addition to the spartan community.
For the first time, the MSU Police Department recently welcomed a Golden Retriever to the team, "We picked him in September, and he is from Paws with a Cause, which is a non-profit organization," explained MSU Police Lieutenant, Kim Parviainen.
River is currently the one and only comfort dog at the department, and his role is much different than a typical police canine, "River is basically just trained to be obedient, to be calm, to offer comfort to people," said Lieutenant Parviainen
MSU Police Lieutenant, Kim Parviainen is River's handler, and she said, one of River's most popular jobs on campus is to visit the dorms in hopes of bringing a sense of home to students.
"We hear so often from our students that they miss their dogs at home because when you live-on you can't have a pet in the dorms. So, it's really nice to be able to offer that to our students—To just offer calm, and it makes them really happy," reassured Parviainen.
In addition to his campus duties, River is also a part of the peer support program at the police department, extending his reach of support to officers as well, "Police officers, as you can imagine, respond to incidents that can be very stressful, very traumatic, so I literally have an open-door policy all day that anyone can stop and see River at any time," said Parviainen.
And for those wondering what a typical day in the life of this campus celebrity looks like, "We typically do go out into the community and do some foot patrol," stated Parviainen
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