Friday, Nov. 15, was the birthday of CWU police dog Archie. He is now four years old. Archie is a yellow lab that walks around with his handler Mackenzie Erickson, a CWU police officer here on campus. “This is only the second year that I’ve been able to celebrate,” Erickson said. “So I did buy him a cake, and [a] puppy dog cake last year as well. I think we were on night shift last year and the theater group asked us to come out one night, and so we did, and they had everyone lined up on stage, and they sang Archie, happy birthday, which was super cool. But yeah, we just kind of, you know, this year we had the office here singing him happy birthday.” 

Outside of his job here on campus, Archie has a very full schedule of sleeping and relaxing with his family. Due to his work, Archie needs the rest just as much as anyone else. “He likes to sleep…” Erickson said. “He’s a professional Napper, so on our off days, he does come home with me and he gets to just be a normal dog. That way he can relax, play with my dogs… he’s able to distress as well. Because, you know, when he does come here to work, he does see a lot of people, and I do think he kind of takes on some of that, the stress from people, and so it’s, I can definitely tell when he’s had a long day. So it’s nice that he gets to go home and just relax, take the vest off, you know.” 

Archie comes from Dogs For Better Lives. He was there his whole life before coming to the campus at around two years old. Dogs For Better Lives is one of the few national Assistance Dog organizations that trains dogs to be service dogs. “So they had him until he’s about two and a half years old,” Erickson said. “So he was going through training throughout his whole life. Because the company dogs for better lives. They hire essentially puppy raisers or other volunteers. And these people will raise these puppies and train them to have basic commands and manners. And then they go through the actual train of becoming a facility dog, like him. So when Archie was donated to us, they sent a dog trainer to train me for a week. Thankfully, you know, I’ve had dogs my whole life. And so I’m pretty familiar with training dogs, and thankfully, it came fairly natural, other than having to learn what his skills were and how to use that within the workplace.” 

Archie wasn’t always going to be a facility dog. Originally Archie was going to be a hearing assistance dog before coming to campus. “He actually originally, this is what Dogs For Better Lives told me,” Erickson said. “He originally was supposed to be a hearing assistance dog. But they said that he lacked motivation, so they turned him into a facility dog, and he does great at that job.” 

Archie is a rare, but helpful resource at CWU. “He’s a great resource as well for not only the university but the entire community of Kittitas County,” Erickson said. “He’s the only dog here that’s in Kittitas County, and so he is open to be used by the sheriff’s office, the Ellensburg police department, the fire department has reached out and asked us if they could use him for debriefs on mass casualty incidents.” Archie is a huge help to the students of CWU and those outside of the university, which shows how much Archie works to ensure those around him are doing the best they can. 

“I really do think he helps the students out with anxiety and stress of what’s going on here, and also being separated from home and their own dogs and family,” Erickson said. “And he’s just kind of like a little reminder, maybe a little bit of a piece back home, or at least some comfort to have around here.” 

The other officers on campus recognize Archie’s abilities as well. “I feel like he senses when I’m kind of stressed,” Scotland Vise, another officer at CWU, said. “I feel like he’s drawn to that. Sometimes, if I’m having a bad day, he would just come next to me. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah.’” 

Vise is a CWU alumni and had a different view of the police before coming to CWU and meeting the CWU police. “I’m from Tacoma, Washington,” Vise said. “And I just had a really negative perspective on law enforcement, until I came to Central Washington, and I remember in Hitchcock, I walked in and all the cops were playing pool with students, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is weird.’ And they’re like, ‘Hey, you want to play with us?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And then they start talking to me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, dude, they’re cool.’ This is what I want to do.” 

Due to Vise being a former CWU student he also recommends  the students, “During finals week, … contact Officer Erickson to see if they could meet with Archie,” Vise said. “You know, just to distract them from what’s really going on.” 

“He’s a great morale booster within our department,” Erickson said. “You know, there are scientific studies out there that show that if you even just pet a dog, it lowers your blood pressure, and reduces your cortisol levels. And I mean, here at the police department, we’re a 24/7 agency. We all work, days, nights, weekends and holidays. We’re away from our family a lot. We do encounter some hard calls, especially if we’re helping, you know, the city or the county, and so sometimes we do take on a lot of extra stress. So it’s nice to come back and have Archie here pet him.” According to Erickson, Archie has helped out many different people throughout his time here starting with students, to firefighters, to our very own CWU police.

CWU has a great resource with Archie. “So he’s pretty awesome, and we’re very fortunate as a university to have him and have the support from the President to have this dog here…” Erickson said. “Because what Archie is actually skilled in is called pressure therapy. And so, say we have someone that’s going through some sort of trauma or is very anxious. Archie can come in and lay across their lap and create that pressure, kind of like a weighted blanket. And what that actually does, it’s like a hug. It releases feel-good feelings in your body, like dopamine and serotonin and it just helps people calm down, and relax. And it’s super cool. It’s really cool science. And it’s great that Archie can do that for a community.”

The CWU police encourage students to say ‘Hi’ to Archie when they see him. Though he is a working dog, he is open for everyone to pet and be around him in their time of need. His job is to be there for the students of CWU. Archie is here for everyone.