Comfort With Kota: Meet Geauga County’s Child Advocacy Superstar!
“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an emptiness we don’t even know we have. – Thorn Jones”
Our journey with Kota Bear began long before he was even born. In late 2018, Scott Christopher, investigator with the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office, reached out to see how we could potentially help train a dog to serve along with his office to provide comfort and security to victims of childhood abuse, neglect, and trauma. Coordinating services with local mental health counselors and determining possible criminal charges against offenders requires building a relationship with children who’ve made it through unfathomable circumstances and are frequently less than forthcoming with adult strangers. It occurred to Scott to add a canine member to the team to ease the process with the kids and even help members of his department when they were in need of comfort.
In March of 2021, Scott reached out again. He and his colleague Haley Filco, Child Advocacy Program Manager in Geauga County, had found their ideal pup! According to Scott, “[Haley] has been trained in child forensic interviews by the National Child Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Haley conducts all interviews and Kota Bear is a part of each interview, he has a bed in the room, and he is allowed on the furniture. We worked with our agency and found funding through the Victim Of Crimes Act (VOCA Grant). This federal grant was approved and allowed us to get Kota and pay for training and supplies. Kota was bred by Sherry and Robert Lowry out of Canton, Ohio. They are wonderful to work with and breed Soft Coated Wheaton Terriers. Kota was born on February 1st, 2019, and we got him in May of 2019. He started his therapy dog work right away.” Months into training, “he was struggling to make meaningful relationships with any 4-legged friends, so we started working with Sit-Means-Sit and have seen immediate improvements.”
We had the pleasure of working with Kota Bear during an intensive Day Training immersion program. Kota came to SMS once a week for five weeks to fine-tune his obedience and build tolerance with other dogs so we could develop his social skills. Each day we worked on building on his existing obedience foundation and giving him the tools he needed to manage his impulses and make the best decisions. He graduated with flying colors and continues training in group classes to keep things consistent. His program also included a lifetime of private instruction so our trainers can assist his team with any new training opportunities that arise.
“Kota is a key team member at our advocacy center, he is the first to greet children and he has done over 170 interviews since he started working with us. Kota also assists with Child Physical Abuse cases in addition to his main job. I am his primary handler and Haley assists when I am out of town or unavailable. He goes to work with me every day, he is allowed in all the county offices, and he also provides therapy to countless social service workers and prosecutors. He is very well-tempered with the kids he serves and is always very gentle and easygoing. He is doing a fabulous job providing comfort to children who genuinely need his companionship during a tough time.”
We have been so lucky to be a part of Kota Bear’s story as he continues in his very important role. He’s moving beautifully toward his AKC Canine Good Citizen Certification which is a prerequisite to our therapy dog program through K9 Caring Angels. We’ll share every piece of his story, so stay tuned!