RANDOLPH — There’s a furry face greeting students and staff at Randolph Central School these days. Therapy dog Silas is on assignment with his partner Deputy Kale Luce, the school resource officer.

Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb recently announced the addition of the new canine to the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office. Silas, a 14-month old Labrador retriever, began his duties with the office in December 2020, and works with Deputy Luce every day at the school.

Silas and Luce are a certified Law Enforcement Investigative Therapy Canine Team. They attended the Paws and Stripes College at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Cocoa, Fla., where they successfully completed the K9s United Law Enforcement & Multi-Discipline Therapy Dog Training course, as well as the American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen test.

“The goal for Deputy Luce and Silas is to build positive interactions with students and staff,” a recent press release from the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office stated. “Silas can be utilized to reduce anxiety during stressful events, de-escalate tense situations and open up avenues for communication with persons in crisis. He can also be utilized to help children and adult victims when interacting with law enforcement, during interviews, as well as responding to acts of violence against children, serious accidents and providing emotional support and anxiety reduction for first responders.”

Luce said he approached Superintendent Kaine Kelly about having a therapy dog at Randolph Central in October 2019 after he had seen it work with a couple of his colleagues in Erie County. He said the dogs put people at ease and open up avenues for communication because some people might feel more comfortable talking to an animal, rather than a police officer.

“That was the reason behind asking Mr. Kelly if he’d be interested. I saw it as an aid in the engagement with family, students, staff and community members,” Luce said. “When I talked to him, he was absolutely behind it 100 percent.”

Once Luce knew Kelly was willing to hear a proposal about having a therapy dog, he met with Lieutenant Brandon Walters, Undersheriff Eric Butler and Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb, who were very supportive.

After much research, Luce said a breed with a good temperament was a big factor in his decision. He considered how one might interact with people and how they feel about other people approaching them. The friendliest breeds he could think of were the Golden retriever and Labrador retriever.

Luce said he started working for the sheriff’s office in 2008 and has been the school resource officer since March 2017. Born and raised in Cattaraugus, he has lived in Cattaraugus County his whole life and still resides in the local area. Silas has lived with Luce and his wife, Christina, since January 2020 when he was eight weeks old.

“We wanted to have all the moments and experiences that we could have with Silas as a puppy,” he said. “We wanted him to be part of our family and make memories with him.”

Luce said he started doing basic obedience and behavior training with Silas as soon as they brought him home. Then he worked on getting him used to interacting with people and different situations that he might be deployed into. He said the training was a challenge with the COVID-19 restrictions that caused many businesses to close and people not being able to interact with each other.

They also worked on various environmental conditions that Silas will experience including different types of floors and surfaces like carpet, tile, concrete, wood and blacktop. There are also three flights of stairs to climb at the school.

“Silas can’t let any of that bother him, whether it’s a reflection in a window, the floor feels weird under his feet or different types of odors,” Luce said. “There’s a gymnasium, cafeteria, different classrooms, perfumes and all those different smells that could be a distraction.”

At 14 months old, Silas is still a little “puppy clumsy.” Luce said he gets excited and doesn’t realize that his wagging tail is hitting somebody. When he opens his mouth and people see all his big, shiny white teeth, they should not be afraid. His mission is to be a good ambassador and to have a positive interaction with everyone he meets.

Luce said this is the only Multi-Discipline Therapy Dog team in Cattaraugus County. He said there are only about a half dozen teams like this in New York state where a school resource officer is partnered with a therapy dog. Including the Randolph Central School District, there are four teams in Western New York. The other three are in Depew, Alden and Perry.

Sheriff Whitcomb thanked Superintendent Kelly and the Randolph Board of Education for partnering with the sheriff’s office to bring Silas into the school community where he has already proven to be an asset. The sheriff also thanks the Randolph Veterinary Clinic for their services and Purina for the food for Silas.

Silas has his own Facebook page and he’s looking for some new friends. Connect with him at Therapy-Dog Silas.

(Contact press reporter Deb Everts at salpressdeb@gmail.com)