CLEVELAND — Following the mass shooting in Maine, crisis response canines and their handlers were deployed to help provide emotional support. The handler and owner of one of the canines is from Cleveland, and they are in Lewiston right now.

Shirley Graziano is the handler of crisis canine, Zodiac. Zodiac is 3 years old and a working service dog.

What You Need To Know

  • A crisis canine from Cleveland has been deployed to Maine following the mass shooting 

  • A man who lost his son in the shooting is trying to help his grandkids by providing a sense of normalcy

  • The crisis canines are different from service dogs; the handler said they are like emotional first aid 

Graziano started training him immediately and said the most important part of training is exposing the dogs to things so they are desensitized. Unlike service dogs for individuals, these dogs are trained to be in fluid situations and not controlled environments.

“Specifically our dogs are trained to understand that if people are completely stressed out and crying and they might come up to them and hug them, and in my dog's case, Zodiac has a big head, so people always comment, 'oh my goodness, your dog's head is so big.' Next thing you know, they’re forehead (to) forehead with him and they’re crying on his head," Graziano said. 

Graziano said the dogs just make people feel better after unimaginable situations.

“They have to be able to deal with unknown circumstances. There could be an ambulance that rips by while we’re interacting with someone and the dogs just have to ignore it, which they do," Graziano said. 

Graziano said Maine is eerie at the moment. A man lost his son in the shooting has grandkids, and planned a trunk-or-treat to try and help the community get back to a sense of normalcy.

“The little kids don’t get this. They don’t understand what’s going on. Why they can’t get their candy, why they can’t have Halloween, why they can’t go to school," Graziano said. 

Graziano and Zodiac will be at the trunk-or-treat and also at the churches, greeting people and showing their support. Zodiac and the other crisis canines are trained for any situation,.Graziano said the dogs are like emotional first aid.

“That’s ultimately the goal, is we want people to get back to feeling the joy, whether it's their hobbies — we don’t want them to be frozen in despair and depression," Graziano said. 

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