Rampart is only a puppy, but he already knows he has a very important job in his future. He is one of the newest members of the Global Medical Response<\/a> (GMR) Therapy Dog Team. The dogs and their handlers are trained to help emergency personnel who experience trauma while in the field or on 911 calls.<\/p>\n A group that started with just two pups has since grown to more than 20 and gone from a program at American Medical Response<\/a> (AMR) to its parent company GMR, allowing it to reach out to more paramedics and EMTs.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy Michael Romo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rampart\u2019s handler, Michael Romo, operations manager for the San Bernardino AMR, has had family dogs but had never even gone to a dog-training class before. It wasn\u2019t until he was deployed to Florida to help after Hurricane Michael in 2018 that he saw the importance of having a therapy dog available to the crews. After a week helping in an area completely devastated, the 200-plus paramedics and EMTs were showing signs of understandable fatigue. Morale, which was never high due to the work being done, was dipping even lower. \u201cThe dogs showed up at camp one day, and people lit up,\u201d Michael remembers. When he got back to his office in Victorville, California, he looked into what it would take for his county to have access to its own therapy dog.<\/p>\n All employees in the Victorville office were polled to verify that they were OK with a dog in the facility and would be comfortable looking after him if Michael wasn\u2019t available. Everyone was excited. Many had been following the GMR Therapy Dog Team on its Facebook page and knew about the program. Michael admits, \u201cTo be able to say that we were going to have that here in our operation was pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the office and Michael\u2019s home passed inspection, they needed to identify a breeder and trainer. GMR requires that the dogs in their program be hypoallergenic and be low shedding so that they can be in the office, on location, in public and loved up by personnel without leaving behind a trail of discarded fur. A Goldendoodle breeder had a dog who herself was a therapy dog. It seemed like the perfect fit. GMR purchased three dogs from her litter. These three boys would be trained to be working pups in California \u2014 one in San Diego County, one in Ventura County and a fluffy, light-brown love bug named Rampart would find his way to Michael. Training started almost right away. Rampart passed his puppy obedience class. His next test is coming soon and will prove his knowledge of the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy training. Two more months of training after that, and have access to its own therapy dog.<\/p>\n All employees in the Victorville office were polled to verify that they were OK with a dog in the facility and would be comfortable looking after him if Michael wasn\u2019t available. Everyone was excited. Many had been following the GMR Therapy Dog Team on its Facebook page and knew about the program. Michael admits, \u201cTo be able to say that we were going to have that here in our operation was pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the office and Michael\u2019s home passed inspection, they needed to identify a breeder and trainer. GMR requires that the dogs in their program be hypoallergenic and be low shedding so that they can be in the office, on location, in public and loved up by personnel without leaving behind a trail of discarded fur. A Goldendoodle breeder had a dog who herself was a therapy dog. It seemed like the perfect fit. GMR purchased three dogs from her litter. These three boys would be trained to be working pups in California \u2014 one in San Diego County, Rampart will be tested for his Canine Good Citizen award. At that point, Rampart will start his training to get his final certification \u2014 that of a therapy dog.<\/p>\n Rampart isn\u2019t the only one in class. Michael, his co-worker and secondary handler, and wife all attend classes with Rampart. \u201cThey don\u2019t train the dog, they train the human,\u201d Michael explains. Michael and Rampart\u2019s secondary handler also must go through Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing (CISD). He explains it as peer-counseling class for paramedics and EMTs, and it is mandatory for all GMR therapy dog handlers. The CISD offers a number of layers of help to the emergency personnel. One of those layers is a therapy dog. There are also professional counselors available over the phone or in person, but some people may want to talk to someone who can relate to them peer to peer, and that is what the handlers need to learn to do.<\/p>\n GMR now has dogs and trained handlers in locations all over the United States. The dog and handler are flown to wherever they are needed. During the recent El Paso shooting, for example, a duo was sent to help. Soon that will be Rampart and Michael. Until then, every day Rampart puts on his vest and collar, which is a signal to him that it is time to work, gets his seatbelt put on and heads to the office with his dad.<\/p>\n Field responders come through the office, or Michael and Rampart will take a trip to a station.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I am pulling in, you hear the crews yelling \u2018Rampart!\u2019 They get so excited to see him.\u201d Even without all his certifications and awards, Rampart is already performing an important part of his worker dog duties \u2014 making people happy. \u201cWhen you walk in, people light up when they see a dog coming into the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n There is no doubt that Rampart realizes he is special and has an important job. He can be seen prancing through the hall like the rock star he is.<\/p>\n Michael is looking forward to getting to work with his new partner. He likes the fact that they are helping people. In what can be a stressful and sometimes thankless job, he thinks it makes a big difference for them to make people smile and make their day a little better.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are helping the people that are helping others in the community and that is a big positive for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy Michael Romo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Q: What is Rampart\u2019s diet?<\/strong> Q: What type of gear does Rampart use?<\/strong> Q: Do you groom Rampart yourself or do you take him to someone to be groomed?<\/strong> Q: Does Rampart have any nicknames?<\/strong> Q: If Rampart had a super power, what would it be and why?<\/strong> Q: What is the weirdest or funniest thing Rampart does?<\/strong> Learn more about the GMR Therapy Dog Team on Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post Meet Rampart \u2014 GMR Therapy Dog in Training<\/a> by Wendy Newell<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post Meet Rampart \u2014 GMR Therapy Dog in Training<\/a> by Wendy Newell<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n Rampart is only a puppy, but he already knows he has a very important job in his future. He is one of the newest members of the Global Medical Response<\/a> (GMR) Therapy Dog Team. The dogs and their handlers are trained to help emergency personnel who experience trauma while in the field or on 911 calls.<\/p>\n A group that started with just two pups has since grown to more than 20 and gone from a program at American Medical Response<\/a> (AMR) to its parent company GMR, allowing it to reach out to more paramedics and EMTs.<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy Michael Romo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rampart\u2019s handler, Michael Romo, operations manager for the San Bernardino AMR, has had family dogs but had never even gone to a dog-training class before. It wasn\u2019t until he was deployed to Florida to help after Hurricane Michael in 2018 that he saw the importance of having a therapy dog available to the crews. After a week helping in an area completely devastated, the 200-plus paramedics and EMTs were showing signs of understandable fatigue. Morale, which was never high due to the work being done, was dipping even lower. \u201cThe dogs showed up at camp one day, and people lit up,\u201d Michael remembers. When he got back to his office in Victorville, California, he looked into what it would take for his county to have access to its own therapy dog.<\/p>\n All employees in the Victorville office were polled to verify that they were OK with a dog in the facility and would be comfortable looking after him if Michael wasn\u2019t available. Everyone was excited. Many had been following the GMR Therapy Dog Team on its Facebook page and knew about the program. Michael admits, \u201cTo be able to say that we were going to have that here in our operation was pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the office and Michael\u2019s home passed inspection, they needed to identify a breeder and trainer. GMR requires that the dogs in their program be hypoallergenic and be low shedding so that they can be in the office, on location, in public and loved up by personnel without leaving behind a trail of discarded fur. A Goldendoodle breeder had a dog who herself was a therapy dog. It seemed like the perfect fit. GMR purchased three dogs from her litter. These three boys would be trained to be working pups in California \u2014 one in San Diego County, one in Ventura County and a fluffy, light-brown love bug named Rampart would find his way to Michael. Training started almost right away. Rampart passed his puppy obedience class. His next test is coming soon and will prove his knowledge of the AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy training. Two more months of training after that, and have access to its own therapy dog.<\/p>\n All employees in the Victorville office were polled to verify that they were OK with a dog in the facility and would be comfortable looking after him if Michael wasn\u2019t available. Everyone was excited. Many had been following the GMR Therapy Dog Team on its Facebook page and knew about the program. Michael admits, \u201cTo be able to say that we were going to have that here in our operation was pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Once the office and Michael\u2019s home passed inspection, they needed to identify a breeder and trainer. GMR requires that the dogs in their program be hypoallergenic and be low shedding so that they can be in the office, on location, in public and loved up by personnel without leaving behind a trail of discarded fur. A Goldendoodle breeder had a dog who herself was a therapy dog. It seemed like the perfect fit. GMR purchased three dogs from her litter. These three boys would be trained to be working pups in California \u2014 one in San Diego County, Rampart will be tested for his Canine Good Citizen award. At that point, Rampart will start his training to get his final certification \u2014 that of a therapy dog.<\/p>\n Rampart isn\u2019t the only one in class. Michael, his co-worker and secondary handler, and wife all attend classes with Rampart. \u201cThey don\u2019t train the dog, they train the human,\u201d Michael explains. Michael and Rampart\u2019s secondary handler also must go through Critical Incidence Stress Debriefing (CISD). He explains it as peer-counseling class for paramedics and EMTs, and it is mandatory for all GMR therapy dog handlers. The CISD offers a number of layers of help to the emergency personnel. One of those layers is a therapy dog. There are also professional counselors available over the phone or in person, but some people may want to talk to someone who can relate to them peer to peer, and that is what the handlers need to learn to do.<\/p>\n GMR now has dogs and trained handlers in locations all over the United States. The dog and handler are flown to wherever they are needed. During the recent El Paso shooting, for example, a duo was sent to help. Soon that will be Rampart and Michael. Until then, every day Rampart puts on his vest and collar, which is a signal to him that it is time to work, gets his seatbelt put on and heads to the office with his dad.<\/p>\n Field responders come through the office, or Michael and Rampart will take a trip to a station.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I am pulling in, you hear the crews yelling \u2018Rampart!\u2019 They get so excited to see him.\u201d Even without all his certifications and awards, Rampart is already performing an important part of his worker dog duties \u2014 making people happy. \u201cWhen you walk in, people light up when they see a dog coming into the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n There is no doubt that Rampart realizes he is special and has an important job. He can be seen prancing through the hall like the rock star he is.<\/p>\n Michael is looking forward to getting to work with his new partner. He likes the fact that they are helping people. In what can be a stressful and sometimes thankless job, he thinks it makes a big difference for them to make people smile and make their day a little better.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are helping the people that are helping others in the community and that is a big positive for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: Courtesy Michael Romo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Q: What is Rampart\u2019s diet?<\/strong> Q: What type of gear does Rampart use?<\/strong> Q: Do you groom Rampart yourself or do you take him to someone to be groomed?<\/strong> Q: Does Rampart have any nicknames?<\/strong> Q: If Rampart had a super power, what would it be and why?<\/strong> Q: What is the weirdest or funniest thing Rampart does?<\/strong> Learn more about the GMR Therapy Dog Team on Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post Meet Rampart \u2014 GMR Therapy Dog in Training<\/a> by Wendy Newell<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dogster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2002_WorkIt_Ambulance-450x600.png\")
<\/p>\nAn important job<\/h2>\n
Making people happy<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dogster.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Working-Dog_Rampart_1973.png\")
<\/p>\nA Q&A With Michael Romo<\/h2>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Nature\u2019s Logic and occasionally some vegetables (carrots, broccoli, green beans).<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Dog Gear travel bag, Amazon Basic Crate, Mighty Paw Safety Belt and
\nBolux Vest.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Rampart is groomed about every four weeks at PetSmart, by a groomer who has Goldendoodles herself.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Not really, although we sometimes call him Buddy.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Making people laugh and smile, his natural puppy clumsiness and his love of being petted. He will come to people and plop his head on their lap, and once you start petting he will awkwardly flop onto his back to have his belly rubbed.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Pretty much every good nap during the day he will dream and \u201ctalk\u201d in his sleep. He barks and makes noises as his paws flinch, and his mouth looks like he is nibbling or just licking the air. We say he is chasing balls in his sleep.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nAn important job<\/h2>\n
Making people happy<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nA Q&A With Michael Romo<\/h2>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Nature\u2019s Logic and occasionally some vegetables (carrots, broccoli, green beans).<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Dog Gear travel bag, Amazon Basic Crate, Mighty Paw Safety Belt and
\nBolux Vest.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Rampart is groomed about every four weeks at PetSmart, by a groomer who has Goldendoodles herself.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Not really, although we sometimes call him Buddy.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Making people laugh and smile, his natural puppy clumsiness and his love of being petted. He will come to people and plop his head on their lap, and once you start petting he will awkwardly flop onto his back to have his belly rubbed.<\/p>\n
\nA:<\/strong> Pretty much every good nap during the day he will dream and \u201ctalk\u201d in his sleep. He barks and makes noises as his paws flinch, and his mouth looks like he is nibbling or just licking the air. We say he is chasing balls in his sleep.<\/p>\n