Oscar Kilo 9: Wellbeing and trauma support dogs

The Oscar Kilo wellbeing and trauma support dogs service aims to build on local police wellbeing dog services and make wellbeing dogs available to all forces who wish to introduce a dog as part of their wellbeing provision.

On this page, you will find out all about the wellbeing and trauma support dogs, meet our recruits and find out what makes them tick.

What are wellbeing and trauma support dogs?

Police officers and staff do a demanding and sometimes dangerous job, and in many roles are frequently exposed to trauma. Over recent years, police forces around the country have recognised the value of dogs in helping officers and staff with their wellbeing.

When a dog is introduced to the workplace, the atmosphere immediately changes and people want to interact with the dog. During this time together, they share oxytocin, a hormone that engenders affection, trust, and a sense of security. It helps naturally lower cortisone levels and in doing so reduces feelings of stress and anxiety.

These interactive sessions provide light relief from the rigors of the job and the dogs help get people talking, and create expressions of genuine feeling just by being friendly and non-judgemental.

Wellbeing dog handlers are also mental health first aiders or trained peer supporters who are ideally placed to listen, enable difficult conversations and provide sign-posting to support if required.

How Oscar Kilo became involved

The project initially began with a handful of police forces reporting the difference their wellbeing dogs were making to their officers and staff. This led to the creation of the national OK9 network which currently has over 150 OK9 accredited wellbeing and trauma support dogs and representation from 30 UK police forces and fire and rescue services across the country.

This network is growing daily as more forces and services see the benefits the dogs bring. Those involved are passionate about helping colleagues through this form of peer support and hold monthly meetings that promote the sharing of best practice. It is clear that these dogs are having a huge impact on the people they are working with and the feedback so far has been outstanding. The OK9 scheme has been made as accessible as possible so that we can help more forces and services set it up within their individual organisations.

We have developed the national network to to build on the knowledge gained and provide national guidance making it easier for forces to introduce a dog as part of their wellbeing provision.

Introduction to Oscar Kilo 9

Watch this video to hear from Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Sussex Police and Wellbeing and Trauma Support Dog Project Lead Sergeant Garry Botterill, on how the OK9 scheme came about, and the benefits the wellbeing and trauma support dogs bring to officers, staff, and volunteers.

Video transcript

Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Sussex Police

I've been incredibly privileged to sort of have the unofficial role I think of being the Ambassador for OK9. They have just been so popular from the word go. And of course there are a handful of forces that had dogs but they were standalone really. And we were incredibly lucky of course that Garry started it off within Sussex.

And we've been able to then expand it across and we have a number of very willing handlers and of course their dogs who do that. And indeed we also have one of our assistant chief constables who's now got a wellbeing dog and so I think that ability to break down the barriers of rank as well has been really incredible.

Wellbeing and Trauma Support Dog Project Lead Sergeant Garry Botterill

So the OK9 wellbeing trauma support dog service is something that came about as a result of acknowledging a need for officers and staff to be more cognizant about their wellbeing. And the dogs are a great tool to get the message across that they need to have some time to step away from their desks from time to time to talk to colleagues and to talk to mental health first first aiders and peer supporters and talk more about how they're feeling and what's going on in their world.

The dogs are used in a variety of ways. And they can be anything from ad hoc visits into the offices. Obviously the handles are trained to check to make sure everybody's okay with the dogs going into that environment but it can also be for planned events, mental health first aid, mental health awareness, anything that is going on where you're kind of raising awareness about self-care and looking after yourself. It's important that our staff and officers are fit and healthy and the dogs really help promote that.

They're also used for post-incident. So if something's happened and - you know, we've used them where sadly we've had officers or staff members who've died or taken their own lives. We've brought them in then to give people that opportunity to go and interact with the dog, to express how they how they feel with the dogs. They've got the ability to take some of the stress from us, and we use them in diffuse meetings or TRiM meetings as well. So it it gets people talking and opening up. And that's the key to them. They help - they're a furry bridge to communication. They open people up and they allow people to talk and process things that otherwise, they'd find really hard to do so. And that's great because once they can process what they're going through, the brain is able to file it and they can move on. It helps them to be more resilient.

Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Sussex Police

So I think we currently have about 170 dogs across the country. I think it's about 31 different forces. And I know that that's going to grow really rapidly. You know, it would be aspirational of course for every force to have Oscar Kilo 9 dogs because of the benefits that they bring. So as long as we have managed growth in a careful way which does follow that governance, then I actually think the world's our oyster. And of course, it's being picked up hugely by other emergency services and other organisations because they can see first-hand the benefits that it's brought to our officers, and staff, and volunteers.

How does it work?

Forces who already have a wellbeing dog can apply to become a member of the national OK9 wellbeing and trauma support dog network. The handlers of these dogs should be trained peer supporters or mental health first aiders, but where this isn’t the case, we will offer specialised training through our Oscar Kilo peer support programme to support this.

After the force signs our service level agreement and the dog passes our OK9 suitability assessment test, they can become part of this group and we also ask that they agree to be available for deployment nationally in the event of a major incident.

The OK9 lead will assist the force or service through the process of getting set up and will be on hand to answer any questions, attend meetings and provide all the information that may be required. This is usually achieved by linking in with the wellbeing lead of each force or other designated people.

All forces and services receive a high level of ongoing support with every aspect of the OK9 role, this includes branded jackets and badges, certificates of accreditation, CPD days, virtual and actual meetings, a members area with training, assessment and enrichment guides, and other useful information for OK9 peer supporters.

The OK9 lead will coordinate the OK9 response to support colleagues around the country in the event of a major incident – or to attend national events and work with our wellbeing outreach service (the wellbeing vans).

All dogs in the group are scrutinised by an animal welfare scheme and have comprehensive risk assessments and insurance in place.

What it's like to be an OK9 handler

Video transcript

Sarah: Well, I've always been into dogs, I've always been fortunate enough to have a dog since a child. We have family dogs, and as an adult I've always had dogs. I think I recognise the benefit that they bring you. It's not just about love and companionship, but when you've had a really rotten day at work, or a difficult day at work, nothing better to help you get your head more focused, and forget the day and move on.

And taking your dogs for a walk when you get home, being out in the fresh air, and I think that as a combination, and seeing how some of my work colleagues were struggling with mental health, and struggling with like pressures from work, that kind of really drove me to apply to be an OK9 dog handler. But for my colleagues and my friends, it's just great when you see their faces when he walks through the door. They're all smiling, and then suddenly they're on their hands and knees playing with the dog, and they all want to take him back to their desk, and they’re all vying for his attention. It really lightens the mood at work and makes them a really happy place to be when the dog's there.

The dog is a massive draw of conversation. I think when you walk down the corridor within your workplace and people that you normally speak to and just say hello to you, how are you. They suddenly stop and they want to engage in conversation with you, and you suddenly go from just saying hello to knowing their name, and having quite a good conversation with them. And then the next time you see them, that conversation continues, especially because they usually start with “How's the dog?” and it goes from there. So I think for me it's a real kind of like tool to start developing conversations with people that you don't really know very well.

We can be requested to bring a dog from a different department if they're having – if they've got a lot of workload, they're a bit stressed, they've got high sickness, or they've had some type of trauma within that team. So we could get requests for the dog to go to just to do a visit. I can do a day where I can work at an out station and work from my laptop, and I can take him, and then I overlap maybe with the early shift and the late shift, so he sees two lots of officers, or two lots of staff, whoever's around in that building so they get a maximum benefit.

He comes with me when I do critical incident debriefs, he's very good at starting that conversation. He has some moments when he gets a bit soggy. We have often have tears and things and he just seems to just blend straight into it, and he seems to know the right people to go to who are struggling the most to either start the conversation, or finding it difficult to start that conversation about how they're feeling.

An OK job handler in my force, which is West Mercia, you have to be a peer supporter and a mental health first aider, so you have to have those basics to try and instigate those conversations if you feel that's where it's going, and be able to offer support, and offer further support, you know, more professional help. I'm just there really to initiate that conversation really, if I can, with the dog, and to try and help that person move forward.

We have a really good informative page on the front page of our forces intranet page that direct you through OK9 and through our own health and wellbeing, and Pam Assist, and all those other things that can help people. So I can guide them onto those pages, and I know that a lot of people now are looking at the OK9 pages, especially Oscar Kilo because of the dogs. The dogs have almost drawn them to that help site really. And as soon as we get to the station he starts whinging because he wants to get in, and get into the response office. I think he really does. I have to monitor him a little bit because he can get a little bit – he can get over-tired, and he doesn't actually realise it. So yes, I have to keep my on him a little bit. But yes, I think he really loves it. I think he loves going to work.

Can I book a dog to visit my force?

The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) do not hold their own wellbeing dogs.

The purpose of the wellbeing and trauma support dog project is to assist forces to develop their own wellbeing dog scheme so they have the capability for the dog to support their people. While we will have a mutual aid capability we rely on forces joining the group and sharing resources when there is a pressing need. We are able to assist forces in getting their scheme up and running.

If you feel your force could benefit from a visit from an OK9 following a serious incident or at a large scale event please get in touch and we’ll try to help by co-ordinating a suitable OK9 wellbeing and trauma support dog response.

Want to know more?

If you are interested in finding out more about OK9 wellbeing and trauma support dogs or want to get your force involved, we've put together some frequently asked questions based on what you have asked us. Check out our questions and answers using the button below.

Go to FAQ's

OK9 colouring and activity sheets

Check out these downloadable activity sheets for children kindly provided to us by PC Cathy Veale from Devon, Cornwall and Dorset Police Alliance.

Activity sheets

Meet the OK9 dogs

Read all about the OK9 dogs and their handlers, and find out what makes them tick.

Meet our dogs

OK9 member page

This member page is for the OK9 wellbeing and trauma support dog handlers only. It contains digital forms, resources, and up to date information on the project.

To gain access you must create an Oscar Kilo account using the login area at the top right of this website. Once you have an account, email us using the contact us button below and we will give you access to the page. You can then use button below to enter the member area.

Creating an account also gives you access to lots of other resources only available to people working in UK policing.

If you need further support or don't have a .police.uk email address please get in touch.

Enter OK9 member page

OK9 top dogs

Read about what the OK9 top dogs have been up to to deserve this honour.

Meet the OK9 top dogs