Overview:
A trained facility dog named Guster is helping students feel calmer, safer and more connected at a Douglas County school.
When students walk through the doors at Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch, many of them make the same stop to greet Guster. He is a yellow Labrador Retriever and graduate from Freedom Service Dogs who frequently sits near the front desk with school resource officer Deputy Brian Corbin, and Guster has quickly become a familiar and welcome sight in the halls.
Students at the Douglas County school now have a new kind of support system: a trained facility dog whose job is to help them navigate the stress, anxiety and social pressures of middle school. As young students adjust to academic demands and social challenges, many can feel isolated or overwhelmed. Guster and Corbin aim to offer a calming presence and a sense of safety.
“Students sometimes don’t want to talk to me because I can be intimidating,” Corbin said. “Now with Guster here, the connection is almost instantaneous, because most of the kids love dogs, and that’s how I can start talking to the kids.”
Guster is part of a growing effort to bring facility dogs into schools. Unlike household pets, facility dogs are professionally trained to provide therapeutic support in environments such as schools, hospitals and residential programs. At Cresthill, that support often begins the moment students arrive.
“Guster’s job basically is to work with Brian to provide comfort and stress relief to the students at that school,” said Kendle Frank, a puppy raiser and content coordinator at Freedom Service Dogs. “Facility dogs are supporting kids from all walks of life, whether they like school or don’t like school and come from different backgrounds and different social classes.”
“These kids are feeling supported by these dogs and by the school resource officers in turn,” Frank added. “They’re going to school because they get to see their best buddy when they come in the door. It gives them a reason to smile, at least when they come inside.”
Corbin said he has seen a noticeable shift in the school’s atmosphere since Guster arrived.
“My overall personal feeling is that the overall vibe of the school has been more chill,” Corbin said. “I think I can say that because, like I said, I have been here for five years without a dog, and from observation, after the kids pet the dog or just interact with him, you can just see their shoulders relax.”
The impact extends beyond students. Jennifer Swanson, a front office staff member, said Guster has become part of the school’s daily rhythm.
“Guster is a calming presence here at Cresthill,” Swanson said. “He is something soft that students and staff can come to for support. He’s like a morning buddy for us at the front office.”
By all accounts, Guster is a helpful and popular member of the Cresthill team.
“Students request Guster,” Swanson said. “They feel like they can disconnect from school life when they are around him. He’s a familiar friend.”
Guster’s ability to switch between work and play is part of what makes him effective. When he is wearing his service vest, Corbin said, he knows it’s time to focus.
“He is so smart,” Corbin said. “He is just like when you have a pet, and they know when you are upset or happy; he knows it instantly, and he just goes to work. And when that vest comes off, he is just like any other lab.”
Programs like this are still relatively rare, but growing. Currently, only two Freedom Service Dogs are paired with school resource officers in the United States — Guster at Cresthill Middle School and another dog, Jack, at a high school in Minnesota. Both Corbin and Frank believe that number will increase.
“There is definitely a future for Freedom Service Dogs in schools,” Corbin said. “Definitely for us at the sheriff’s department. We are in the process of getting more therapy dogs in schools. Guster stays with me at Cresthill, but we are working to branch out to other schools; the school district wants it, and so does the sheriff’s office.”
For now, at Cresthill, Guster’s role is simple: be there. And for many students, that’s more than enough.
