Last week Monday was a big day for this 12-week-old chocolate Labrador named Brody. The K-9 comfort dog woke up early that day to be welcomed by the Bristol Police Department as the newest member of their law enforcement team.
However, when the time came for his swearing-in ceremony, the sleepy puppy napped through the entire thing!
Brody’s handler, Officer Keith Medeiros, admitted that it was one of the dog’s inherent qualities.
“He plays really hard and he sleeps really hard,” he told The Dodo. “When he’s not playing, he’s sleeping, which is kind of tough because he sleeps a lot.”
On the day of the ceremony, Brody showed everyone that he is settling in just fine in his new office and with his new colleagues.
In fact, he’s already so comfortable that he didn’t mind snoozing in the middle of an important event. When they put him down on the desk, he just laid down and instantly fell asleep.
Although the inductee was blissfully napping in front of him, Police Chief Kevin Lynch remained enthusiastic about bringing him on board. In addition to working with law enforcement, the dog will also spend time with local students and nursing home residents to cheer them up as a community ambassador.
Lynch is optimistic about the puppy “making a difference” in the town of Bristol. He even predicted that the pup would be a “superstar” in the area.
But even when his commanding officer was uttering words of praise about him, little Brody never woke up. He just shifted into a more comfortable sleeping position on his side and went on with his snooze fest.
Initially, the police department was planning on adding a narcotics or a bomb-sniffing dog to the force when Medeiros, the school resource officer, suggested something else: a therapy dog.
Brody joined Medeiros in March – a not so ideal time given the current coronavirus situation. The officer tried to make it work in whatever way he can.
“You want him to be exposed to as many people as possible,” Medeiros said. “And I try to do that while practicing social distancing.”
But as it turns out, Brody couldn’t come at a better time.
“People are really stressed, especially in law enforcement. Just by walking in the police department with Brody, people immediately smile, they immediately get into a better place. They want to pet him, want to hug him and it’s just a really good thing,” he said.
The police department posted a clip of the ceremony on its official Facebook page and it has gone viral. At the time of writing, it has been viewed over 314,000 times, proving that Brody is doing a stellar job in making people smile.
While Medeiros admits that it would have been better if the pup was awake during the ceremony, he didn’t mind taking the oath for his buddy.
Watch Brody’s swearing-in ceremony turned ‘sleeping-in’ ceremony in the video below.
Follow Brody on Instagram to keep up with his adventures as a police dog.