Our Mission.

To provide therapy dog teams in support of our local 9-1-1 Call Centers and First Responders day to day as well as in times of major crisis or natural disasters.

How We Were Founded.

Since 09/11/2001, there has been increased public recognition in the U.S. of all civilian emergency providers. Call takers in the 9-1-1 call centers are not as visible but provide the first professional link in Emergency Systems nationwide. We recognize the uniquely stressful nature of the work they do, as well as all first responders in our area that help to keep us safe. Because of all these incredible people, the K-9’s On Call Support Dogs were founded.

With invitation extended and after several months of preparation, we started on September 6, 2017, visiting the Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communications Center (CTECC) here in Austin, Texas. K-9’s On Call Support Dogs is honored to be the first therapy dog organization in Central Texas to provide this support.

The initial seven dog and six handler teams were carefully selected because of their backgrounds in professional emergency services, dog training or both. All our volunteer teams are made up of dogs personally owned and living with the handler and are registered with Pet Partners, (petpartners.org), a nationally recognized pet therapy organization.

What We Do.

While we were created to support all emergency responders in the Central Texas area, our initial focus has been the call center at CTECC here in Austin. The personnel at a 9-1-1 call center are the calm voice on the end of the phone during what may be one of the worst days of your life. The system, by necessity, must function 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

Stress relief is mostly limited to the time between calls behind a computer in a cubicle or with short on-site breaks. In this setting, we bring our dog teams walking the floor and visiting each staff member providing relief between calls. Each visit brings us comments such as “I needed this after these last few calls”, or “This is the best part of my day”, or “I had hoped the dogs would come to visit today”.

Our teams are trained and ready to provide extra support when needed (such as during the 2018 Austin Bombings) and to assist other emergency services at their request. Anytime the need arises, our teams are also available “on call” to bring our dogs into any situation that may have been stressful for emergency staff.

We can also serve as a resource to assist civilian victims who are being assisted by any emergency, relief, or school agency in the Central Texas area in any natural disaster or other emergency.

“Hope goes on forever”
-Hansi

Our thanks go out to the warm support and encouragement we have received at CTECC.

Thank you, Robert Turner, General Manager, Stephanie McClintock, Acting General Manager, and all supervisors and staff.