By Chloe Nash, Editor-in-Chief, and Kylee Shubert, Staff Writer
March 21, 2025
ROCKLAND - Rockland High School Officer Ethan Schnabel started the year with a new therapy dog named Kinley to help comfort students.
Kinley is a black lab and is a little over seven months old.
Kinley is a resource to help cheer anyone up and students are allowed to come stop by and see her whenever they would like in the guidance department, or when she’s in the halls or cafeteria.
She has also been attending school events like athletics and Mr. Rockland in the fall.
“As a comfort dog I wasn’t really sure what her role would be. We went to the first volleyball playoff game and the team that they played lost and they were all crying afterward, but they all came up and wanted to see her but that was an example of where she comes in because they were all cheered up by her by just hanging out with her for like five minutes,” explained Officer Schnabel.
Kinley is also a great way to get students to be comfortable talking to Officer Schnabel.
Officer Schnabel’s daughter and her school became helpful as the deciding factor in getting her when a student from Whitman Hanson died, and comfort dogs were brought in to help with the students' grief.
“What they did when that happened was they brought the dogs in, and for her, it made a huge impact… The fact that she could remember who all the dogs were that helped her get through a tough moment” Officer Schnabel remarked.
Officer Schnabel got Kinley when she was nine weeks old and waited about five months before starting the training process. This involved an initial 80 hours of training and then continuing with eight hours a month.
Freshman Delilah Swan said, “Kinley is a great addition to Rockland High School. She is always so sweet and can sense when you're having a bad day and always manages to calm you down. She's a sweetheart and I can't wait to continue seeing her through out my high school years."
She lives at home with Officer Schnabel and when first getting her, it was a big surprise to all his family but they were all very excited.
The most difficult part of training Kinley is teaching her to not pull and that Officer Schnabel is the one that needs to be in control. She is now off leash in certain situations and is responsive to Officer Schnabel’s commands and instructions.
Officer Schnabel said, “I could leave her alone and tell her to stay and I could disappear and walk five miles away and come back and she would still just be sitting there.”
Officer Schnabel hopes to soon be able to get into a routine of starting the day off in the elementary school, then the middle school for drop off, and go on from there.
“I’m right now just trying to get her accustomed to this building first because she's so young… I haven’t even touched the middle school yet because it is a totally different environment there” Officer Schnabel added.
Kinley loves lying down to get pet and receive belly rubs. Officer Schnabel requests that everyone approaches her carefully and gently.
"I believe Kinley Is a great addition to not only our school but the Rockland community as a whole. I’ve seen multiple students like my self run up to go pet Kinley throughout the day, as a way to take a moment and relax from the stressful school day," said senior Anthony DeFilippo.