Walking around the Public Safety Training Facility, Captain Shawn Hyatt may be the most popular human in the building.

The word “human” is used because walking next to him – at a height no taller than his lower-shin bone – traipses Natty, an 11-week-old golden retriever with a fur coat as fluffy as your favorite sweater and a face that could melt ice.

The pair can barely walk 10 feet before they’re immediately stopped by a gaggle of the City’s firefighters who take a minute out of their day to give Natty a good head pat or scratch behind the ear. She reacts accordingly with a frantically swooshing tail and licks.

For Hyatt – who has been a part of the Greensboro Fire Department for 12 years, and currently serves as the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) coordinator – it’s a whole new part of his job. Meanwhile, for Natty, it’s the very start of her role as the department’s first therapy dog.

AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

Despite having worked within the fire department for going on a dozen years, Hyatt never expected to find himself in this specific line of work.

Prior to his time with the City, the Greensboro native worked construction before getting his EMT certification and going to work in Cone Hospital's emergency room. Then a friend came along and made a suggestion to join him in the fire department.

“I needed a job. It wasn't something I grew up wanting to do; it was never on my mind,” said Hyatt with a laugh. “There was a point in time where one of my best friends – I met him probably about 15 years ago – and he worked at the fire department and talked me into applying. I didn’t really know if I wanted to, but I did and got my EMT – it was the best decision I ever made.”

On his third attempt in applying to the fire department, Hyatt finally got in.

Going into the fire academy Hyatt had little idea what the job would entail. There were times during his training when he questioned if he should be there.

Hyatt stuck it out and eventually realized his hard work and training prepared him for dealing with real-life emergencies.

“Just because it was challenging, I wasn’t really sure,” Hyatt said. “But once you kind of get past that and you realize they’re training you like that for a reason, then you realize how beneficial it was.”

Since then Hyatt has, as he would put it, “done a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.” From being on the hazardous materials team to being a driver to becoming a captain two years ago.

But for the last year, along with serving as a captain, Hyatt has overseen the EMT training necessary to prepare current fire department staff and trainees.

While the City’s current firefighters are EMT certified and receive formal reviews to stay updated on techniques and protocols, the trainees Hyatt oversees are sometimes fresh to the information.

“It’s teaching people who don’t know how to check blood pressure all the way to performing lifesaving procedures – they become fully functioning EMTs in seven weeks,” Hyatt said. “We’re one of the few fire departments in the state that are an educational institution, so we can run our own classes.”

SOMEONE ORDER A NATTY?

Several months ago Greensboro Fire Chief Jim Robinson had an idea – “What if we had a therapy dog that could bring some relief to the firefighters of the City?”

Therapy dogs serving within fire and police departments is not a new thing, but for Greensboro’s fire department it was. And with that simple idea, the process took off when the Greensboro Firefighters Foundation purchased the recently named Natty from a retired fireman and dog trainer in Charlotte.

With it being the department’s first therapy dog, Chief Robinson wanted the new four-legged crew member work out of the Public Safety Training Facility next to Fire Station 1. Hyatt immediately volunteered to take on the role of Natty's handler, which also means she lives in the Hyatt household.

“With a golden retriever puppy, it's more of a wrangling position than a handling job,” Hyatt said with a laugh. “But how can you say no? I love dogs, my wife loves dogs, my family loves dogs, and it’s a benefit to the department.”

Over the last few weeks Natty has become a constant presence in the facility, having made friends with at least 350 City employees, Hyatt said. While Hyatt leads courses in a classroom, Natty naps in the corner or enjoys cuddling with one of the class participants.

While Natty prepares for obedience training around the first of the year, she has already made an indelible impression on the folks she's met, Hyatt said.

“Everybody comes in and plays with her, and takes pictures and sends it their significant others and kids, and people stop by simply wanting to see her, which is the purpose,” Hyatt said. “I think the plan in the future is to have multiple dogs, but I think it has been a positive addition to the department already.”

When asked how she felt about her new role serving some of Greensboro’s finest public safety workers, Natty simply replied with a high-pitched, "Bark!" followed by an approving lick.