Meet Yosa, Seal Beach Police's First-Ever Support K-9

SEAL BEACH, CA — When she's not playing tug of war, enjoying belly rubs or taking naps, Yosa is out on the streets of Seal Beach making an impact on ther community.

The six-year-old black Labrador and Golden Retriever mix is the Seal Beach Police Department's first-ever support dog. Ever since joining the department in February 2021, she's helped bring comfort to victims and witnesses of crime, along with community members exposed to traumatic events, according to the Seal Beach Police Department.

"Even more so, Yosa has become such a perfect goodwill ambassador for us at the police department," SBPD Capt. Nicholas Nicholas said Thursday at a Coffee and Canines event. Fortunately, we don't have a ton of crime here in Seal Beach, so she really gives us the opportunity to interact with people that we might not normally interact with."

Yosa was trained by Canine Companions, a non-profit that provides trained service dogs for free. She went through about two years of training and learned over 50 commands, according to Nicholas.

Due to her calm demeanor, she was placed with the SBPD, Nicholas said.

At the Coffee and Canine events on Thursday, several dogs just like Yosa and local volunteers at the nonprofit took center stage, teaching attendees about the "life-changing" work they do.

"Canine Companions actually pioneered the concept of the service," a nonprofit official said during the event. "We place expertly trained service dogs with children, adults and veterans with disabilities and we place dogs out in the community like Yosa."

Canine Companions started in 1975 with Abdul, a service dog trained in Santa Rosa. Since then, they've helped train and connect more than 8,200 service dogs for free with people who need them.

For ways to help Canine Companions' mission, click here.