On the top floor of Utah State University’s Aggie Recreation Center, a dozen young women gathered for a self-defense class led by two members of the university’s public safety department. One of the instructors, USU Police Department officer Shane Nebeker, had his friendly K-9 partner Sage along with him.
Nebeker let Sage off her leash and allowed the dog to roam freely throughout the room. The 18-month-old English Labrador retriever wandered around the room, greeting members of the class while carrying her leash in her mouth, and occasionally trying to sneak out and escape down the hall.
Due to the nature of the class, where young women are taught how to address potentially traumatic situations they may find themselves in — or have already found themselves in — emotions can run high. On this day, one student was visibly upset and spent the first few minutes of the demonstration sitting against the wall, softly crying.
Once it was time for the group to practice what they’d learned, the girl was approached by another student, who comforted her and encouraged her to participate. The two remained paired up for the remainder of the time.
As the instruction continued, this girl was continually visited by a four-legged friend, Sage.
“Some people come in with previous experiences that can affect how they react in this course, talking about certain words and triggers and everything. Having Sage here offers a softened space to kind of relax a little bit,” said Lauren Schreck, a deputy fire marshal at USU who helps teach the self-defense class.
Unlike most police K-9 animals who can’t be petted or greeted by those they pass in their duties, Sage is meant to make friends, receive many pats and be a comfort to everyone around her. Sage is a community engagement, critical incident and crisis response K-9, the first of her kind in Utah.
Sage’s role is to help those in high stress and traumatic situations involving the police, as well as serve as a bridge to connect the USU Police Department with the campus community.
As the self-defense instruction continued, Sage remained focused on the young woman who had been visibly upset at the beginning. The dog would circle the girl and her partner, sit next to her, and remain close by, offering help and comfort.
Sage’s behavior was noted by her handler, but Nebeker said he did not instruct her or guide her toward the young woman. Rather, Sage picked up on the need to give comfort on her own and chose to stay nearby.
And that’s the goal.
“She just gravitated toward her, and just kind of was keeping an eye on her, and you could see that emotion kind of change,” said Sage’s handler.
Nebeker said his young partner has very naturally learned how to dial in on people’s emotions and care for those in need.
Who is Sage?
Sage was born on Sept. 4, 2023, and on Oct. 29, she was picked up from her breeder in Arizona by Nebeker and USU police Chief Jason Brei. She rode in her handler’s lap for the drive back to Utah and the two have been practically inseparable ever since.
She was just 8 weeks old and had no training when she arrived in Logan.
Sage is now a year and a half old and has so far spent her life training, exploring USU’s beautiful campus, making new friends and helping the police department with whatever cases she is assigned to.
To better understand who Sage is and her impact on the university’s campus community, the Deseret News followed the pair around one morning to observe her in action.
The day was focused on community engagement work, with Nebeker teaching the self-defense class and the pair later walking around campus, greeting those they met along the way. Community-focused activities such as these have been their main priority as Sage is beginning her formal training.
As she becomes more mature and receives more training, the four-legged recruit will turn more to the critical incident and crisis response portion of her job, working in higher intensity and one-on-one situations.
Nebeker and Sage are rarely separated. They spend all day working together and then Sage goes home with Nebeker each night and is a part of his family. Their daily routine at work includes visiting different parts of campus, attending campus events, giving presentations and responding to any calls the police department receives where they’re needed.
Training is another part of Sage and Nebeker’s daily routine, whether its working with a trainer and toward formal certifications or just learning basic skills and practicing being in different situations.
She recently received her first formal certification, her American Kennel Club Good Citizen certification.
The next major step in Sage’s training will include the pair going on a two-day road trip. In late May, Sage and Nebeker will make their way to Columbus, Ohio, to attend a Law Enforcement Therapy K-9 training, which he hopes will help Sage be more versatile.
When she goes home each day, Nebeker said Sage becomes a completely different dog. He said she somehow knows when she’s working and when she isn’t. At home, Sage becomes more relaxed and goofy, ready to chase a ball for as long as someone will throw it to her and play with the Nebekers’ family dog Harley.
Harley is a half Labrador retriever, half border collie mix who is almost 5 years old.
Nebeker said Sage also loves to go camping with his family and to be outside.
“She just gets to be a dog and and absolutely loves doing that type of thing. So anything you can imagine that a big dog would like to do, she likes to do,” he said.
Sage, who has achieved semi-celebrity status on campus, is often seen running alongside Nebeker with her leash in her mouth.
“She will carry the little latch in her mouth; she looks like she’s walking me,” Nebeker said. ”That’s one of the things that she’s kind of known for, is just being the dog that walks herself.”
Sage helps the police connect with the campus community
With her USU police vest that includes her name emblazoned in vivid pink, Sage “leads” Nebeker around to different buildings, where some offices have dog treats ready for her when she visits.
And Sage knows those offices well.
During our journey around campus, we visited the USU Student Media office, where Sage happily greeted a group of students, including Malory Rau, a junior working in the office. As they interacted, Sage sat patiently and happily while many hands petted and loved on her.
Rau said Sage has a positive influence with those she comes in contact with.
“I think police can be intimidating, especially as young adults, and so having a dog for community engagement to kind of bridge the gap between police and student is really helpful,” said Rau.
For the past few years, police across the country have had a hard time developing good relationships with their communities and connecting with young people, but Sage has been able to help her department.
“What we found with her is that she’s able to break down a lot of barriers. She’s just kind of an ice-breaker. What’s awesome about that is I get an opportunity to have real conversations with people and interact in a way that a lot of police officers don’t get a chance to do,” Nebeker said.
Sage has been able to bridge the friendship gap, not just for Nebeker but for the rest of the department as well.
Brei said that Sage’s presence has helped bring a more positive light around USUPD.
Dylan Elliott, another student, shared that seeing friendly and cuddly Sage on campus — compared to traditional police dogs, who aren’t allowed to engage with the public — helped shift his perspective on the police. He pointed out that police are sometimes seen as scary or intimidating, and Sage has helped alter that image.
Sage made him think, “This dog is here for you. And then it’s like, ‘Oh, also, the police are here for you,’ right?” he said.
A light and a comfort in the community
In January, one of the residence halls on campus was evacuated due to a chemical spill, and Nebeker was called to the scene with Sage. It was one of the more intense situations the pair has encountered in their time together.
The evacuated students were put on a bus to be isolated as a precaution in case they were exposed to chemicals. These students and others in nearby buildings became confused, scared and anxious, the officer said. Nebeker spent time taking Sage back and forth between different groups of students.
In these more tense situations, Nebeker said Sage isn’t as energetic or fun as she may be in her more lighthearted moments, but she adapts to the environment and works to serve as a calming and warming presence.
Nebeker has also began using Sage in one-on-one situations, whether it be during welfare checks, or someone they meet at a call who is in distress.
“She, for some reason, has just figured out how to dial in to someone’s emotion, and that’s not really been trained, so she’s starting to understand and figure out what her role is,” Nebeker said.
Along with their walks around campus, Nebeker has taken Sage to a few larger student events, including basketball and football games.
The duo also went to The Howl, the school’s Halloween party, one of the biggest campus events of the year.
It’s not just Sage who is newly focused on community engagement work; Nebeker recently stepped into his community engagement role as well. His work includes giving presentations, whether it’s about campus safety initiatives, general safety initiatives or just introducing Sage.
The pair also regularly visits Logan’s alternative high school, Cache High, to work with the students there.
“Kids are there for a lot of different reasons, and some of those kids, for whatever reason, may not fit in with regular high school,” Nebeker said.
While at the high school, Sage works in one-on-one situations, “where she can really bring down some emotion and help to kind of alleviate any apprehension that someone might have.”
Bringing Sage to USU
Brei became the police chief at Utah State in June 2023. Soon after arriving at the university, he started talking about his idea to bring a critical incident and crisis response K-9 to the department.
Other dogs who serve in similar capacities to Sage are often known as therapy K-9 units.
“There was no negativity here. It was simply just to further our connection with the community,” Brei said.
He had started a similar program at the University of Arizona, where he introduced Maggie, a black Labrador retriever, to the community there.
Brei first learned about dogs like Sage and Maggie at the FBI National Academy. While there, he saw a disaster relief group that worked with hurricane survivors and other people impacted by critical incidents on the East Coast. The group had golden retrievers they brought to comfort the people they worked with.
“That was the first time I saw dogs being brought in to individuals who were just absolutely traumatized by losing everything, and saw how much those dogs did to just relieve stress,” he explained.
What he saw inspired Brei to bring Maggie to the University of Arizona, and then later to bring Sage to USU, where she could work to help those who were traumatized or in distress, but also to be a light in the community.
Brei’s enthusiasm for adding a unique type of police dog led the department to receive funding from Vector Solutions to purchase Sage and bring her to USU. Vector Solutions is a national company that sells software to fire departments, education organizations and law enforcement.
Sage arrived in Logan less than six months after Brei’s first day on the job.
She is the second K-9 unit at the police department. Zoomer, a bomb-sniffing dog who serves in a very different capacity, first arrived at Utah State in 2020.
Sage the ‘minor celebrity’ at Utah State
Sage has become both well-known and very loved on campus and in the Logan community.
Nebeker often refers to Sage as a “minor celebrity,” and this was something I saw as we journeyed around campus. Many people knew exactly who Sage was and happily greeted her by name.
Sage even has her own Instagram page, which was created last month and quickly began to gain followers, reaching almost 1,000. The page shows Sage going about her everyday activities and even features Sage supporting the Utah State sports teams, decked out in her Aggies gear.
Choosing the right officer to be Sage’s handler
Nebeker has worked in law enforcement for 28 years. After serving with Utah Highway Patrol for nearly 25 years, he retired and stepped away from law enforcement. Then in 2022, he got the opportunity to return to being a police officer and work with USUPD.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to kind of rebrand myself a little bit and get involved in a community and hopefully make some sort of impact,” he said.
After Brei arrived at the department and shared his idea to bring a new K-9 to the department, Nebeker saw the new position as an opportunity to be more involved in the department and the community. Brei interviewed multiple members of the department and recognized Nebeker’s passion and interest in the position.
One of the big things that made Nebeker stand out is coming up with a name for the dog.
He gave Sage her name, which comes from the USU anthem “The Scotsman,” often sung at the school’s sporting events. The line of the song the name comes from is, “Show me a true-blooded Aggie from Utah, who doesn’t love the spot where the sagebrush grows!”
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