Emotional support dog helps border agents cope with job stress
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA) – A four-legged member of the El Centro Sector is helping Border Patrol agents deal with the emotional demands of their job.
Meet Syble, a five-year-old poodle who is a critical incident response canine.
Unlike other dogs at the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), Syble is not trained to sniff out people or drugs. She’s trained to provide emotional support.
“She was showcased at the Border Patrol Canine Academy in El Paso, Texas. We liked what we saw and it’s a happy ever after,” Agent Leonardo Regalado told News 11 in an interview.
Regalado also serves as Syble’s handler.
She helps reduce anxiety and gives agents and their families a chance to decompress and cope with trauma and job-related stress.
It’s especially important, as CBP reported, around 81 suicide-related deaths between 2016 and 2025.
“We’re just peers. We try to help again our agents, our employees, our families in any type of crises, critical events to help them process that,” Regalado said.
“We know that life is hard. There’s a lot of trials and tribulations that come with it, and all we want to do is help our peers through those tough times,” he said.
Syble is not only there for the hard days, she’s also there for the lighter moments, always at the side of Regalado.
“24/7 we’re we’re tied at the hip. I’m responsible for grooming, feeding, care after hours, weekends, but I love it. It’s totally worth being able to to be teamed up with a canine like she is,” Regalado said.
While Syble spends most of her days at the headquarters, she does go to school career days, presentations, and she has even traveled on airplanes to visit Washington D.C. and other parts of the country.
At night and on weekends, she goes home with her handler.
“I’d like to thank our management team, from our DHA secretary to the commissioner and our bborder patrol chief that has seen the foresight and the value of these canine partners,” Regalado stated.
“[Because] our agents are our greatest assets and I feel that this team helps better take care of them on duty, off duty during crisis events, and during happy events because we don’t always do just do crisis stuff. We’re always there at school presentations, at promotion ceremonies,” he explained.
While Syble is the only emotional support dog here in El Centro at the moment, CBP said they hope to expand their program over the next few years
Click here to follow the original article.