Renton police add wellness dog Oakley and K-9 Jager to ranks

Renton police have drawn a clear line between two very different kinds of canine service. At the April 13 City Council meeting, Chief Jon Schuldt introduced Oakley, a wellness dog, and Jager, a working K-9, giving the department one animal built for stress relief and another built for field work.

Oakley is a two-year-old English yellow Labrador and the sister, and littermate, of Wally, the department’s first wellness dog. Officer David Daugherty completed training with Oakley in March 2026, and police said she already helped calm an autistic child in crisis at Liberty Park. The department said Oakley extends the wellness program to seven-day coverage, a practical upgrade for a force that works 24 hours a day, seven days a week across roughly 23.5 square miles with 72 commissioned officers and two commanders.

Renton has been building that wellness side for a while. Wally was introduced on March 17, 2025 as a therapy K9 for employees, victims, witnesses and community members. He came from Cascade Service Dogs in Pierce County, and his purchase and training cost was reported at $6,000. Oakley also came from Cascade Service Dogs, and her certification cost was listed at $6,000, paid from accreditation funds. Police said both wellness dogs are trained to detect PTSD and engage with people showing signs of stress, and both wear vests marked “Pet me” to make contact easier at events and gatherings. The wellness setup also includes a peer support team and a mental health professional.

Jager, by contrast, is being brought in for the hard edges of policing. He is a 22-month-old German Shepherd generalist K-9 from the Netherlands, and his handler is Officer Jaren Jokela. Renton police said Jager will live with Jokela, following the department’s practice with its dogs. The department already had a patrol standout in Xander, a generalist German Shepherd trained in building and area searches, suspect tracking and evidence searches, with nearly 20 captures and evidence recoveries to his name.

That is the real story here: Renton is not treating canine work as a single category anymore. Oakley represents the growing recognition that officer wellness is operational, not ornamental. Jager represents the old-school K-9 mission that still matters when a call turns dangerous. Together, they show a department trying to cover both the human strain inside the building and the tactical demands outside it.