CLINTON — Jake’s too tender paws eliminated him from life as a service and rescue dog hunting through collapsed buildings’ rubble. But his tender canine heart is perfect for his new job comforting assault victims.

The 4-year-old black Labrador mix is a search and rescue dropout from California who found a new home in Tennessee and a new purpose with the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office. The calm, treat-loving Jake is the office’s emotional support dog. He’s there to offer domestic assault victims a paw to hold or a head to cry on.

Jake belongs to his co-worker Rhoni Standefer. She’s been the DA’s domestic violence victim/witness coordinator since January. The 55-pound pup with amber brown eyes has been on duty since July.

Sign Up:Get the Sneak Peek newsletter in your inbox every Thursday afternoon.

Jake has a black bandanna decorated with white paw prints and a bright yellow, official-looking Tennessee Seventh District DA badge. He has his own "Jake – the DA Dog'" Facebook page. He has friends in the prosecutor’s office who keep treats for his office patrols; his favorites include peanut butter and bacon-flavored morsels.

He also possesses an instinctive empathy that earned him his job and that Standefer says can’t be taught.

“This dog can pick up on emotions. He just loves people, and he wants them to feel good. If he sees someone being upset or irritated, he migrates to them," she says.

By chance, a new purpose

Jake’s repurposed life occurred mostly by chance. In her job Standefer often speaks with emotional domestic assault victims. One Friday she brought her dog to visit because "he's a good dog and he likes to get out."

"A victim came in and we were talking. She’s crying. He was right by her, laying his head on her lap.”

It wasn’t just a single occurrence. When Jake comforted a second woman, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark told Standefer, “I think we’re on to something here."

Now Jake works with Standefer as she consults alleged victims in her office or a courthouse conference room. He’s been in contact with about 50 people since July.

“If they are OK, he knows that and he comes and sits by me,” Standefer says. When Jake senses someone’s upset, “he goes and sits by them. He nudges them; he loves on them. He’ll put his head in their lap. It’s amazing how he seems to know when he’s needed and when he’s not.

“Every case is so different. He just kind of feels it out and does this thing.”

About 15 people have really gotten involved with Jake. “You could really see him comforting them,” Standefer says. Many pet him as he puts a paw on their knees or his muzzle in their laps. Some wept on his sleek head.

“I can’t explain it; it’s like magic. They’ll say, ‘I love dogs.’ They will start petting him and talking about their dogs. They are able to open up and talk about other things then,” Standefer says. “This is not something I taught him. This is something he does.”

A rescue and service failure

Jake flunked three other job opportunities before finding his calling.

First he couldn’t pass search and rescue training. Standefer was told Jake’s paws were too tender for the work. At 15 months he was shipped from California to Lenoir City-based Smoky Mountain Service Dogs.

Standefer volunteers for Smoky Mountain Service Dogs. She brought Jake home to train as a service dog for a physically challenged veteran. Smart and eager to please, he quickly learned needed skills like shutting doors and opening refrigerators. He learned sign language basics like "sit,” “down” and “visit.” He was “stellar” in public, Standefer says.

But the pup possessed one infrequent, yet troubling, quirk maybe left from search and rescue training.

“There would be something that would get his attention. … And out of the clear blue sky he would alert to that and take off with you,” Standefer says.

Then Jake would dash, pulling his leash hard and dragging Standefer. He acted out only two or three times. But trainers weren’t sure they could determine what makes Jake bolt and get it out of his nature. It eliminated him as a service dog.

Jake's next job possibility was as a medical dog trained to alert caregivers if a disabled person’s breathing machine went off. But Standefer discovered Jake slept too heavily.

A dog's life

Without a service role, the affable Jake was headed for life as a family pet. Standefer found him a good home; she wasn’t keeping him.

She and husband Grant Standefer were downsizing, planning to sell their house for a condominium. Then grandson Gavin Standefer spoke up.

Gavin helps his grandmother train service dogs. She says he’s like “a dog whisperer.”

Gavin, then 8, didn’t want Jake to go. He pleaded with his grandparents to keep the dog. Standefer says her husband gave in, telling Gavin they’d not sell their house and they’d keep Jake as a pet.

So Jake was there when Standefer got her job, and ready a few months later for his own work.

Now they drive to and from work each weekday. Sometimes they stop at McDonald’s for apples Jake enjoys. Monday through Thursday, they attend Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton or Oak Ridge.

Canine compassion

In court, Jake knows to stand when a bailiff calls, “All rise.” While humans talk, he’s often napping under the prosecutor’s courtroom table. He's not sat beside the witness stand while a witness or victim testifies, but Standefer says he could if needed.

“It’s been a positive experience from what I’ve seen so far,” Anderson County General Sessions Judge Roger A. Miller says. “But you have a very well-behaved dog that’s quiet and doesn’t interfere and seems to be beneficial for those that need the dog.

"To be honest with you, there’s been days when I didn’t know he was here until I’ll hear him move or stand up to go with (Standefer).”

Therapy dogs aren’t new in Tennessee courthouses, but they’re also not common, Clark says. He wanted an office therapy dog so much that several years ago he bought an Australian Labradoodle named Cooper for the task. While Cooper loves people, he was too active, too hyper. Now 4, he’s the Clark family pet.

“Jake makes it easier and quicker for us to get to the truth because witnesses are able and willing to talk in candid ways when they are in his presence that otherwise they aren’t willing to or it takes longer to get to,” Clark says. “What Jake does is he makes this intimidating, frightening process easier for people.

“It’s an animal helping us express human compassion for victims and others going through the process.”