FREE READ: TV Reporter/Anchor and His Service Dog, Griswold, Cover the News Together

By Paul Greeley

NOTE: This story was first published on News Blues on July 21.  

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It’s hard enough being a local TV multimedia journalist, a one-man band as it were, now try being one with a dog in tow.

Thomas Payeur is an MMJ and news anchor at WEAU, Gray’s NBC affiliate in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Payeur says he didn’t know if he could perform as an MMJ with Griswold at his side.

He was worried about how he was going to keep Griswold safe while he was doing his job.

Now, he says, all those worries have gone “out the window because I simply trust him enough to do his job and he lets me do mine.”

Griswold, an English cream golden retriever, goes everywhere Payeur goes.

“He stays right by my side,” Payeur says.

“I don’t want to say he’s my better half because that’s more of marriage. But he’s really become my child. I love him like my child.”

Griswold has been Payeur’s constant companion for about 3 years.

He’s not just a pet.

Griswold is a cardiac alert response and mobility assistance service dog.

“I was born with a significant cardiac disability and had a series of surgeries as a young kid for it,” Payeur says.

A few years ago, Payeur was having difficulty with his mobility and experiencing episodes of dizziness.

So, his doctor recommended Payeur get a service dog.

Payeur started working at WEAU in June. Prior to that he worked at Nexstar’s WUTR (ABC) and WFXV (FOX) in Utica, New York.

“Whenever I come to a new market, I usually have an opportunity to introduce Griswold,” he says. “Such was the case in Utica where that station had shelter pet spotlight. And since Griswold is a former rescue, the very first time I introduced that segment, I introduced Griswold.”

At WEAU in Eau Claire, Payeur was sent out in the field the week of July 4^th to do a story on pet safety during a heat wave and fireworks.

“I incorporated Griswold into my standup to kind of show him off. Anytime I do a pet story, I’ll try and find a way to incorporate him in it.”

Payeur says he maintains a presence on my social media platforms and people just love to see him there.

Payeur says when he first showed up at WEAU with Griswold, from day one, “they immediately loved him. WEAU is a very dog friendly station as it is. They already have a history of bringing their non-service dog dogs into work on certain days.”

Griswold wears a vest and sometimes he takes Griswold’s leash off and he lets him interact with people in the newsroom.

“In the studio, Griswold makes a little bit of noise if he’s moving around, his tags will rattle a little bit. So, I take him off his leash in the studio, but he still stays close to me,” Payeur says.

Out in the field, covering the news, is another story.

“My general policy whenever I’m interacting with people in public, I will not let people pet him,” he says.

“There’s so many distractions already present for him that he’s doing mostly a great job of ignoring.”

Payeur can give Griswold a cue that he’s been trained to follow,” he says. “If I tell him to ‘visit’, that’s his cue to let people pet him, interact with them and with other dogs.”

Griswold’s job is to alert Payeur about his heart.

“He’ll alert me that it’s more prudent for me to stay sitting down at a particular moment, and he does that by putting his paws up in my lap. If I’m standing, he’ll put his paw up on me. And that’s usually my cue to sit down wherever I am and just wait a couple minutes to see what my heart’s doing. I let him do his job because that protects me.”

Paul Greeley is the manager and a writer for News Blues.

He can be reached at Paul@NewsBlues.com or 817-578-6324.