Comfort dog visits Clearwater Public Library

Most individuals have heard about service dogs that help individuals with physical or mental disabilities. But, have you ever heard of comfort dogs?

Unlike service dogs, comfort dogs are trained to serve the needs of multiple people, not just one. They travel across different states and provide comfort to those who have been through tough situations, are terminally ill, have never seen a dog in real life or even just come to libraries and teach others about comfort dogs.

On July 23, Katie Comfort Dog and her handlers visited the Clearwater Public Library to tell the public about what she does. Her handlers, Miss Dawn and Miss Mary, informed visitors about Katie's mission and how Trinity Lutheran Church helps those in need by providing a helping paw.

Katie Comfort Dog is a comfort animal based in Fremont, and part of a national organization, Lutheran Church Charities, located in Northbrook, Illinois. Katie is a trained LCC K-9 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont. Every day, she works to interact with people at different events, from schools to disaster response situations. Katie is a friend who brings calming emotions and lets people open their hearts to help them overcome what is ailing them.

The Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry is a national ministry that embraces the calming nature of purebred golden retrievers.

The LCC K-9 comfort dogs are a bridge for opening doors about faith and creating chances to share mercy, compassion, presence and proclamation of Jesus Christ. Comfort dogs are working animals specially trained to interact with people of all ages experiencing suffering and in need. Dogs are permanently placed with churches, schools and other ministries involved in LLC's Christian human care.

All handlers are trained and coached to care for and support their comfort dog while they live in the assigned home of the caregivers.

LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs also serve in disasters and crisies to bring comfort to those suffering, including first responders and volunteers in those situations.

Comfort dogs have assisted in different disaster situations, such as in New York and New Jersey during Superstorm Sandy and in Connecticut after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lutheran Church Charities currently has more than 130 LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs serving in more than 27 states. Training facilities are located in Illinois and Nebraska.

"We at Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont, have had Katie for around three years now.

She was trained in Northbrook, Illinois, at the headquarters. She started training at eight weeks old and finished training around age one. A team of 12, including myself, went down to headquarters and spent three days training to learn how to properly handle and care for Katie," Dawn said. Katie, now seven, has been deployed many times. Her first was in October 2015 at Umpqua Community College, in Roseburg, Oregon, and her latest was in Boulder, Colorado.

"We also go to schools, libraries, hospitals, nursing homes, Bible studies and wherever Katie is needed. She helps children read, and basically wherever Katie is needed. We are having a saying that when we are invited, we will have boots and paws on the ground 48 hours after the invitation is a given," Dawn stated.

As well as Katie Comfort Dog in Fremont, there are other comfort dogs across Nebraska.

To date, there are currently seven Comfort Dogs, including Moses Comfort Dog in Cairo, Eddie Comfort Dog in Grand Island, Priscilla Comfort Dog in Lincoln, Nicodemus Comfort Dog in Seward, Joanna Comfort Dog in Lincoln and Eden Comfort Dog in Columbus.

"Katie and the Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont will be getting a friend soon, in the form of another comfort dog, hopefully within the next six months. Sadly, it is a fact of life that dogs reach a certain age where they can no longer work, and Trinity Lutheran Church says that they can work for about 10 years. Since Katie is currently seven, we do realize that we need to start training a new Comfort Dog when Katie reaches the age she can no longer work," Dawn said.

Another perk about Trinity Lutheran Church and Katie Comfort Dog is that they are completely donation funded.

They do not request money. Everyone who cares for the animals and takes them around the country are all volunteers. Some of the volunteers do work full-time jobs, others work part-time jobs, and many dedicate all their time to the comfort dogs.

"All of the deployments that we go on are usually completely funded by the public through donations.

Many times, all our hotels, meals and any other expenses we may have are completely funded through donations. We know that we are extremely lucky to have our deployments paid for and we appreciate everything the public does for us," said Dawn.

Katie Comfort Dog is also active on social media, but like anyone else, her paws need a break, too.

Katie has a Facebook Page – KatieComfortDog, email – [email protected] , Twitter – @KatieComfortDog and Instagram – @KatieComfortDog.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Fremont also has a website – http://www.trinityfremont.com – to allow the public to find out more information about Katie Comfort Dog or its mission as a church.

To help the public find these social media accounts and contact information, each Comfort Dog has its own business card with a Psalm, information about the Comfort Dog, contact information for the Trinity Lutheran Church, and all social media accounts on it.