Comfort Dog

St. Matthew’s Comfort Dog Ministry is growing!  Ladel, Lutheran Church Charities first Parish Comfort Dog in 2009, has now been joined by Malachi Comfort Dog. 

We had the  “Passing of the Vest” ceremony for our second Comfort Dog on Sunday, September 9.  Malachi is now officially dual vested as an LCC Comfort Dog and KARE-9 Dog (veterans’ ministry). 

At this, our Comfort Dog Ministry Team consists of:
Top Dog:  Deb Kinne
Caregivers:  Pastor and Deb Kinne, Luann and Don Brusa
Backup Caregivers:  Sally and Roger Henning, Mary Kaye and Dennis Rusch
Handlers: Deb Andersen, Luann Brusa, Don Brusa, Jen Fosness, Rob Fosness, Paula Furst, Michael Furst, Sally Henning, Lea Kelly, Angela Ketcham, Deb Kinne, Annette Lemke, Lauraine Morajda
Ministry Partner:  Anne Abasolo

Where have you seen us?  Our team has been out and about actively training with Malachi in area stores/restaurants. Some of our favorite places to take him are Home Depot, Target and Wal-Mart. There are LOTS of distractions and training opportunities at these places! Malachi has slowly taken over many of Ladel's senior living visits, and has added Azpira and The Solana in Deer Park to his calendar. Ladel continues to mentor Malachi and makes visits of her own. During the Christmas season, our team raised funds to purchase a gift of hand cream for the residents in many of the senior centers we visit with the dogs, offering the gift of physical comfort as well as the comfort of our visit. The residents were all so appreciative!  HOW CAN YOU HELP? We are currently looking for people to volunteer for our "Distraction Team."  As part of our ongoing training, we need a few people to meet with us as we train Malachi to provide "distractions" that we will attempt to help him ignore. It would only be an hour-long obligation and hopefully short-term over the coming months. If you are interested, please contact our "Top Dog," Deb Kinne at 224-360-2015 (Cell/Text).

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Ladel Facebook Page

Malachi

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