Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dogs

Every year the village of Minooka hosts "Summerfest."  There are booths for all kinds of non-profits and for-profits, food vendors, carnival games, bouncy houses and a stage set up with various types of entertainment.  Our church has had a booth there for years.  Last year we started what I hope will be a long tradition of having the Lutheran Church Charities Comfort Dogs.  Despite the fact that we hand out free water to all those walking by, we are infinitely more popular when the dogs are present.

 This is Darlin.

 Darlin attracted a lot of attention.

 Even though the boys are convinced that we have our own "comfort dog," the boys were very happy to pet a dog who actually stayed calm the whole time.

 Our friend, Lise, and her daughter, Maggie, stopped by to see the dogs.  Darlin wanted to shake hands.  It was very sweet.

 Goldens are soft, but these goldens seem to be extra soft.  I'm sure it is because they are groomed so often.

 Kye came a little after Darlin.

 Old friends had to get reacquainted.

 This was a rare moment when no one was petting the dogs.

 Anders always has to give dogs a hug.

 These dogs are excellent with the young and the old.

 When people would see the working vests they assumed they couldn't pet the dogs.  This is true of other types of working dogs, but not the Comfort Dogs.   You can only see a bit of the gold bone to the right, but Kye was one of the dogs featured on Good Morning America.  The bone says "Good Morning American Hero".

It was an honor and a pleasure to have these dogs at our booth.  These precious dogs have done wonderful things for so many people.  They quickly respond to disaster areas such as the shootings in Newtown, CT, the tornadoes in Moore, OK, the Boston bombing, and most recently there are several dogs in AZ providing comfort to those affected by the tradgedy of the 19 firefighter lives lost.

To find out more or to support the Comfort Dogs click here.