Looking for Caregivers and Handlers
We are now in the process of selecting the caregivers and handlers for our Comfort Dog.
The caregiver is who the dog lives with and is the person responsible for feeding and grooming the dog and taking the dog to the vet.
In addition to a primary caregiver, we need a secondary caregiver to take care of the dog if the primary caregiver is unavailable.
The handler is the person who will work with the dog in various ministry settings whether it be in our church or school or out in the community. The handler makes a commitment to work with the dog 2 to 5 hours per week.
If you are interested in serving as a caregiver or handler, please get an application from Deaconess Kelly.
Caregivers and Handlers will be interviewed by Lutheran Church Charities. Since we are affiliated with them in doing Comfort Dog Ministry, they are very much involved in our whole process of establishing this ministry at Holy Cross.
- Note from Deaconess Kelly — The Top Dog Training I participated in was amazing! It was wonderful to get to work with the dogs and to go out with them and see the impact this ministry can have. When we visited a senior center, the people there were so grateful to be able to see/pet the dogs. Often elderly people have to give up their pets, and experience a great loss. So this ministry can bring much comfort to them! We also visited a Wal-mart and Starbucks and saw how easy it was to talk to people when you have the dog! As one pastor I spoke to when we were looking at starting this ministry said: “Having the dog makes doing outreach so easy!” I was excited to picture this ministry at Holy Cross—the was we will use this dog in ministry in our church and school, and how this dog will enable us to make connections in our community.
