Katie Comfort Dog is one of many golden retrievers that are specifically trained to interact with people who have been exposed to a host of traumatic situations. Katie is employed through the Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry program, a program implemented and executed by members of the church who are responsible for handling all Comfort Dogs. The human Comfort Dog team consists of 13 team members/handlers for Katie Comfort Dog. The K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry program facilitates the spreading of comfort and healing through man’s best friend.

Comfort Dogs are animals who are in the business of lending a helping paw and providing comfort and hope to anyone in need of a smile or comfort, and are especially useful in situations involving a community tragedy – such as the Orlando nightclub massacre that occurred on June 12, 2016. This tragedy, marked as the largest mass shooting in U.S history shook the community to its core, leaving the community in desperate need of hope and love.

Katie Comfort Dog set out to deliver these necessities to the grieving Orlando community. Joined by her fellow Comfort Dogs from around the country and their dedicated handlers, Katie left her home in Fremont, NE to embark on a journey to spread hope. Katie was dispatched less than a 24 hours after the Pulse nightclub tragedy to spread cheer to the community, and have returned home to Fremont, NE.

(LCC) Comfort Dogs such as Katie travel all over the country, ready and willing to provide a beacon of hope to those in need whenever, and wherever. The LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs and their handlers are deployed all around the United States when they are invited to respond to disasters and crisis situations.  The teams are able to provide comfort and compassion where needed.  They have been to Boston Marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook shooting, plane crashes, Fires and tornado disasters in Joplin, MO., and Pilger, NE.  In the last 8 months Katie has been deployed to Roseburg, Oregon, Stillwater OK, Northrop, MN and Concordia, MO.

Find Katie and her friends on Facebook!

.Katie

Katie the Comfort Dog smiles for the camera.