Comfort dog to join Immanuel Lutheran Church in East Dundee

Sometimes, all God's creatures are needed to help us through a loss.

Last October, Immanuel Lutheran School administrators learned that when they called on a comfort dog to help students and educators cope with the death of their beloved computer teacher, Jaimie Harvan.

When students and their parents attended the wake and funeral for the 39-year-old cancer victim, the golden retriever greeted them. The dog stood by, allowed them to hug and pet it and stayed with them when tears and grief tangled up their words.

"It was amazing to see how people reacted by just petting the dog," said Phillip Baerwolf, a pastor at the East Dundee church that is affiliated with the school. "Just having it there and at school when students returned was a great source of comfort."

The story does not end there, though. It wasn't long before congregation members talked about getting a comfort dog of their own. Soon, money had begun to be raised. And not long after, $12,000 was collected. By the end of this year, Immanuel Lutheran Church will have its own comfort dog.

Pastor Baerwolf said the dog will be added to the church's ministry to visit people in nursing homes and those who are too sick to attend services. Also, it will be used to help families in need, visit classrooms and help students who need a friend that requires no words of companionship.

"A dog senses when someone is hurting," he said. "We had a comfort dog visit one of our services. During it, it was attracted to one of our teachers who had fallen and hurt her hip. She never told anyone of her injury, but the dog knew she needed help and walked over to her and put its head on her lap."

The dog, a golden retriever, is being trained by Lutheran Church Charities in Northbrook. It will be a little older than a year old and the community will watch it grow.

"Golden retrievers are a perfect breed to work as comfort dogs," said Tim Hetzner, president of Lutheran Church Charities. "They're not the smartest of breeds, but they certainly have the temperament that can be trained to work in different situations. We use them all around the world."

The charities' comfort dogs are at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where students are still grieving the 2012 shooting deaths of 26 of their teachers and classmates.

Even though they are a gentle breed, the retrievers are trained not to bark, be distracted by food, loud noises or other animals.

"We also teach them not to jump up on laps and, naturally, bite anyone," Hetzner said. "Dogs are also trained to go in elevators, escalators and on airplanes. There's a tremendous amount of agility training involved."

Training starts when dogs are weeks old and continues for as many as 14 months. In total, $15,000 is needed to train, house and feed the dogs during training. Then, handlers and caregivers are sought and trained with the dogs.

"Handlers and caregivers are two different people," Hetzner said. "The handlers will go out in the field with a dogs. The caregivers house, feed and give medical attention to the canines."

Immanuel Lutheran Church staff members are looking for at least four families that will serve as its handlers and caregivers, Baerwolf said. The variety will ensure the animal responds to commands from different people and will be constantly available.

"It's a big commitment. There will be no vacation for it," Pastor Baerwolf said. "We're looking for families that do not have other pets and are willing to go through the training. Also, there will be ongoing costs with food and vet bills."

Considering that comfort dogs work for an average of eight years, the commitment is long-term.

It all will be worth it, though. When the four-legged creature starts its "ministry" and receives its blue vest, the church and the Dundee Township will have another source of comfort.

"This isn't new," Pastor Baerwolf said. "Other Lutheran churches have comfort dogs and they're used when human contact isn't enough. When a student is misbehaving, and there's a reason behind it - at times, it takes a dog to calm him or her and draw out the problem."

"Once they are put into service, they become an important part of the community. They don't just go to a school or a nursing home and leave," Hetzner said. "They're given business cards, email addresses, Twitter and Facebook accounts, so people can keep in touch with them. People can write to them and tell them how they are doing. Sometimes it's easier writing to a dog."

The caregivers are expected to respond for the dog.

Congregation members who are interested in volunteering as handlers or caregivers are urged to call Pastor Baerwolf at (847) 428-4477.

To learn more about the comfort dog program, call Hetzner at (224) 257-4366.

"Right now we are gearing up for its arrival. We are hoping it will be here in summer, but most likely it will arrive in the fall," Baerwolf said.