A regular celebrity at schools, nursing homes

Last year, a five-year-old golden retriever, Jared, along with his handlers, made nearly 300 visits to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, churches and events throughout the area.

He’s a comfort dog and is probably the only dog in Allen County with his own business card.

In Fort Wayne, Jared is sponsored by Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Concordia Lutheran High School. He’s one of just 230 trained comfort dogs across the nation participating in this Biblically-based compassionate ministry of the Lutheran Church Charities.

According to two of his handlers, Mike and Sandy Shavik, when Jared’s getting ready for work he sits patiently in front of them while they slip on his vest and bandana with his name and Bible verse, Psalm 100:5.

“As soon as they’re on,” said Mike, “his personality changes. He’s no longer his normally playful self. He’s ready to go to work where he gets lots of petting and is the center of attention.”

Jared’s training started when he was eight weeks old and lasted until he was 2 years old.

“We attended a weeklong training session in Chicago to meet and learn about him and the many commands he responds to. He always walks closely by our side. If we say ‘heel’ he’ll move to our left and if we say ‘side,’ he’ll walk on the right,” said Mike.

In a meeting or at church, on the command “under” he will lay under the table or pew.

“At nursing homes or hospitals by a bed-bound patient, we can say ‘rise,’ and he will put his paws on the bed so the patient can pet him. Next to a wheelchair or seated person, he will lay across their lap on the command ‘lap,’” Mike noted.

It takes a village, as the saying goes, to get Jared to and from his appointed rounds. First, there’s his primary care family, Beth and Roger Wilson,

Leave Your Legacy with the residents of Saint Anne Communities!

The ONLY senior living community in Fort Wayne that offers daily Mass and Sacraments while providing the highest quality of health care.

Invest in honoring the lives of our seniors.

If you would like to give a monetary donation in honor of a loved one or if your business would like to donate, please contact our Fund Development Department at (260) 399-3232 or email miranda.haupert@sacfw.org for our list of needs.

Saint Anne Communities 1900 Randallia Drive Fort Wayne, IN 46805 260-484-5555 • www.sacfw.org where he lives and who are responsible for his daily grooming, feeding and veterinary visits. Then there’s a team of 20 people that includes eight handlers and a dozen ministry partners. Sandy also serves as the program’s “Top Dog.” In other words, she does all the scheduling and getting han- dlers to take Jared to visits.

As Mike explained, “When we’re at a location my job as handler is to focus on Jared’s demeanor. The ministry partner goes ahead to clear the room and pick up anything that might distract Jared; and to answer questions about him, the comfort dog program and offer prayers.”

Jared makes a lot of visits to Holy Cross Elementary School and at least once a week to Concordia Lutheran High School. During the summer, he regularly visits Camp Red Cedar.

“It’s always rewarding to see the faces of children when they encounter Jared. One of our favorite places to take him is the Air National Guard base when an Honor Flight of veterans is leaving for Washington, D.C. The veterans really love him. We also enjoy participating in the Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades with the Concordia High School ROTC unit.”

In addition to the normal visits, the team has been “deployed” to the scene of mass shootings in Ohio, Michigan and Indianapolis with comfort dogs from around the country to offer comfort to students and family members of the victims.