Paws for Compassion: K-9 Comfort Dogs Visit Windrush

When you think of a church spreading hope and compassion, you may think of missionaries and pastors extending words of faith. But for Lutheran Charities, the perfect gift from God in time of trauma is often the perfect gift from God.

On Thursday afternoon, the Lutheran Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs visited Windrush Farm in North Andover to introduce two of their many dogs -- Shami and Isaiah -- for a meet-and-greet with local kids and their families.

The dogs travel to nursing homes, hospitals and other places to help people heal emotionally, spiritually and even physically.

"It's a proven fact that your blood pressure lowers when you're petting a dog, so lot of the dogs visit nursing homes and hospitals and also people who are dealing with a lot of stress and a lot of trauma in their lives," said Toni Bazon, a member of Lutheran Charities who travels with and cares for the dogs.

Launched five years ago by Lutheran Charities in Illinois, the organization has about 60 dogs, trained almost as service dogs. But unlike service dogs, who wear vests that say "Please Don't Pet Me" (petting someone's service dog can distract the dog from its duty and endanger the person they are helping), the Comfort Dogs wear vests that say, "Please Pet Me."

"The children that we've seen that work with these dogs or that sit with these dogs, after they've had a stressful situation, maybe they're not talking, kind of holding things in, well they'll sit down with these dogs and they'll start petting them and then after a little while they'll start becoming comfortable and start becoming more trusting, and they'll start to talk, start to share," Bazon said.

The dogs have toured the country offering comfort in the most difficult situations. They went to Newtown, Conn., after the Sandy Hook tragedy to help the kids there heal. They came to Boston after the Boston Marathon bombings to put smiles on the faces of the injured. They've appeared in countless newspapers, magazines and TV news segments, and they even made an appearance on "Good Morning America."

To learn more about the K-9 Comfort Dogs or donate to the program, visit their website.

You can follow the organization on Facebook as well. And the dogs even have their own Facebook pages, too. Here is Shami's, and here is Isaiah's.