Oreo and I have been a therapy team for almost three years.  We love getting to spend special time together, bringing smiles to peoples faces, relieving stress and meeting lots of new friends!  

I am always amazed at each visit how Oreo just knows what the people need.  A hug?, he's there.  A tag wag?, he's there.  A kiss?, of course he's there, that's his favorite thing! Oreo puts his vest on knowing it's time to go to work and loves his job.

There are so many stories that I could tell about how Oreo has touched and helped people but there are two that really come to mind.  Early in his career, Oreo went on a special visit to a school where a teacher had just passed away.  The children and staff were able to come in and visit with the dogs and just relax and forget about everything for a few minutes.  A girl came up to Oreo and sat down with him and just started petting him.  They laid down together on the floor, Oreo snuggled in and they just hung out together the whole visit. As we were leaving, one the teachers said the girl that was with Oreo was the daughter of the teacher that passed away.  They felt her stress leave her when she was with him.  That story still brings tears to my eyes.

Another special visit was to the hospital.  There is one floor that Oreo loves to visit because he goes in to a room to visit a lot of patients at once and gets to sit on the couch with everyone!  One time there was a man who was afraid of dogs but really wanted to see Oreo.  Oreo hopped on on the couch and laid down next to him.  The man tentatively reached out to pet him and Oreo just laid there.  After about 10 minutes, the man relaxed and Oreo moved his head over to his leg and they just hung out together for the rest of the visit.  When we were leaving the man said he loved Oreo and hoped he got to see him again!  It was a major break through for someone who was afraid of dogs!