You’ve heard of service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support dogs—but what about facility dogs? One special Golden Retriever named Jude is part of a growing trend across the country.
Jude is a facility dog whose mission is to bring love and comfort to children during some of the most stressful and scary moments of their lives.
“You got it … that’s it. Yeah, good boy … all right, let’s go,” said Jude’s owner, child life specialist Kara Williams, as she worked with him.
Jude knows basic commands, but he’s also trained to do much more. Jude works 40 hours a week alongside Williams, providing critical support to children in the hospital.
From helping kids with motor skills to bringing down stress levels, Jude’s impact is clear.
“I feel like sometimes he can sense when kids aren’t feeling well, and he can just go lay on the bed and give them sort of like a deep pressure, comfort hold,” Williams said.
Jude makes daily rounds with Williams, serving as a motivator to get kids up and moving.
“If we need a patient to get up out of their bed and ambulate, a good motivator for that is Jude,” she added.
For one young patient, Bishop, Jude’s presence eased the stress of a painful tonsil condition. “Do you think meeting Jude has helped at all?” a reporter asked. “Yah,” Bishop replied, nodding.
Another parent described how Jude brightened her daughter’s day: “She’s here because she has pneumonia… To have him show up is calming for her. It just brings a smile to her face and gives her a chance to forget about the bed, to walk around, to play.”
Jude spent the first two years of his life being trained as a service dog and now uses those skills inside the hospital.
He’s on call for everything from prepping a patient for surgery to calming them during an IV, or just offering love and support when it’s needed most.
“Give me a kiss — yah,” Williams said as Jude responded affectionately.
Jude is a graduate of Canine Companions, an organization that expertly trains service dogs at their Orlando facility and provides them free of charge to individuals with disabilities.
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