Lola is my sweet, 6-year old Great Pyrenees Mix (according to the Animal Shelter when we brought her home). For the 4 years we have had her, she has been such a laid-back, calm dog. She is approximately 55 lbs., completely housebroken and loves attention.

I recently had an idea of bringing joy and stress-relief to the office by having her here to keep us company throughout our workday. I am currently working on getting her certified as a Therapy Dog, which simply means she is just here to lay around and be sweet while we all work. She will be taking her K-9 Good Citizen Test within the next month, which is the first step. Here's a little more information on what a Therapy Dog is:

A dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, people with learning difficulties, and stressful situations, such as disaster areas. Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds. The most important characteristic of a therapy dog is its temperament. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, gentle, and at ease in all situations. Therapy dogs must enjoy human contact and be content to be petted and handled, sometimes clumsily. A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make physical contact with it and to enjoy that contact. Children in particular enjoy hugging animals; adults usually enjoy simply petting the dog.

I have taken her to be evaluated by a trainer, who thinks she would be a wonderful addition in this capacity, with her temperament. I would love to share Lola with all of you. She enjoys walks and could even be a companion if someone wanted to take a walk on their short break. If you are in agreement to add Lola to our office, please sign this Petition to show your support. I will present this to Management in the near future. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

-Erica Allcorn