“Had I not had them, I’m not sure how I’d fare. This is just love in a golden body.”

"A few years later, Martin added his first golden retrievers to his staff. It grew from a few pups in 2008 to 70 comfort dogs – all golden retrievers – in 2014, with dogs placed in 10 states. “When the marathon bombings occurred, we talked to pastor Dutzmann and said, ‘Would you like to have the dogs?’ And we were on the plane the next day.” Dutzmann said the dogs added another dimension to the help he could offer the people who turned to the church following the bombings: “Yes we’re open, yes we have bathrooms and coffee, yes of course I will pray with you, but what happens is, the dogs quiet people down.”

Comfort dogs.


(photo by Stacey Leasca / Los Angeles Times / April 19, 2014)