Comfort Dog Celebrates 'Graduation' In High School Yearbook
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Jun 7, 2013 9:50PM
Prince is the blond guy in the middle.
Meet Prince. He's been working at Portage High School in Indiana for more than four years, and he's ready to graduate. Well, technically he's retiring. Either way, the high school that he's served honored him with this precious yearbook photo.
Nine-year-old Prince is one of Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs, and his handler Tim Kunstek is a counselor at Portage High School. The Comfort Dogs offer soothing support, especially important for those who've suffered trauma. Most recently the dogs were in Oklahoma helping out in the aftermath of the deadly tornados. When he isn't doing that, Prince goes to school with Kunstek and works with him in therapy groups.
Oh, is that not adorable enough? How about this:
Every day, he rides to school with Kunstek and spends his morning greeting students as they arrive at school. He also sits in on counseling sessions with Kunstek and his students, and patrols the hallways, making sure kids are going to class. During lunch, he hangs out in the cafeteria. “Kids would sit on the floor and feed him Tater Tots and other treats, but he started gaining weight, so we’ve scaled back on that,” said Kunstek.
Young pup Isaiah, a 1-year-old golden retriever, is stepping into Prince's position at the school. Enjoy retirement, Prince!
