What began with the university’s first comfort dog, Zoey, has grown into a lasting ministry of compassion, presence and care.
Just like humans, every dog has two sides: one that works and one that plays. Concordia’s first comfort dog, Zoey, was remarkable at both.
According to alumna Erika Buchel (’18, ’22), a PharmD graduate and one of Zoey’s original handlers, Zoey possessed a gentle, calming soul. (Just look at those eyes.)
“Her purpose was to be the bridge to open communication, provide comfort and give emotional support to any and all who needed it,” recalled Buchel.
“She fulfilled this purpose and so much more,” she continued. “She was a hard worker when vested and a fun, playful, sassy girl when unvested.”
In 2015, as Buchel began her college journey, she remembers seeing the young pup during a campus visit and immediately feeling called to work with her. “I knew I wanted to be involved,” Buchel said.
Over the years, that sentiment rang true for many under Zoey’s watch. Though she is essentially retired today and occasionally visits campus, Zoey has paved the way for the next generation of comfort dogs. Her impact has reached far beyond the people she comforted. It has shaped the environment of compassion and care that continues to grow at Concordia.
Former director of the Counseling Center for 27 years, Dave Enters, MS, who now serves in a part-time counseling role, recognized the ministry’s promise the day Lutheran Church Charities first proposed it. Months after LCC visited campus to present its Comfort Dog Ministry, Enters continued researching the opportunity. When no one else stepped forward to lead the effort, he presented the idea to the Administrative Council for approval. With then-President Patrick Ferry’s full support, he established the program at Concordia with Zoey arriving in January 2014.
“I remember thinking, ‘This is too good of an idea to let go,'” Enters said. Zoey’s ministry was broad by design. Because neither she nor Enters was attached to one particular department or school, they served the entire university. “We were all things to all people,” Enters said.
After studying the ministry’s mission, developing a vision and consulting with Lutheran Church Charities—where Zoey was trained—Enters worked through how a comfort dog could function on a college campus.
“Eventually, I created the job description that became the foundation of Zoey’s work,” he recalled.
The making of a comfort dog
From the start, Zoey seemed called to something bigger. At 8 weeks old, this four-legged girl was well on her way. She trained to become an LCC K-9 Comfort Dog for roughly a year prior to serving at Concordia. By the time she graduated, Zoey could respond to 55 commands.
“Looking back, Zoey was probably over-trained for most of her work at CUW,” Enters said with a smile. Only about 30 of those commands were regularly used. However, all of that training became essential when Enters, Zoey and other handlers began responding to national tragedies through LCC.
When Zoey arrived at Concordia, LCC was still expanding its K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry. One of her primary responsibilities was serving the university community, but an equally important part of her role was deploying to communities devastated by tragedy.
A ministry without walls
One of Zoey’s first deployments came in 2013, when she was still in training. Following the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., she was called to help comfort victims and families, especially children.
These deployments became a defining part of Zoey’s ministry. Alongside other comfort dogs and handlers from across the country, she entered communities experiencing unimaginable loss. The goal wasn’t to solve anyone’s pain or suffering, but simply to be present with those carrying it.
For LCC, the comfort dogs’ presence often opened the door to sharing compassion, faith and the hope of Jesus Christ.
During her years in the K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry, Zoey also responded to:
- 2013: Boston Marathon bombing
- 2016: Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando
- 2016: Baton Rouge officers ambush
- 2020: Molson Coors shooting in Milwaukee
- 2021: Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy
A ministry of presence
Zoey’s work carried her from the front door of a student’s residence hall to communities across the country. At Concordia, she spent her days surrounded by student handlers, hugs from students in need of comfort and quiet moments with members of the campus community. Off campus, she served communities navigating unimaginable grief, as well as individuals simply struggling with everyday life.
Zoey was highly intuitive. “She was able to sense the emotions of those around her, and she adapted her behavior to accommodate what people needed,” Buchel said.
Buchel accompanied Zoey to several crisis-response deployments, as well as visits to local nursing homes and the behavioral health unit at a local hospital.
Enters, like Buchel, recalls many moments when Zoey’s presence led to what felt like God moments. Some of the most meaningful moments happened just around the corner from campus during visits to local nursing homes.
“Whenever we visited a nursing home, the staff almost always directed us to the memory care unit first,” Enters said. The residents in that unit were often living with various stages of dementia.
“You would walk into a common room and see people sitting quietly, often not interacting with one another,” he continued. “The television might be on, but everyone seemed isolated, even though they were sitting together. Then we’d walk in with Zoey. Suddenly heads would lift and people became engaged.”
Zoey enjoyed greeting each person individually, and some would begin sharing stories about dogs they had owned.
Healing beyond words
The same quiet presence that reached nursing home residents also brought comfort to people facing mental and emotional health challenges. One of Buchel’s most memorable experiences with Zoey happened in the behavioral health unit at a local hospital. There, Zoey gently responded to a patient with anxiety around dogs. The process was slow but remarkable.
“I led Zoey over and she so slowly and gently laid her head on the patient’s lap, and the patient lowered her head toward Zoey to embrace her, and cried,” Buchel said. “You could feel the relief of the patient in the room and how Zoey allowed them to embrace their feelings and let them go onto Zoey. It was a definitive breakthrough in the patient’s therapy.”
Buchel’s college journey was shaped by Zoey. She spent three years as one of Zoey’s handlers during her undergraduate studies and continued working with her periodically throughout pharmacy school.
“Being her handler for so many different settings and experiences allowed me to become a more empathetic and intuitive healthcare provider within my community,” said Buchel.
Today, as a mother, Buchel especially sees how those experiences are life changing. The impact comfort dogs and service dogs can have on people in need of emotional support is powerful.
“Her presence was truly nurturing in ways that are incomprehensible until you have experienced it yourself.”
Passing the leash
Education professor Nicole Muth and athletic training professor Rhonda Verdegan, PhD, saw the impact Zoey had around campus and eventually joined Enters’ team as handlers in 2015. The experience they gained working alongside Enters and Zoey became the catalyst for developing the Compassion Care Certificate at Concordia, which launched in 2021.
“They are the architects of the certificate program,” Enters said. “I introduced them to the leadership side of comfort dog work, and then they took the leash and ran with it.” Though Enters’ Comfort Dog Ministry has retired, the Compassion Care Certificate continues to grow. Verdegan now works primarily with another comfort dog, Runner, helping carry forward the ministry Zoey helped build.
“Zoey has brought so much love to everyone who has crossed paths with her,” Verdegan said. “She has earned her time and can just chill, relax and kind of do her own thing.”
The School of Health Professions is home to Sage, who works primarily with the occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology programs. Runner is housed under the School of Education, but serves a variety of majors across campus. Together, they are the “next generation,” as Enters calls them, carrying on Zoey’s legacy—the very outcome he had hoped for.
“When we started in 2014, we were the only university in the country with a highly trained comfort dog owned by the university and operating under a defined job description,” Enters said. “The success is overwhelming, and the evidence is irrefutable.
“Students here receive an experience that very few college students around the country ever have. They’re learning through service and ministry in ways that can’t be replicated in a traditional classroom.”
Zoey was the trailblazer. Her gift for accompanying people through difficult circumstances with joy and compassion was central to a ministry unlike any other. Her legacy lives on in the memories of all those whose lives she touched.
Fast facts
- Age 13.5
- Placed through Lutheran Church Charities
- Concordia’s first comfort dog (not a service dog; service dogs are trained to assist one person with a disability, while LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs serve anyone in need.)
- Joined campus in January 2014
- Served as the first comfort dog prior to the Compassion Care Certificate which launched in 2021
- Retired/semi-retirement in 2024
Additional canine features
- CU Comfort Dog Program receives national recognition
- Concordia to employ second comfort dog
- Double the love
- Working Dogs and the Different Roles They Can Play
- A Concordia Cohort of Canine Compassion Care
- Exceptionally handsome very good boy joins CUW comfort staff
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Concordia University Wisconsin is a Lutheran higher education community committed to helping students develop in mind, body and spirit for service to Christ in the Church and the world.