Has life been feeling stressful or overwhelming? Nervous about that upcoming test? Here at MHS, the Wellness Center offers a range of services that provide a safe space to destress and calm your mind. One of these services includes a cuddly friend whose job is to take some of that stress from your mind.
Tobias, the therapy dog, a welcoming and friendly golden retriever, has been visiting Mundelein High School since 2017, originally part of a destress event offered by MHS to help alleviate students’ stress before finals, and now in the Wellness Center since 2022.
Tobias is now 10 years old and has been trained to be a therapy dog since he was only two months old! He then underwent 17 months of training.
He was invited to come to MHS as a way to “provide a place to be calm, and to get a little comfort from him,” according to Jenny, Tobias’s caretaker and a member of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry at Lord of Glory Lutheran Church.
Tobias’s first whereabouts came up as the daughter of Jenny, Hayley Johnson, a teacher at MHS, who suggested a comfort dog would be a great addition, offered by MHS.
As much as it would be great to have Tobias as a permanent addition to MHS, he is in great demand throughout the community, constantly visiting other schools, churches, and events.
With many people having the belief that being a dog is easy and stress-free, Tobias is actually a busy little guy, having MHS being one of the 11-12 schools that are regularly scheduled for him to visit.
On top of that, Jenny added that Tobias visits “special needs programs, fire department open houses, after-school care clubs, and behavioral hospitals,” which she estimates are about “1-2 visits a day.”
Occasionally, he has to suspend some regular visits as he gets called to respond to tragic events such as tragedies, sudden deaths, and school shootings.
Sometimes he is required to travel longer distances for more tragic events, such as when he got called to Florida, after a condominium collapse, and Texas, after a hurricane. “Las Vegas, Nevada was the furthest,” said Jenny.
Outside of being a trained comfort dog, Tobias still provides comfort, especially for Jenny, as she is his primary caretaker.
Having been there for each other for years, she shared some of his favorite pastimes, such as sleeping and relaxing, lying in the backyard, looking outside, and playing with a green Nerf football, which is the “only toy he plays with.”
Although some people may not think having a therapy dog at school is very hygienic, as many people are petting a dog, let alone the same dog, Jenny makes sure Tobias is very clean by giving him baths and brushing his hair every day.
She also keeps him looking neat and stylish by changing up his bandanas. “He has around 180 bandanas, all washed and ironed.” Jenny then added that sometimes people give him bandanas. She likes to make him look good for visits and social media by ensuring he has a wide variety of bandanas ranging from all colors, special occasions, and even fun designs like animal prints.
Tobias is very active on social media, posting almost every day about his visits and commemorating people he goes to see. However, social media is also a way for Tobias to branch out to communities and families that may need his services.
“Social media can trigger someone else, and then they’re like, ‘Hey, would you want to bring him?’” said Jenny. She shared a time when a therapist reached out to her, asking if she could bring Tobias for a child through a request, which would’ve been difficult if it weren’t for social media.
The LCC K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry at Lord of Glory Lutheran Church intentionally consists of many golden retrievers. This is due to their good health history, how they like to please people, they have a good temperament to do something like this, and “society likes golden retrievers,” said Jenny.
They are also capable of being well trained through smells, objects, and sounds. Jenny then said how, once at a school visit, the fire alarm went off, and despite the loud whaling siren, “He was fine through the fire alarm despite never training through one.”
You may be wondering, “Why is there only a comfort dog and not a comfort cat?” In reality, there is actually some science behind it!
Jenny eagerly explained, “The heart rate goes down and the blood pressure goes down. We went to a hospital and had a patient attached to a heart rate monitor, and after petting Tobias, their heart rate went down.”
This is one of the reasons why the Wellness Center frequently has Tobias over, but also because of the overwhelming amount of enjoyment people get after petting Tobias.
“He makes me feel calm and relaxed. You can pet him for 30 minutes, and it’ll only feel like five minutes have gone by,” said Byanca Garcia, a graduate from the class of ‘25, who highlights Tobias as being a significant resource for her success throughout high school.
Tobias has helped many people not only from MHS but also from different communities, states, and situations, no matter the severity.
However, severity doesn’t matter when it comes to Tobias because Jenny states, “the best part is he doesn’t judge anybody. After a tragedy, people have different emotions, and Tobias will love everybody wherever they are. He loves people. He doesn’t try to make people feel better with words; he just lets them pet him. It just blurs all together with words.”