Our young men spent a holiday with man’s—and woman’s—best friend. With many of our young people home from school for Veteran’s Day, we welcomed four working dogs to the boys campus to showcase their talents. The event was organized by Board of Regents member John Power, who arranged for the dogs and their trainers to come by and demonstrate their skills to our boys, as well as help our young men learn about careers in working with or handling dogs.

The professional pooches held a variety of positions with diverse skill sets: a dog in the Bensenville Police Department who worked to sniff out trouble on the Arson and Narcotics beat; a police dog tasked with personnel protection; a dog in training who was still learning the art of obedience; and a therapy and comfort dog who specialized in smiles!

Our boys gathered on the turf of our indoor soccer field as the career canines displayed their special talents, including the ability to locate a pin drop’s worth of gasoline on one sock hidden in a pile. The visitors also shared interesting facts about working with dogs, such as the fact that obedience training begins at only three days old for police dogs, and that comfort dogs are taught to be highly attuned to our emotions and feelings. Our young men had a great time learning about and meeting the furry friends!

Thank you to John Power for arranging such a special event, and a big shout out to all of the working dogs and their trainers for visiting our Home!