Sioux City Counselor Jessie Christopherson’s therapy dog, Rudy (above), attended the most recent Staff Meeting and was voted Employee of the Month for his support for the staff and resi-dents at the facility. The AKC-registered Yellow Lab welcomes residents into the center, greets them after a long days work, assists with perim-eter checks, attends some group classes and helps tend the garden by handling “rabbit con-trol”, according to Director Robyn Deacon. “He doesn’t expect much in return, except the occa-sional treat and long petting sessions” as demonstrated here by Resident Monitor Cody Leonard. Rudy is a certified and tested therapy dog, according to Deacon. He is also AKC Ca-nine Good Citizenship certified for his obedi-ence. Rudy isn’t the first canine to help around the center. His sister, Meg, began her tenure at the facility in mid-2015 and still visits the facili-ty periodically. She too is certified, tested and has received the Citizenship certification.
