Amos the Therapy Dog Passes

Farewell and thank you, Amos

Certified as a therapy dog, Amos visited residents in all areas of Scandia Village weekly for eight years, sharing his calm, friendly presence and brightening the lives of residents, visitors and staff. He could fetch a ball, lay his head in a lap, wag his tail and serve as a “special guest speaker” at a memorial service. 

His visits extended to the Sturgeon Bay hospital, where, as he walked down the hall with his special prance, many nurses (who’d worked at Scand as well) would smile and say, “Here comes Amos.” 

For eight summers, Amos also served as such a popular reading dog at the Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library that many local and visiting children would wait for a turn to read to this patient, nonjudgmental listener. Over the years, he’d met children from 37 states and 14 countries and had listened to books read in Chinese (about a cat) and in Italian (about a hippopotamus). In many ways, he was a local legend. 

The pandemic cut short Amos’ therapy-dog career, and it was clear that he missed his special role. 

Amos is survived by Gloria and Ron of Ellison Bay and his little sister, Libby, who is already in training to follow in his therapy-dog paw prints.