Busy season has arrived, and at Akin, Doherty, Klein & Feuge we are committed to developing professional staff who are knowledgeable and take personal responsibility for the service they provide to our clients. Our ability to service our clients is dependent on every member of our ADKF family working together, especially during this busy time of year. To help with the stress of deadlines and increased work hours, we invited our community partner Guide Dogs of Texas, Inc. to share their mission with us, and of course, bring the dogs.
Studies have shown dogs help reduce stress by increasing levels of the stress-reducing hormone oxytocin and decrease the stress hormone cortisol. From the moment the dogs entered the front door of our building, there was an instant change in the mood, it was like a celebrity entered the building. The beautiful labs and their trainers patiently waited for our staff to enter the Roadrunner conference room, within minutes the word spread like wildfire in the office that the dogs had arrived. Team members entered in groups and instantly got on their knees to play a game of tug of war or feed the dogs a bone. The dogs were so well behaved and full of energy and so was the staff.
Jenna Krysinski, Volunteer and Outreach Manager for Guide Dogs of Texas, Inc., did an excellent job explaining the program. The vision of Guide Dogs of Texas is to serve all Texas who are visually impaired and who would benefit from the use of a guide dog. Jenna shared with the group how the guide dogs are bred, trained, paired with their visually impaired person, and how we can help throughout the program. ADKF team members also had the opportunity to purchase the Santikos Guide Dogs of Texas Fiesta Medal before they went on sale to the general public! To learn more about Guide Dogs and how to become a volunteer or donate please visit their website: http://guidedogsoftexas.org/
