Daniel Comfort Dog is Immanuel Lutheran Church’s LCC K-9 Comfort Dog in Joplin, Missouri — a trained Golden Retriever who serves as a bridge for the mercy, compassion, presence, and proclamation of Jesus Christ. Daniel Comfort Dog was commissioned on January 15, 2023, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, and has been woven into the life of this congregation and school community ever since.
A Comfort Dog is a friend who brings a calming influence and allows people to open up their hearts and receive help for what is affecting them. But Daniel’s ministry goes deeper than comfort in the lowercase sense — the Joplin team is there to share the capital-C Comfort that only Christ can give. You’ll find Daniel at Immanuel Lutheran Church every Sunday for worship, at Vacation Bible School every summer, at Martin Luther School weekly for chapel and occasional classroom visits, and at Missouri District Youth Gatherings — most recently in 2026. Handlers are trained to pray with people, share Scripture, and point hurting people to the mercy and love of Jesus. Learn more about the full ministry of Team Daniel at Immanuel.
Heidi Gustin leads the team as Top Dog, with DCE Jason Glaskey serving as Level II Handler and Ministry Advisor. The team of nearly a dozen volunteer handlers takes Daniel throughout the community — to hospitals, nursing homes, Missouri Southern State University, and community events — always free of charge. When tragedy strikes, the team deploys nationally: they have served at Sandy Hook, Connecticut (2013), Moore, Oklahoma (2013), Las Vegas, Nevada (2017, covered on NBC National News), and communities across the country. We never ever charge anyone for what we do.
Daniel Comfort Dog — Who He Is
Daniel is a purebred Golden Retriever with over 2,000 hours of certified training from Lutheran Church Charities (LCC). Born January 15, 2021, he is skilled and playful, lives to please, and loves meeting new people. He is reliable with his commands and has a natural gift for putting people at ease. His favorite snack is peanut butter in a Kong toy; his favorite way to relax is massage, grooming, and cuddle time. He is Joplin’s third Comfort Dog, following Jackson and Louie, who began serving after the 2011 EF-5 Joplin tornado. Daniel’s ministry has been featured in Outreach Magazine (2023), on the front page of The Joplin Globe (2022), and on KSN-16 NBC (2022).
Request a Visit or Support the Ministry
The Joplin Comfort Dog Team is available to visit your church, group, school, or facility — and there is never a fee for what they do. Fill out the contact form on our Comfort Dog page to request a visit. Follow Daniel Comfort Dog on Facebook and Instagram, or reach the team at daniel@K9Comfort.org. The ministry is funded entirely by donations — you can give to the Joplin Comfort Dog Travel Fund through our Comfort Dog page.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV)
Daniel Comfort Dog is placed with Immanuel Lutheran Church by Lutheran Church Charities (LCC) — a national human-care ministry of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Learn more at immanueljoplin.com/ministries/comfort-dogs/ or visit Daniel’s profile at Martin Luther School.