Local woman recognized for work with therapy dog group

An Oconee County resident was recently awarded the Daily Point of Light Award, a prestigious honor and one that highlights those who strive to make an impact in their community. 

Connie Compton earned award No. 7,859 from Points of Light, a non-partisan global nonprofit, for her “ongoing commitment” as president of SC Dogs Therapy Group for the past 16-plus years, according to a release from the organization. 

Points of Light was founded by former President George H. W. Bush and was established as a nonprofit in May 1990.

About Connie, her start and her dog

Compton was also one of the five founding members of SC Dogs Therapy Group and explained more about the organization itself. She said the organization provides animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy in hospitals or rehab facilities. 

“But mainly, we provide, sometimes we say we provide the entertainment,” she said. “We go in, we visit, something to brighten up the day, we bring smiles and joy.”

She added the organization does around 20 visits a month. 

“This morning, we were at Elite Daycare, which is a daycare for special needs adults and senior adults where they can go during the day,” Compton said. “We just go and visit and brighten their day a little. Just give them a chance to pet the dogs.” 

Compton then explained how she got her start with the organization in 2001.

“It’s summertime, my father-in-law who was kind of in the middle stages of Alzheimer’s … he would stay with us on the weekend, and I had another golden retriever named Amos then,” Compton said. “Whenever Papa Bill was with us, Amos was more in tune with him. He would forget about us and he would come and sit by Papa Bill.” 

She explained that a lot of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s will do a motion with their hand, almost up-and-down and back-and-forth. 

“So, Amos would come and he would put his head down. And then instead of that hand moving, he would pet Amos,” Compton said, adding that Papa Bill would sometimes wander away — a common symptom of Alzheimer’s — but Amos would alert the family if Papa Bill had left. 

She thought about getting Amos involved in search and rescue but settled on him becoming a therapy dog instead. 

“So, a Clemson grad student, Michelle Missel, she was starting it up, SC Dogs Therapy Group, looking for people who would be interested,” Compton said. “So yes, there were five of us … so we started full-fledged in October of 2001. And you know, four dogs later, I’m still at it.”

Compton talked about one of her current therapy dogs, Jasper — a golden retriever who just turned 5 years old.

“He has what you look for in a therapy dog. He goes first. You know, I don’t have to encourage him. He comes to you first. He likes younger people better,” Compton said. “We go visit some of the senior facilities and he’ll walk in the room and go, ‘Hi, how are you? Can I get in your trashcan? Are you sure you don’t want to eat that on the floor?’ So, he’s still kind of getting into being a therapy dog. But he’s a funny guy; he really does a lot of good, so we’re pretty proud of him.” 

BARK Program

Another notable contribution from Compton that earned her the award is her contributions in overseeing SC Dogs Therapy Group’s “Books and Reading Kids” (BARK) program. 

Points of Light said the program conducts weekly reading sessions at 18 area schools. 

“The initiative not only promotes literacy, but also provides children with the therapeutic benefits of interacting with therapy dogs, creating a nurturing and supporting learning environment,” the release said. 

Compton said third grade is “that magic year” where children “really need to be on that grade level, if possible.” 

“So, we go in and we have second-grade students — some of us have two, some of us have four — but during the school year, those children read to the dogs,” she said. “The dogs are completely non-confrontational, there’s no judgment. And we have found that their reading skills vastly improve.” 

Why Connie? 

The Journal asked Compton why she thinks she was chosen for the award. 

“It’s my heart, and I have seen such a difference that it makes,” she said. “And maybe I do go above and beyond sometimes. My husband says, ‘You are always gone.’ I ran home for lunch, and he said, ‘Now where are you going this afternoon?’”

Compton said she can see the importance of what she does “from doing it so long.” 

“So, for me, it’s not a job … but I just see the benefits that it does, particularly with our senior population,” she said. “So many of them don’t have anybody coming to see them, don’t have much contact with the outside world.”

Along with the BARK program, the release pointed to the organization’s success with Compton leading the charge. 

“Connie has overseen an impressive expansion of the group’s activities and membership. Under her guidance, SCD has grown to over 100 members, with 20 new members qualified in the past year alone,” the release said. “The organization now boasts a regular schedule of over 300 visits to 65 locations annually, including 20 monthly visits.”