When her mother was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and living in a nursing home, Morgantown resident Lynn Cronomiz recalled what seemed to bring her mother the most joy - a visit by a therapy dog.

Today, Cronomiz now has her own therapy dog, named Chester, and together they bring that same sense of comfort and caring to people who need it most, including residents of local nursing homes.

"(My mother) could not really talk and was slumped over in a chair, but when the therapy dogs came, she would wake up and look happy and was smiling," Cronomiz recalled. "It made me realize the importance of the human/animal bond. She grew up on a farm and loved animals, and it reached her."

After Cronomiz's mother passed away in 2017, a counselor suggested raising a therapy dog as a way to help with the grief. "I was by her bedside, and I couldn't sleep for two or three months after that. Watching someone slowly decline at the end of life is a struggle," said Cronomiz. "I went to counseling and the counselor suggested it. It helped me immensely. Helping others alleviated the stress I felt from my mother's death. I hope Mom is smiling in heaven."

Cronomiz adopted Chester, a 4-year-old pit bull/Labrador mix, in 2018 from a rescue in Lancaster. "(My husband I) went there and came home with him that day. He was 10 months old when we got him," she noted.

Chester first took a basic dog obedience course through the Berks County Dog Training Club and then received his training from Keystone Pets Enhanced Therapy Services (KPETS), which also provides therapy cats and other animals. "You become registered as a KPETS therapy team," Cronomiz noted. "This organization has 400 volunteers. Some people have mini horses, who are not much bigger than Chester. One lady has two ducks and takes them to a library."

Currently, Chester and Cronomiz visit Tower Behavioral Health and Haven Behavioral Hospital of Eastern Pennsylvania in Reading, as well as Keystone Villa, a senior living community in Blandon. "They get a group of seniors in the rotunda and people pet him, and he does tricks, and we talk about dogs," she said. "Some days we will go to the rooms where people don't come out much. We will talk and visit with them."

Chester and his owner also visit the Reading Courthouse, where they provide comfort to children who are preparing to testify in a legal matter at the Children's Alliance Center. "We go and sit in the waiting room with the child. Even the parents or grandparents are so nervous, and it helps them (as well)," Cronomiz shared. "It's like a distraction for them. Chester jumps up on the sofa and lays his head on their laps. Sometimes dogs sense when people need attention."

To learn more about KPETS or to request a visit by a therapy dog, visit http://www.kpets.org.