Canine Health and Medical Pals (CHAMPs)A friend in your child's time of need

Canine Health and Medical Pals, or CHAMPs, is the facility dog program at American Family Children's Hospital. A crew of four specially-trained dogs and their handlers are available to help pediatric patients cope during stressful situations.

When facility dogs are used

Facility dogs are not pets. They are raised from birth to provide comfort and support to hospitalized children during stressful situations.

CHAMPs currently has four facility dogs, each of which is assigned to a certain area of American Family Children's Hospital. The dogs are never unaccompanied. Each dog is always under the supervision of an expertly trained staff person, known as a facility dog handler.

CHAMPs dogs do not have a schedule. Rather, each CHAMPs handler decides which patients are most likely to benefit from the company of a facility dog.

Most children experience an immediate connection with a facility dog. Typically, within seconds, they become happier and less anxious, allowing the medical procedure to go more smoothly. Some patients even look forward to coming back to the hospital if they expect to see a CHAMPs dogs again.

While all four of our facility dogs — Kiko, Cola, Archie and Jimmy — are quite popular with our patients and families, we regret that patients or family members cannot specifically request the company of a CHAMPs facility dog.

Kiko
Cola
Archie
Jimmy
Handlers
Kiko

Kiko supports patients undergoing certain medical procedures.

Cola

Cola and his handler are part of the Palliative Care Team.

Archie

Archie works with our Pediatric Oncology patients.

Jimmy

Jimmy sees patients on our Pediatric Universal Care Unit.

Handlers

A dedicated team of handlers cares for the dogs and supervises their interactions with patients.

The CHAMPs program is run by our Child Life staff — both of which are 100% supported by donations. If you would like to support the CHAMPs program with a gift, we would be most grateful. Donations can be made online.

Separate from the CHAMPs facility dog program, American Family Children’s Hospital has a visiting dog program called Caring Canines. These dogs make social visits to patients on a regular basis and are accompanied by children’s hospital volunteers.