BARRINGTON – Hanna Schuler, a month from her second birthday, is sitting on dad's lap when she sees something big and furry and four-legged prance by the waiting room.

It is Hollie, the friendly hospital dog, just meandering along to make the next patient's day. Relieve some stress. Lower some blood pressure. Lend her ears for scratching. It's all in a day's work for one of 12 of the hospital's most well-received volunteers, a group of well-behaved dogs in Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital's Animal Assisted Therapy program.

There's always time for a pit stop, though. Suzanne Schreiber, Hollie's handler, directs the red-coated golden retriever gently over to Schuler, who had stepped down from dad but now bashfully retreats into his arms.