Voice of Janice Monks; Lucky is eight years old. And when he was a puppy he was starving.

The Humane Society was full. So, Lucky became our dog.

For the past three years, lucky the dalmatian lab mix has been sharing his good fortune. He and owner Janice Monks are making their weekly visit to encore senior village.

"Say, hello. Hello."

After a quick round of hellos, it's show time. Lucky has a few tricks sure to impress.

Bang!

"Gonna ask Lucky to crawl for us."

His visits not only entertain, they spark memories for the residents who are in various stages of dementia.

Melissa Parker, Encore Activities Director; "You can try all day long doing something with the residents but you never see their face light up like you do when an animal walks in or a child walks in."

Janice Monks, Sharing Lucky; "A lot of them used to have dogs or pets of some kind. And when they see Lucky, that kind of takes them back."

Melissa; "It's such a horrible disease and so my job is to try to find the joy in it and the joy always comes when Lucky comes."

Lucky, "Hi. Oooh, good boy. You want to keep him."

Janice has no shortage of offers from residents more than willing to keep Lucky. He's become a friend to many of them.

"I'll pet. I'll pet him all day long."

While Lucky can't stay, like a faithful friend, he'll be back. You see, janice and lucky have made that rare volunteer commitment to come here "every" week.

High five.

Janice; "That we come every week because we care for them."

That compassion doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Melissa; "It's so hard to find volunteers that will commit their time."

Janice; "It's just wonderful to see them smile. That's the pay we get; the smiles, the hugs, the kisses. That's our pay."Angels In Our Midst (Janice Monks)