While most house pets live a life of absolute leisure—the average dog spends half its day asleep—a select few are destined for greatness. Across Atlanta, animals of all stripes serve double duty as both beloved pets and hardworking helpers. Here are a few of the city’s most industrious pets, photographed with their caretakers, who told us about life on the job for these working critters.
Ares
of GGA Dwarf Goat Yoga, with Maddy Yangnouvong
Ares has an innate ability to help people feel at ease. It may be her calico coat, cuddling skills, or the way she jumps onto people’s backs as they settle in tabletop pose, but people gravitate toward her. GGA Dwarf Goat Yoga brings awareness to mental health through animal-assisted therapy, which basically involves adding trained therapy animals into the mix for another level of Zen. In other words, yoga is all the more relaxing—and uplifting—with a team of baby goats!
All of our dwarf goats have been trained and socialized since they were babies. They take their jobs seriously so you don’t have to; feel free to stop midflow and snap a photo or cuddle with one of the babies instead. Customers don’t even end up doing yoga most of the time because the goats are just so cute. —As told to Sarra Sedghi
Queso
of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with patient Dominic, narrated by Queso’s handler Jessa Fagan…