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MARION, Va. — The death of a loved one can be hard to deal with but a funeral home in Virginia is using something cute and cuddly to help.
Seaver-Brown Funeral Home in Marion, Virginia, has been using a Newfoundland dog to help people while they arrange funerals for loved ones.
"When a family comes into the funeral home we ask them all kinds of questions, they have to make decisions," owner Mal Brown told WCYB News. "But when a puppy comes up to you, you don't have to make decisions."
The owners say people will start petting Luna and playing with her while making arrangements. She isn’t a certified therapy dog but will be in a year.
Petting animals has been shown to reduce stress by lowering blood pressure and elevating bad moods.
“Therapy dogs have the ability to assist people with the grieving process,” the Therapy Dogs International website states. “Their steady and unwavering companionship helps to provide consolation to family members while the effects of stroking the fur of a serene dog can be incredibly comforting.”
Seaver-Brown isn’t the first to come up with therapy grief dogs. People.com reports Ballard-Durand funeral homes in New York use Lulu the goldendoodle, who is a certified therapy dog, to help people deal with overwhelming emotions.
Oliver the Portuguese water dog worked at schools, hospitals and nursing homes before winding up as a therapy dog at a funeral home in Milwaukee. When he passed away in 2011, over 150 people came to his funeral.
