As you will read, Lulu is an expert on canine grief therapy. If you can imagine losing someone you love, having this precious pup in your corner is wonderful.
Wouldn’t it be great if all memorial services included therapy dogs? While this trend has yet to spread widely across the funeral home industry, at Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services in White Plains, New York, it’s very much a reality – in this case, in the form of a one-year-old Goldendoodle named Lulu. Known as a “comfort companion,” the friendly, sweet-natured pup is made available upon request at any wake, service, or ceremony to comfort mourners while providing a subtle distraction from their grief.
Since her arrival at Ballard-Durand last spring, Lulu has become a welcome fixture at both of the company’s funeral home locations, whether she’s lounging around the office, welcoming visitors in the main hallway, walking through the chapel, or sitting next to people and waiting to be petted. Specially trained to sense grief, she always seems to “know” when someone needs her calm, soothing presence, says Ballard-Durand CEO Matthew Fiorillo, who is also Lulu’s “dad” and handler.
“It’s just amazing how her presence creates a sense of calm for people, especially when they walk in,” he says. “Wakes and funerals are always an awkward situation, but Lulu just softens the mood. I don’t know if certain people look different to her or she senses something, but she has an uncanny knack for knowing who’s going to appreciate her presence more. She’s just a great addition to our staff.”
Whether they’re used in hospitals, schools, rehabilitation centers, hospices, psychotherapy offices, nursing homes, universities, airports, or crisis situations, therapy dogs can provide invaluable psychological and physiological support to individuals in need. After all, the act of simply petting a dog has been shown to decrease stress hormone levels, regulate breathing, and lower blood pressure. And since the death of a loved one can be a very traumatizing experience for people, it makes sense that therapy dogs would be a great fit for the funeral home environment.
All that began to make perfect sense to Fiorillo after an experience at an airport helped him fully appreciate the healing power of dogs.
“I was stuck in an airport in South Florida two years ago around New Year’s, and I was frustrated because my flight was delayed about five hours and all the gates around me were canceling one by one,” he says.
“It was stressful because I needed to get home and I was worried my flight was going to get canceled.
Tempers were flaring, there were arguments at the gate, people were pushing and shoving, it was just a scene. All of a sudden a woman walked by with a little white Maltese dog, and I just watched as this wave of calm washed over everybody who interacted with this dog. Even if they didn’t pet the dog, everyone was looking and saying, ‘Oh, look at the cute little dog.’ It came all the way across to where I was sitting, and I felt that wave of calm and felt included. And I thought, wow, this is such a powerful thing, I have to implement this at the funeral homes!”
Inspired, Fiorillo went to work researching therapy dogs and the best breed types for the role. With their naturally friendly, easy-going temperaments and hypoallergenic coats, the Goldendoodle seemed like the best choice for Fiorillo’s funeral homes.
Mr. Fiorillo found a Goldendoodle breeder in Orlando who specializes in therapy and service dogs and found Lulu to be a dog of great temperament and easily trained – although it is noted that it took a great deal of training to make this (or any other) pooch comfortable around a great many different people. But in time, Lulu became pup who is and always will be a great asset to his funeral home.
To read more about Lulu as a “comfort companion please go to Dogster. It truly is an inspiring story!
It would be wonderful if more funeral homes took in well-tempered dogs to help ease the pain of friends, relatives and especially the children of the deceased.
