Funeral Home Brings Out Comfort Dog To Put Mourners At Ease

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- One look in her eyes can make you feel better. A new funeral home professional is getting rave reviews.

As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the newest employee at the stately funeral home on Maple Avenue in White Plains isn't human.

At a place where mourners come to say goodbye to the dead, and comfort the living, a professionally trained Labra-Doodle named Lulu has been brought in to deliver a little comfort of her own.

"I think the more alone you are, the more it's required to make a connection to this type of therapy. I call it therapy, if that's the right word, and I think it's a beautiful thing," Kay Golia said.

We've seen comfort dogs before in hospitals, at disaster scenes, even in courtrooms, but few places are as consistently in need of comfort as a funeral home.

"I was stuck in an airport, flight was delayed about 5 hours. People were losing their patience, and a woman walked by with a little Maltese, and I just watched the wave of calm come over everyone," Ballard-Durand Funeral Home, owner, Mathew Fiorello said.

Fiorello had seen mourners gravitating to the funeral home's bird aviary, and figured a little physical contact with a hypoallergenic pooch might be even more productive.

Lulu seems to dissolve tension and help people stay positive in a difficult time.

"You see she's relaxing herself," Golia said, "It's wonderful. It really is."

Lulu seems to understand that not everyone is a dog lover, so she's just as happy to hang out in the office if her services aren't needed.

The owner said he'll consider adding dogs to the mix if the business expands, but ruled out comfort cats because the birds could become a distraction.

Like most trained comfort dogs, Lulu knows she is 'on the job' when her handler puts her special vest on her.

When she's not wearing it, she's just another dog.