Two pups 'bring a little bit of joy' to grieving families at OKC funeral home
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - It’s been a hard couple of days for Jade Willis and Alinna Brickhouse.
"We expected just a couple more months with her and we only got a couple of days,” said Brickhouse. “So, it's kind of, it's really rough."
The cousins' great aunt passed away after about a year-long battle with cancer.
"To see her last moment specifically like this is kind of hard,” said Willis.
They flew into town earlier this week to make arrangements at the Bill Eisenhour Funeral Home, and were greeted by two adorable Goldendoodles.
"This is Charlie. This is Coco,” said Megan Crouch. “They are our grief therapy dogs in training… If you're comfortable, they'll come and just sit and pet and put their head on your lap."
Families have the option of sitting with the 1-year-old pups, born six days apart, while they make funeral arrangements for their loved ones.
Brickhouse told KFOR the dogs made her feel a bit better.
"For them to just come straight up to you and just, ‘Hey, I'm here, let me show you. Let me help you not be so down,’ so [the dogs] definitely take your mind off of it," said Willis.
The dogs are also available to comfort families during services.
Crouch owns the dogs and is the location manager for both Bill Eisenhour Funeral Homes.
"If we can just bring a little bit of joy or just help ease that burden a little bit with these two fur balls, then that's what we want to accomplish,” said Crouch.
Coco and Charlie also brighten the funeral home employees' days.
"We take on the grief of others every single day and, you know, day in and day out, 24 seven, it doesn't turn off. As we know, death happens at any time,” said Courch. “So it's really helped them just bring some joy as well as it does the family."