Canine Companion
Like clockwork, O'Shea, a 15-year-old Labrador/golden retriever mix, looked and then took several steps to the guests coming into the Thompson-Miller Funeral Home.
Robin Miller called her back.
“It takes a dog to do things some of us humans can't do,” said Miller, one of the funeral home's owners. “She's a great socializer, she's a great mingler. She loves people. To this day that's just what she wants to do.”
O'Shea retired last June as the funeral home's grief companion dog. She started in 2006.
O'Shea was bred, born, raised and trained through Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. She is one of the organization's facility dogs that work with clients with special needs in a visitation, education, criminal justice or health care setting.
Miller's grandfather, who started the funeral home at 124 E. North St. in 1933, had a philosophy his family wanted to continue, Miller said.
“Do whatever we can to care for people with compassion because they are dealing with some of the hardest times in their lives after the death of a loved one,” she said.
With that ideal, her brother, Glenn T. Miller, suggested they find a dog that could be at the funeral home in some capacity.
The siblings found California-based Canine Companions for Independence.
“We wanted a dog that we could fully trust to not be aggressive, be a dog that would be very compassionate and loving toward people,” Miller said.
The adoption process was similar to adopting a child because of the applications and interviews, she said.Once accepted by the organization, it could be a two-year wait, she said.However, within months Miller was in Delaware for a two-week training class with other people receiving service dogs.“We didn't know at that point who our dog was going to be,” she said.O'Shea's puppy raiser was a woman who lived in Minnesota who cared for her for nearly a year. Next, O'Shea trained professionally in Ohio.On Match Day, each dog was taken around the circle of recipients until it was paired with its person.While there, Miller learned 42 commands, including “light,” “get” and “give,” she said.Once O'Shea was brought home, she had to learn those commands, take a test and participate in graduation.At the brunch before graduation, Miller met O'Shea's puppy raiser who brought an album of her puppy photos. During the graduation, the puppy raiser hands off the dog to its recipient.“It was a very emotional situation,” she said.One of the first commands O'Shea performed at the funeral home — one that eventually became a staple — was “get,” where she would carry a basket of mints offered to guests during visitations.“It changes the energy in the room,” Miller said. “People literally melted when they saw a dog, it brings a little warmth to your heart, a little smile to your face. It gave them a little bit of a release for a time from the stress they're undergoing from the death of their loved one.”Over the years, stories followed as O'Shea made her impression on thousands of people.One story is about a group of teenagers whose grandmother died and who had a difficult time coming in the funeral home, Miller said.Miller took O'Shea to the group that stood under the funeral carport. She talked to them, shared O'Shea's story and that the dog could turn on a light switch.The group came inside the funeral home to see her trick and eventually went into the room with their family, she said.The most important rule was O'Shea was always on a leash for people who might be afraid or allergic to dogs, Miller said.O'Shea donned a blue vest that distinguished her as part of the Canine Companions for Independence. Once a year, the organization visited O'Shea for check-ins and updates.
The organization gives dog owners the choice that when they feel their dog is ready to retire, they can either keep the dog or give it back.“For me, it wasn't even a choice,” Miller said. “O'Shea just stays with me.”Last July, Miller decided it was time for O'Shea to retire because her age did not allow her to be at the funeral home all day, she said. The dog was 14 at the time.“It was very hard because she was my sidekick in everything I did,” Miller said. “I thought, 'I don't know if I'm going to be able to do my job without her.'”Miller and O'Shea took the transition slow and easy, she said. Occasionally, she brings the dog to the funeral home.With the retirement, O'Shea also had to retire her blue vest, she said. O'Shea now wears a scarf with her name to indicate she is a special dog.Miller said she plans to get another comfort dog because of the asset O'Shea became.“It's to the point now where people come in the funeral home and go 'Where's your dog?'” she said.Miller said it shows how much her presence meant to people.As a bereavement specialist, Miller learned from O'Shea, she said.“What we see in dogs is what we human beings need to be when someone we love has died,” she said. “These dogs allow us to cry, they allow us to smile, to laugh, they allow us to be upset ... They don't stop us. They don't say anything to us. They don't judge us and they love us unconditionally.They're a God-given gift to us.”
