Soft, furry therapy dog at work

Published 6:00 am Sunday, December 14, 2014

She stands only a few feet in height, can’t speak English (or any language, for that matter) and is covered in cloud-like white fur.

Nevertheless, when Lucy, the year-and-change-old goldendoodle dog, lifts a paw to shake your hand, a connection is made. The trained therapy dog is there for you.

“It just makes you feel good to love an animal,” said owner and handler Angie King, who worked for Pellerin Funeral Home in New Iberia before retiring this year. “Dogs give you unconditional love.”

They don’t ask “who, what, where, when or why,” King said. 

A dog can sense when a person is grieving, stressed out or otherwise in emotional distress. That’s why she retired: to train Lucy and volunteer throughout the Teche Area to lend a helping hand and paw.

“When I was working here, I wanted to do it,” King said. “I wanted to spend more time volunteering with her, so that’s why I retired.”

At the time of the interview, King and Lucy were back at Pellerin Funeral Home for a visitation. Family and friends of the deceased met and embraced the dog and she nuzzled up to them, raised her paw to their hands and gave the infamous “puppydog eyes.”

She made people smile.

“She’s just so gentle and calming,” King said. “They say when they come in, ‘I can’t believe she’s so fluffy. She’s like a cloud.’ ”

Lucy has other work outside of the funeral home. King said she frequently visits nursing homes to cheer up their clients.

Earlier this week, Lucy joined numerous other therapy dogs at the Edith Garland Dupre Library at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to give stressed out college students a reprieve from finals week.

“Yesterday, at UL, my gosh,” King said. “The students were all over the floor hugging her and loving her.”

Lucy had to do some homework of her own to get here. King spent a lot of time training her personally, but she also had to be sent to a training facility for two weeks. She is officially registered and boasts a harness proclaiming such to the world.

“I researched to get her docileness and intelligence from her breed,” King explained. “Not any dog can be a therapy dog because they have to pass therapy and temperament testing.”

King said she got the idea while working at Pellerin Funeral Home.

“In the past, we’ve read through trade journals,” she said. “At conventions, we would hear of other funeral homes that were doing it.”

King said in her experience, northern funeral homes have been using the animals much more consistently than anywhere, but she’s seen more and more popping up elsewhere.

“It’s a growing trend,” she said. “They’re realizing the bond between human and animal reduces stress levels.”

Robbie David, an employee at Pellerin, said Lucy has gained popularity in the month or so she’s been “working” at the funeral home.

“People will come tonight, see her and come tomorrow and ask, ‘Where’s Lucy?’ ” she said.

King’s husband and funeral home director George King said Lucy “without a doubt” made a great addition to the home’s visitation services.

“It’s very calming for the people,” he said. “She’s been wonderful. She helps in her own way to help people with their grief. I definitely believe in this and would like to continue doing it as long as I can.”

Angie King said the Pet Partners organization helps network Lucy — and other such dogs — to various needs wherever they may be (for example, UL earlier this week). Lucy even has her own Facebook page (search for “Lucy the Therapy Dog”) for fans to keep track of her.

Angie King noted many therapy dogs are older when they begin their work, but once Lucy got bad habits like jumping up on people out of her system, she really took to her duties.

“I’m hoping one day she can tell when someone’s really grieving,” she said, using emphasis. “She’s doing very well for her age. There’s been some cases where someone was crying and she was really alert and wanted to go. We do what we can to try to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Lucy, aside from lifting an ear and cocking her head, declined comment.

If you know someone who lives in the Teche Area who would make an interesting weekend profile, please submit his or her name for consideration. Call 365-6773, ext. 3022 or ext. 3024, or send an e-mail to dailyiberian@cox.net, subject line Weekend Profile.