Jeffers Mortuary

A local funeral home is using a comfort dog to help ease its clients' grief.Justin Jeffers is the manager at Jeffers Mortuary in Greenveille, Tennessee. A few months ago, he wanted to make a change to his business."As funeral directors, we want to do everything we can to comfort the family, but there's some things we just can't do," said Jeffers.He decided the best way to fill that void, would be to bring in a comfort dog."This dog brings a smile to faces that I can't," said Jeffers.The funeral home's dog is named Dobber. He comes from a line of therapy dogs and is named after Jeffers' gradfather.Dobber's father, Teddy, is a therapy dog in Washington County, Virginia."To know that Dobber's dad was already a therapy dog and had that disposition, you feel comfortable bringing Dobber into the work place," said Jeffers.Dobber's impact was felt his first day at the funeral home. Kristy Matthews came in after her mother-in-law passed away, and found the comfort she needed in Dobber."when I came in I was upset. I was going through some pictures of my mother-in-law, trying to put some stuff in order. Then Dobber came out here, and the next thing I knew he gave me a little lick right on the face. He just made a bad day a little better," said Matthews.Jeffers said there were only eight other funeral homes in the country using comfort dogs before he got Dobber. He says other businesses should give it a try.Right now, Dobber is only six months old. When he turns one-year-old, his owner plans on getting him officially certified to be a therapy dog. Once he's certified, they can bring him to other places like hospitals and schools to spread the happiness.