Teddy has taken well to his new gig as grief therapy dog at a Springfield Township cemetery. Even though he's still "in training," the one-year-old golden doodle has already begun comforting grieving families.
Lauren Christakos is Teddy's human. She works at Arlington Memorial Gardens and set out to find a dog with just the right temperament for the job. "I actually was on my way to a work event and took a right turn towards this establishment and adopted him on the spot," she says.
Teddy has fit right in. One time Christakos was out of town so Arlington's Program and Development Coordinator Lisa McClain was in charge of watching him. Suddenly, he disappeared.
"I hear these excited squeals of children," McClain says. "Well, I knew exactly where Teddy was at. He had made his way down to the luncheon." That's where kids had been dealing with the death of their grandmother.
Teddy also can attend visitations, funerals and go to grave sites with people.
You can contact him by email at teddy@amgardens.org and visit his Instagram page.
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