Arrowhead Australian Cobberdog joins Ontario’s first grief therapy volunteer dog team
Submitted by Chris
“I can feel myself relax just patting her,” a man said to Moira and me as he paused a moment when
leaving a visitation at the funeral center.
Moira is an Australian Cobberdog from Arrowhead who is now a volunteer member of Ontario’s first team
of grief therapy dogs. I’m her very proud person (and handler while she does her volunteer work, too.)
Unlike service dogs, therapy dogs have no legal rights. They are volunteers, just like their handlers, and
their role is to provide emotional comfort to people at hospitals, long-term care facilities and in other
settings in the community.
Moira is a grief therapy dog with the Mount Pleasant Group in Toronto. Her role is to be available when a
family requests a therapy dog be present for a visitation or funeral. Moira’s volunteer job is to be a quiet,
comforting presence for people on a very hard day.
Moira joined our family almost five years ago. When we met her at Arrowhead as a seven-month-old
puppy, it was clear she was special. She was exceptionally calm and loved every human being she met.
Moira has always made the most incredible eye contact; she gazes right into your soul in the gentlest
way. She is so intuitive; she seems to just know when people need her. Moira is often at her happiest and
most relaxed with half a dozen children crowded around her, flipping over on her back and asking them
for belly rubs.
Therapy dogs must be friendly, patient, gentle and relaxed in all situations. They must enjoy human
contact and be happy to be petted or handled by unfamiliar people. This is a role not all dogs enjoy or
could do but Moira loves it and excels at it, bringing a moment of calmness and respite to people who are
bereaved.
Therapy dogs must be professionally assessed to ensure that they have all the qualities needed to do this
volunteer work. To join Mount Pleasant Group’s team of grief therapy dogs, Moira and I took part in a
multi-day assessment of her temperament and my ability to handle her during therapy work visits.
The grief therapy dog program has been up and running for almost six months. I’ve done different types
of volunteer work over several decades but working with Moira with people who are grieving has been, by
far, the most meaningful.
Moira loves her volunteer work, too. When we pull up at the funeral center and I get her volunteer
bandana out, she gets so excited. She trots up to the entrance of the center, tail high and waving, looking
forward to all the pats and attention she is going to receive.
And I know it means something to the people at visitations and funerals who approach Moira to spend a
couple quiet minutes petting her.
“Moira, you made my day. Thank you.”
“This is a wonderful idea. Thank you.”
“Thank you for your support today,” said a family member at the end of a funeral service.
That means everything.
