Thank you to the Washington Post for featuring me and the important work I do in today’s Local Living section of the paper. I have so much love to give, and I’m so glad to be able to share it with those who need it the most. Wish me luck as I prepare for my first step toward full certification as a bereavement therapy dog – the good citizenship test. I’ll be taking this test on Wednesday February 22nd. I’ll keep you posted. Love, Sadie

Trinity Memorial Gardens is delighted to announce that we will be featured in the Washington Post. The article features Sadie, our bereavement therapy dog, and will appear in Thursday’s Lifestyle section of the Post. Don’t miss this latest installment in Sadie’s Heroic Journey.

Unleashing comfort from an unlikely source
Cemetery brings clientele four-legged help

by LINDSAY RENNER, Staff writer
Photo at right by Emily Barnes- Staff photographer Maryland Independent
Entire article shown courtesy of Maryland Independent Newspaper

Animals seem to have an innate ability to love and comfort people when they are most in need of it. Building off this, a local cemetery is utilizing a furry companion of its own to bring comfort to the grieving.

Sadie is a 5-year-old black Labrador retriever, and the personal pet of Trinity Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum owners Gail and Doug Manuel. Since Labs are a breed known for mild temper and good behavior, it made sense to the Manuels that Sadie would be considered for such a position.

“Sadie has always had a very caring temperament,” Gail Manuel said. “When my mother broke her shoulder, we took Sadie by to comfort her and she loved it.”

Although the Manuels had had the idea to train Sadie as a bereavement therapy dog for some time, they were missing an essential piece of the puzzle. We’d been holding on to the idea of training Sadie for a couple years, but something was missing,” Manuel said. “When Josh joined the staff, it all came together because he had just the right background.”

Josh is Joshua Miller, a relatively new family counselor at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Waldorf.

Miller came to Trinity with experience over the past five years in handling and training dogs at various kennels and organizations, and was a “natural fit” to act as Sadie’s handler and trainer, Manuel said.

Sadie has not been undergoing the training process for very long, but has adapted quickly.

“I began training Sadie in October of last year,” Miller said. “She lives on a farm, and she’d never had too much experience on the leash, but being of such a nature that she just wants to be involved, her training has excelled very fast. … Sadie has the ability to want to learn, and I have the background to teach her, so right now it’s more of just a behavioral management process.”

There are a strict set of guidelines that a therapy dog must have before being certified, and Miller is working with Sadie through Therapy Dogs International to get her accredited.

“Part of her training and the requirements [for certification] are a certain amount of visits to highly populated areas,” Miller said. “Her main objective is to help as many people as possible.”

Sadie made her public debut for her training process at the Dec. 17 Christmas Tree of Remembrance ceremony at Trinity. Miller said she was exposed to a crowd of about 100 people, and did “very well” that day.

Following her success at the ceremony, Miller said, it became clear that Sadie could handle a larger crowd, and so he decided to take her to the Charles County Chamber of Commerce’s January mixer in La Plata on Jan. 5.

“It was a huge success,” Miller said. “We stayed at the main entrance and greeted all the members as they came in, and eventually went into the room where the event itself was being held to see how she would handle all the sounds and how she’d react around a lot of people, and she was so calm. She lay down on the floor and she was just a happy, loving dog.”

Miller said that there are several advantages to having a bereavement therapy dog around.

“It’s been medically proven that just having a dog around and allowing someone to pet the animal can lower the blood pressure,” Miller said.

“She’s already been able to meet with a few families during her training that have lost loved ones, and had children that were having a hard time dealing with and understanding the concept of death. Just being able to bring her into the room and see some smiles and make the whole experience a little bit easier is our main focus.”

Elsewhere in the country, Miller said, therapy dogs already are being used to similar ends.

“The original story I followed up on [while researching] came out of the West Coast, where therapy dogs are becoming somewhat popular,” Miller said. “They’re using basic therapy dogs for children who have been abused and have to go on [the] stand at trial and provide statements about what happened to them … they’d go ahead and bring the therapy dog behind the stand with them … it’s hard not to smile when you see a dog. The ability to have dogs back there calmed the children. Just knowing that an animal can create a sense of calmness at a time where a family is going through the most difficult thing they can possibly experience gave us the idea to train her.”

Sadie’s training may be progressing well, but she is not quite done yet, Miller said.

“We don’t foresee any problems with her, but we have to make sure her behavior is 100 percent under control first,” Miller said.

Sadie’s presence has not gone unnoticed in the community.

“We were recently nominated for Small Business of the Year by the chamber of commerce due in part to our innovations with Sadie,” Miller said. “We strive to constantly better ourselves, and she’s a part of that.”

Manuel added, “People came just to see Sadie at the Christmas tree event.”

Once Sadie’s training is done, families will be able to request her presence at funeral arrangement meetings and the actual services.

Currently, Miller said he is not sure when her training will be complete, but given her progress, it seems it will be soon.

Miller hopes to add other dogs once Sadie’s training is done.

“There’s been nothing negative about this whole process,” Miller said. “I would love to see multiple dogs involved. Maybe one day families will be able to have their choice of bereavement dogs at Trinity

Trinity Memorial Gardens is honored & humbled to have been selected as one of the finalists for the Charles County Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year Award, and we’d like to thank our friends & families for their support in nominating us for this prestigious award. Congratulations to Maredith Management, this year’s winner.

Trinity Memorial Gardens is offering a 20% discount on all pre-need merchandise. This includes memorials, urns, caskets, vaults, niches, and private mausoleums. Come in today to take advantage of this great savings opportunity.

And, for a limited time only, we are offering a complimentary burial lot with the purchase of a lot at our regular price. That’s two burial lots for the price of one. This offer applies to pre-need sales only and is only available until March 31, 2012. Come in today to speak with one of our family counselors, or call us at 301-932-8900.

Just a friendly reminder that all gravesite Christmas decorations must be removed by February 15th. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Trinity Memorial Gardens was pleased to present a check for $1,000.00 to the Charles County Children’s Aid Society. This donation was made possible through contributions made at the Christmas Tree of Remembrance Service. Sadie was delighted to have been a part of it all!

Trinity Memorial Gardens regular hours of operation are Monday thru Friday 9am – 5pm and Saturday 9am – 1pm.

Our office is closed on Sundays

TMG would like to thank our families and friends for all the kind words and well wishes you’ve sent us for being selected as a finalist for the Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year Award. We are extremely honored to be nominated for this prestigious award and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank our TMG families & our dear friends their support.

Trinity Memorial Gardens is proud to announce that we have been selected as a candidate for the Charles County Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award. TMG is extremely grateful to be selected as a finalist for this prestigious award and we’d like to thank those that nominated us. T