Family pets are always welcome at Jellison Funeral Home, but if you are looking for that extra special companionship and family pets are not available to come, Pemi can be requested from families for visitation and/or services.

About Pemi: 

Pemi is a four-year-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Her name comes from the Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where she hikes regularly with her Dad. She routinely makes a lot of new friends on the trail and is a frequent subject of social media posts. Pemi hiked all 48 of New Hampshire’s highest mountains and will become an official member of the AMC 4000 Footer Club in April when she receives her patch.

When she’s not on the mountain, Pemi works with her Mom as certified animal therapy dog. Pemi and her Mom are trained and certified through Pet Partners. Pemi has visited with people in nursing homes, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers for the past year. She is kind and intuitive and enjoys meeting new people. Pemi is also a cancer survivor; when she was just one year old, she was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor which her Mom and Dad caught early. Pemi loves tennis balls, playing frisbee, and playing with her many friends, both canine and human.

Pemi lives in Hancock with her humans, Marshell and Kim Chandler.

A Word About Therapy Dogs in the Funeral Home (Today/MSNBC):

A therapy dog can provide mourners with exactly what they need during this stressful time: comfort and the chance to relieve some of their tension and anxiety, said Marilyn Mendoza, a New Orleans-based psychologist who specializes in grief.

Stroking an animal has physiological effects. It increases a person’s serotonin and dopamine levels, which can boost mood, and it helps lower stress and blood pressure, she noted. Dogs can also immediately put people at ease.

“It has so many benefits — I just think it’s a wonderful thing,” Mendoza said. “It’s particularly good for kids. They’re more likely to talk to those animals than they are to the adults.”