Oh. Hello. Hi. Oh, hello. Just gonna say oh. Hello. Hello, Connecticut. Thank you so much for watching us here on channel three and on the West. I am thrilled for our next guests. You'll see why in just one nanosecond. Please welcome Deputy Fire Chief of the Cheshire Fire Department, as well as the president of Alderson and Ford Funeral Homes, Dan Ford and his therapy dogs. Joey, who is on my lap. Hi, Joey and Miss Annie, who has given you her best ears right now because she got her hair did for today. Hi, Renee. Hello. It's great to have you here. Thank you for having me. You know, first and foremost, thank you for your service. You're a first responder for Cheshire. Deputy fire chief. Thank you so much. I mean, you do what we're told not to do. Like, don't go into a fire, don't run into a burning building. And then here you are going in. So thank you for your service. Thank you. And then, business owner, for Alderson for. But now you're adding therapy dogs to it. So tell me how this started. Did it start with the funeral homes or did it start with the fire department? So it started with the funeral homes. Okay. Essentially there was, organization that I'm going to be president of in October, the National Funeral Directors Association, which represents roughly 20,000 funeral directors. And, I met some wonderful people over the years. And in the process, friend of mine who I met through the organization said, well, he actually told my wife, you need a therapy dog. So in the process, and he was fortunate enough to come into our lives, Joey was already living with us. And in the process, thanks to Heart of Gold canine in Watertown, we were able to get him certified as, certified therapy dog. So they have a national certification. We're very proud of. You know, I never really thought of the the benefit of having a therapy dog in a funeral home, but it makes such good sense. Do you know if other Connecticut funeral homes are doing this? There's a handful around the state. I don't know the exact number, but I'm very fortunate to have, these two by my side. And to come home with me at night and in this park. They're trained, right? They're not. You didn't just go and buy the vest off. Off Amazon. Oh no no no no no. So these are certifications as I indicated, or national certifications. And, there's a research process every couple of years, and, I'm proud of them. I'm proud of the two of them and what they've done and been able to do for families. And when you get them certified, what are the things that, you need to be aware of and what what do they need to be aware of to, to keep them up to date temperament with both of them is key to ensure that they're right to be, around people and crowds and things, and then, they know when to play and when not to play. So that's also, key as well. What of what is the response then? It's overwhelming positive. We, there was a service we had out of our, Naugatuck facility, which is now known as the Bucknall or Ford Magashi Funeral Home. But our Naugatuck facility, Joey was Mia, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. And the the service started, and I was panicking because I didn't want to have the dog walking around through the funeral service. And come to find out, he was on the lap of the grandchild and it was, unbelievably powerful moment for us that, Joey had that connection, as he did with, Renee here. I know, I don't know, Joey. I don't know if I'm going to let you go home, but I know you got a lot of good work to do. Can you talk about crossing over with the fire department and maybe offering some peer support as well? Absolutely. So one of the things that, I didn't realize right out of the gate is that I'm doing something at the funeral home that I could be doing at the firehouse. And, it took an unfortunate incident where I happened to have, I went to the firehouse after the fact. It was a tough call. And, the dynamic of the members that were on that particular scene, was around the 20, 22 year old aspect. And, the individual that was involved in the accident was around that same age. So I happened to walk into the firehouse, with the two of them. And, they were like magnets. And it basically defuzed everything that was going on, all the negative, all the emotion was taken right out of things. And, it was like they they channeled their energy into the dogs. And being with the dogs, they seemed to know which person to go to. Right? Who who needs the little extra they do. And that's at home, too, I'm not going to lie. But they know exactly what's going on and who they need to, address and who they need to be near. And so obviously, you you're you're married, you have a family. What's it like when they come home just to be pets, too? So, my wife Danielle and I are their partners and handlers, but, Danielle, will be the first to tell you that, they love her more. So, it's okay. But they, they gravitate and, they love our children, Ryan and Emma. And it's really a wonderful thing. They're they're definitely

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