Richie’s TV Debut!

It’s a beautiful Monday morning in East Tennessee.  Laura and I had a fun weekend.  We worked in the yard picking up sticks and pulling weeds and she would fuss at me when I wanted to chew on sticks or rocks.  For some reason she thinks I could pick up worms from them.  Sometimes people just don’t know how to have fun!

I’ll be 9 weeks old tomorrow and I’m growing like a weed and eating like a horse!  I also drink a lot of water now because it’s so hot outside.  I found out about the heat over the weekend when she would take me out to “do my business.”  It was so hot that I would do what I needed to do and head straight back to the front door to get inside where the air conditioning is.  I also discovered that I don’t like to get my paws wet when the dew is still on the grass.  Because I am still very little, I have to go outside about 2:30 a.m. and again about 5:30 a.m.  The dew is on the grass and I just want to shake it off of my paws!  Laura has a towel by the front door and she makes me sit on her lap and dry my paws off.  I don’t like that either but do like the tiny treat waiting for me when I’m successful at being “a good dog – a big dog.”

This morning I have felt very lazy and needing to catch up on some rest and sleep.  When we got to the funeral home, I needed to go out so out we went.  I decided I wanted to enjoy the morning air for a few minutes and Laura took this photo of me lying in the grass.  Oh, it felt so good but she took me back inside where I curled up into a ball on her office floor and I took a much needed nap for three hours! That is the longest I have slept for a nap since becoming an associate of the Heritage family.  That reminds me, Laura must call Paula Akers, our HR lady, and request a Heritage pin for me to wear on my collar or scarf when I finish my training and hopefully will be able to visit children in the hospital and wonderful people in the nursing homes.  I hope this COVID-19 thing I hear the big people talking about goes away soon so I will be able to do my job when I’m big enough to make visits.  I’m so excited to be the youngest and newest Heritage associate.

Oh, I almost forgot.  Tomorrow I am going to be on WJHL’s Daytime Tri-Cities TV show to talk about the Johnson City Heritage funeral homes partnering with First Christian Church in the GriefShare 13 week sessions.  They will be held at Tetrick Funeral Services at 3001 Peoples Street in Johnson City.  All are welcome!  I heard Laura on the phone with the producer Toby Laek and they are going to have the interview by something called Zoom.  I hope it’s not too hard. I’ll tell you about being on TV in next week’s blog.  I am really excited and hope I become a star!  But now I’m going to take another nap.  Must be catch up on nap day.

Everyone, have a great week!

Welcome Little Richie Doodle!

Welcome to Johnson City and to Tetrick Funeral Services, Appalachian Funeral Home & Cremation Services, and Woodall-Anderson & Dugger Funeral Home & Cremation Services Little Richie Doodle.  We are so glad that you are here!

On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, Renee Lockhart, President of Heritage Operating LLC and Laura Graham, Community Relations/Outreach at

Meet Richie!

Tetrick Funeral Services made the drive to Pigeon Forge Golden Doodles in Pigeon Forge, TN to pick Little Richie Doodle up from Angela Alderman his breeder.  Oh, how Renee and Laura have impatiently waited for the day for Richie to be 8 weeks old so they could bring him to his new home!

Once a week from the time he was a month old, Angela would send a video out to each new owner showing the progress of the little pups.  When the day came to pick your pup, Laura had second pick of a male puppy and she was so in hopes that the person ahead of her would not pick the precious pup in the black collar for she had been watching his progress weekly and had her heart set on him.  Thanks be unto God, for the other person picked another puppy to go to have a wonderful life at their home.

Now we had to wait another two weeks for Richie to have his wellness check, get puppy shots, and grow a little bit more before he could be released to people.  People who already were madly in love with him and could hardly wait to get their hands on him!

Richie is going to live with Laura and go to work with her on a daily basis so he will be available to be a comfort and help to people who want a touch from a loving and caring dog.  Before starting their training, he has already been requested by several families and he has happily gone down the hall to meet someone new to give comfort.  Renee is his godmother and will be Laura’s backup when she is on vacation or needs help with him.  Of course, he already has a list of people who have requested to be on standby in case extra help need to be brought in for his care.