The Latest in Therapy Dogs: Calming Passengers at Airports
Hazel gets a tummy rub while pictures are taken
The very thought of going to the airport today brings up a feeling of dread in most of us—the stress of preparing for a trip, the inconvenience of going through security, the uncertainty of when your plane will actually leave if there are delays.
In addition, there is the emotional stress of good-byes. Many travelers—including many of our military personnel—are leaving behind loved ones, making a departure a very tearful time.
Dogs to the Rescue!
Therapy dogs are being used in many different environments, and now a few airports are beginning to experiment with using them in the air terminals. San Jose began program right after 9-11, Miami added a program about two years ago.
Now the newest program, one at LAX (Los Angeles World Airport), is also the biggest. “Pets Unstressing Passengers” began on April 15, 2013, and they already have thirty teams of volunteers and dogs who are assigned to make visits to various terminals. Greeting arriving military who come into the Bob Hope USO headquarters at the airport is also an important aspect of their job.
Heidi Huebner, Director of Volunteers at LAX, is the person responsible for pulling together the program. “Our executive director at LAX had seen the dog therapy program being used in San Jose and suggested we explore bringing it here,” she says.
Creating the Program
Kai getting lots of love
Huebner also oversees the 350 volunteers who participate in the airport Volunteer Information Professionals Program, and her background as a former director of volunteers at the Los Angeles Animal Services office made her the perfect person to figure out how to bring this program to LAX.
“We needed to find the right organization with which to partner so that we knew that all the teams met certain standards,” says Huebner. “Then we had to outline the guidelines under which the teams would operate.”
Therapy Dog, Inc. is the organization selected to work with LAX. The animals are tested and observed in a working environment to be certain that all qualifications of a therapy team are met by both dog and volunteer. In addition, LAX requires that all teams have been working as a team for at least one year before working at the airport.
To read the rest of the article or more of Kate Kelly’s great articles visit: America Comes Alive
