Surely you have seen bomb-sniffing and drug-detecting dogs at the airport. But have you seen therapy dogs? Therapy dogs have become popular at our nation’s airports including Miami, SFO and LAX ever since 9/11. They are brought out to greet weary passengers, to reduce travel stress and fears, and to create a positive sense of well-being while trying to catch a flight.
And it shows. Says Heidi Hueber, director of volunteers at LAX, which launched PUPS (Pets Unstressing Passengers), “You can literally feel the stress levels drop, people start smiling, strangers start talking to each other and everybody walks away feeling really, really good.” These dogs are highly trained in order to be certified to be therapy animals, and must be disciplined, calm and good with crowds of people. I think this is a great way to ease flight stress. Do you?
