Service Dogs in Training Visit Harrisburg International Airport

Fifty of our service dogs in training now know how to fly on a plane!

On December 3, we took our puppies in training to HarrisburgInternational Airport for a training outing. After parking in long-term parking, the dogs and their raisers took the shuttle to the terminal. Once in the terminal, the dogs practiced loose leash walking around the other travelers, as well as taking elevators and stairs.

Navigating stairs and elevators are important skills for service dogs. The dogs need to walk right next to their handler on the stairs. The dog should take the stairs one at a time and not charge to the top or bottom. This skill becomes especially important when a service dog is working with a child or someone with mobility issues. If the dog were to charge ahead, they could injure their partner.

Elevators are equally important. To correctly enter an elevator, the dog must wait while their handler blocks the doors with their body to prevent the doors from closing and hitting the dog. The handler then cues the dog to “go on through.” Once the dog is complete inside, the handler follows the dog into the elevator. We usually encourage our puppy raisers to move their puppy in training to one of the back corners of the elevator to keep the dog out of the way and reduce the risk of the puppy trying to dash out of the elevator doors when the open. Getting off the elevator is a similar process, with the handler once again blocking the door.

Each of our puppies in training had the opportunity to go through airport security and practice getting patted down by a TSA agent. By law, service dogs cannot be separated from their partner, nor can any of their equipment (leash, harness, etc.) be removed. The dogs can be patted down, which can be very exciting for the dogs. Our puppies in training practiced staying focused on their raisers while the TSA agent patted them down.

In the past our outings to the airport usually ended after walking through security. But this time, we got to practice boarding a plane! Thanks to American Airlines, our puppies in training learned how to navigate the aisles of the plane and curl up beneath the seat in front of their raisers. This is such an important skill for our puppies to practice because service dogs can travel in the cabin with the partners. However, they are required to ride in small space at their partner’s feet or under the seat in front of them. This can be challenging for a dog who has never done it before.

Other tips for preparing your service dog for traveling by plane:

Avoid giving the dog food or water before traveling

Give them lots of playtime and exercise to tire them out

Bring something for them to chew on, which will keep them occupied if it’s a long flight

Check out this video from HIA about our adventure!

Thank you to Harrisburg International Airport, the TSA agents, and American Airlines for giving our dogs in training this valuable experience! They’ll be ready to fly with their future partners someday!

Service Puppies at the Airport

At some point in their lives, service dogs may find themselves in an airplane 30,000 feet above the ground. To help prepare them for this experience, we take our dogs to the airport while their still in training.

On Saturday, our puppies in training went to the Harrisburg International Airport. Everyone met in the parking garage, and we gave the dogs the chance to potty. While service dogs must always be given the opportunity to potty before entering a building, it’s especially important when entering an airport because they may not have another opportunity for several hours.

To enter the airport, there are both regular doors and rotating doors. We took the dogs through the rotating doors to give them the chance to experience it. If you practice this with your dog, be extremely careful that you and your dog are both safely in the door space before you start turning the door.

Once we were all inside, we headed to security. HIA was wonderful! They opened up a private line for us so that all of our dogs could gain experience without interfering with people trying to get through security to board their flights. Our dogs were able to go through security twice. The first time, our dogs and puppy raisers went through the metal detector and the dogs were patted down. The second time, the TSO used the wands to scan the dogs. Our puppy raisers did a great job keeping the dogs calm and focused so the TSOs could do their job! All of our dogs did great!

Thank you to the Transportation Security Administration at HIA for being so accommodating!

After all of our dogs had the chance to go through security twice, we went down to baggage claim to practice walking on a loose leash and to get the dogs used to being in that area. The baggage claim belts can be very strange to a dog, and they beep before they start moving.

The one thing we didn’t do was go through security with luggage. Service dogs need to have an excellent down-stay for that because they need to be in a down-stay while you take off your shoes, put your luggage and personal items on the belt. Then they need to be in a down-stay while you gather all your items back together.

Tomorrow we’ll share a post about what you can expect when you actually fly with your service dog.