On the Third Day of Christmas . . .
Posted: December 27, 2018 Filed under: Places I Like | Tags: Airport Therapy Dogs, Airports, Golden Retriever, Harper Lee, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, MSY, MSY K9 KREWE, New Orleans, Pet Therapy, Thek9harperlee, Therapy Dogs, Travel 15 Comments
. . . I went to the airport. I’ve been going to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport at least once a week since May as a member of the newly formed MSY K9 KREWE. For two hours each Thursday, I walk through the airport terminal and its concourses (with my human mommy at the other end of my leash) greeting passengers, employees, flight crews, and people waiting for arriving loved ones.
Today was a day made for airport therapy dogs: post-Christmas and pre-New Year travelers were slowed by a line of storms through the middle of the country. Ticket and gate agents, flight attendants and pilots, TSA officials and hospitality workers sometimes became the objects of their frustration. So I did my thing: I let everyone who wanted to pet me. I let them talk to me about anything other than delayed flights and crowded gates. And one by one, I made people smile. I made them relax. I made their travel experience–at least for a moment–a little more Golden.
I love being an airport therapy dog. I’ll share more of my experiences soon, but for now I’m off to bed. Making an entire airport smile today made me pretty sleepy. 🙂
thek9harperlee 
Gurl, you are the bestest!!!! OMD, you helped all those peeps not yell at each other! That is a HUGE win (you knows peeps are lots more stressed than us puppers!) Ma said she would loves to pet your Golden furs, and that she would instantly feel all chillax. She says while my furs are soft, I tend to stinks. ☺ (I am a water dog after all…)
Anyhu, I can’t waits to hear more abouts how you’re makin’ America calm again! BOL
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
BOL BOL BOL, “Making America ‘calm’ again.” BOL
Mommy says that therapy dogs should be stationed on every corner, in every office and every school, and especially at the driver’s license office. Talk about a place that needs to be made calm again. 😉
We have friends who do the airport thing. Mom hates the airport and could never bring us there to hang out with people. All the years of working as a flight attendant and traveling on her own has soured her towards flying and passengers. She won’t even fly anymore. Glad you enjoy it and it works for you.
The airport is definitely our favorite therapy-dog gig, but I can certainly understand why your mom would want to steer clear of it. My human grandfather traveled internationally a lot before he retired. Now he just want to enjoy his back yard. 🙂
You are absolutely perfect for that job, Miss HL! Well done. You have earned a long nap and some treats and cuddles.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Thank you so much, Cupcake. One of the ladies in the customer service office says that my peaceful passes into people as they pet me. I like to think she’s right. ❤
We 💖 all therapy dogs, but especially airport therapy dogs. Way to go, Miss Harper!
Thank you so much. I love to see so many airports adding therapy dogs. Still, it’s so new that it’s fun to see the pleasant looks of surprise on people’s faces when they see a dog they can pet walking through the concourse. It makes me happy. 🙂
What a great idea!
It is so fantastic and has been so well received at our airport. It’s the little things that make the big differences. 🙂
We never heard of airport therapy. Wow, that’s super great, as long as no one tries to put you on the airplane with them, right? XOX Lucy and Xena
Haha! In summertime, when it was so hot here, Mommy and I were begging people to let us fly away with them. 😉
We don’t travel much, but I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to have a cutie like you comfort me at the airport when I’m nervous!! What a wonderful thing you do.
Mommy has started researching the airports that have therapy dogs, and now she only wants to travel to the cities that do.;-)