[Cagdu] FW: CNN: Guide dogs trained to handle plane emergencies

Thu Mar 12 19:54:46 PDT 2009

This is a really interesting article. There's a few sections in here
that I find "concerning" 

"Everyone must evacuate the plane as quickly as possible, dogs included.
One by one, the dogs lead their handlers to safety."

To anyone that knows anything about guide dogs, this quote is a complete
falsehood. One, these dogs are not even yet in training. They have no
idea what guide work is. Second, and more importantly, for anyone who
has ever been on a plane, you know that isle ways on airplanes are not
wide enough for guide work. I don't care how little your dog might be. 

"Having dogs on board the airplane and blind people on the airplane
represent a special challenge for us," he says.

I can think of little that could be more insulting about this process.
Blind people have long been second class passengers on airplanes. This
quote exemplifies the rampant custodialism that exists throughout the
airline industry. I wish the school would have had an opportunity to do
some re-education. If not, perhaps a formal response from CAGDU could
help? 

I'm interested in hearing others thoughts. 

Best-

Jonathan 

Jonathan T. Lyens MPA 

Email: jonathan at lyens.com 

Fax: (321) 256-8896 

Skype: jlyens 

________________________________

From: cagdu-bounces at nfbcal.org [mailto:cagdu-bounces at nfbcal.org] On
Behalf Of tina thomas 
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 1:46 PM
To: cagdu at nfbcal.org
Subject: [Cagdu] FW: CNN: Guide dogs trained to handle plane emergencies

Subject: CNN: Guide dogs trained to handle plane emergencies

Click the link to view the page containing pictures and video. 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/12/dogs.on.a.plane/
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/12/dogs.on.a.plane/> 

 Guide dogs trained to handle plane emergencies
By Jim Spellman
CNN

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Guide dogs for the blind go everywhere with
their human partners, but when their destination is a plane ride away,
it's not always
so easy.

To make the skies a little friendlier, and safer, a pack of guide dogs
in training gathered at a United Airlines training facility to take a
simulated flight
-- a flight with a surprise ending.

"The main purpose was to get our dogs used to boarding and deplaning and
to getting into a seat and curling up into the space allowed for them,"
says Danny
Henderson, who volunteers raising puppies to become guide dogs for the
blind.

Henderson volunteers with Have Paws Will Travel, the group that
organized the trip to the Denver training facility.

At her side is Gilligan, a 10-month-old yellow Labrador retriever puppy.
Henderson takes Gilligan everywhere with her: shopping, sporting events,
even to
church. All the while she is preparing the pup to work as a guide dog by
exposing him to all of the experiences a guide dog will have.

If Gilligan does well, he will be matched with a blind partner and the
pair will go through four to five months of more extensive training on
the California
campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind, a non-profit that supplies blind
people with guide dogs free of charge.

Inside the United Airlines facility sits a real fuselage from a Boeing
767 jet. About 20 dogs and their handlers file in, the dogs nestling
under the seats.
Gilligan is curious at first but quickly loses interest in his new
environment and rests his head on the floor with a sigh.

A few aisles up sits Annette Bossert and her year-old dog Ludlow. He
nervously looks from side to side between Bossert's legs, not too sure
what's going
on.

"He's what we call a 'soft dog' in that he is very sensitive to certain
environments," says Bossert. "He might react a little bit more than some
dogs, showing
a little bit of fear, a little bit of anxiety."

If a dog is too easily spooked it might be "career changed," and instead
of moving on to work with a blind person they will be adopted, often by
the volunteer
handler.

The doors of the fuselage close and the familiar rumble of an airplane
taxiing begins. The dogs stay in place, seemingly disinterested in the
mock flight.

And then out go the lights!
Video
Watch the dogs in action aboard the plane >

"Brace! Brace!" shouts a flight attendant. The plane is crash landing.
The alarm blares, the cabin jolts from side to side.

"Get out! Leave everything!"

Everyone must evacuate the plane as quickly as possible, dogs included.
One by one, the
dogs
lead their handlers to safety. Amazingly, not a single dog panics, or
even barks.

"I noticed a lot of the dogs probably did better than the people. They
were very relaxed, business as usual," says Danny Henderson with a laugh
while Gilligan
stands obediently at her side. "He's been doing great. He's a very smart
dog, he's learned very quickly. I think he'll do great."

And how did Ludlow, the sensitive "soft dog," do?

"He did great," says Bossert. "This is awesome. I may not have a chance
to fly with him so for him to just see the cabin environment and know he
has to
go into a confined space and be calm is good for him."

According to Guide Dogs for the Blind, about 10,000 blind people in the
United States use guide dogs, and many of them are frequent fliers.

"The first time they fly they are like: 'This is a little odd,' " says
Aerial Gilbert, who is blind and flies with her German shepherd Splash
several times
a month. She thinks the training will help the pups become better guide
dogs.

"Things they learn as a puppy are no big deal. It's harder when they get
older."

At the helm of the mock 767 is Capt. Robert Mackay. He's in charge of
training for United Airlines and still
flies
regularly. He watches the exercise carefully. He says the odds of a
plane crash with a guide dog and human partner on board are rare, but
preparing for
the unexpected is the name of the game.

"Having dogs on board the airplane and blind people on the airplane
represent a special challenge for us," he says. "This is all about the
'what if,' risk
management, being ready in the unlikely event that this would occur."

All About
Dogs
*
Air Travel

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/12/dogs.on..a.plane
<http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/12/dogs.on.a.plane> 

C 2008 Cable News Network

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