A group of 15 puppies from Guide Dogs for the Blind, the largest guide dog school in North America, participated in a training exercise at the Van Nuys Airport on Wednesday.
The new dog-focused aviation service, RetriveAir, will host puppies and their volunteer puppy raisers in multiple activities.
This new collaboration between Guide Dogs for the Blind and RetrievAir is designed to help puppies learn how to overcome the challenges that travelers who are visually impaired face when they fly with their guide dogs.
The puppies had the opportunity to practice going through check-in, boarding a plane safely and effectively, exploring the plane with a flight attendant and pilot present and deplaning.
In addition to the puppies training exercises, the event hosted at least one person who is visually impaired to talk about the importance of trained guide dogs who can safely guide someone through a busy airport and on a plane.