"Can Do Canines" teaches service dogs how to fly

(KMSP) - A flight to nowhere from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport on Saturday helped a group of “Can Do Canines” achieve a critical moment in their training. 

For assistance dogs in training, this was a chance to experience the airport, getting to know the many sights, sounds and smells.

“You never know what you are going to run into at the airport,” said program instructor Kaity McGinn. “So it’s so important they can learn to be calm, cool, collected…and not have an accident.”

Uno-James, a service dog, helps with picking up and retrieving. “I used to think it was kind of a funny thing, like a family, but they really are,” said Mark Hawkins, Uno-James’ human.

Other dogs in the group came with trainers like Tatiana Dimungno.

Just like people, the dogs learned to navigate the TSA, and other complexities of modern air travel. This gives the chance to experience the nuances of flying.