Why guide dog puppies are being trained at an airport

An airport has hosted a training session for guide dog puppies for the very first time.

The session was run by the charity Guide Dogs at Southampton Airport, Hampshire, to get the puppies used to the sights, sounds and smells of a working airport as part of their preparation to become future guide dogs.

The puppies toured different areas, including the baggage carousel, duty-free and the departure lounge, with their puppy raisers and were rewarded for behaving calmly and ignoring distractions.

Morris Boyle, operations director at Southampton Airport, said the airport would like to make the training sessions a regular occurrence.

Six-month-old Lee was one of seven puppies taking part in the session, that was held during a quieter period at the airport.

During the session the dogs encountered many new challenges, including the stairs in and out of a plane, which puppy raiser Simon Wallenburg said were "very different" to what they are used to, such as the ones in Westquay Shopping Centre in Southampton.

"They've never ever come across stairs like this before, so it's been very good for their training," he said.

The dogs live with puppy raisers before moving on to formal training with Guide Dog staff.

Puppy raisers are volunteers who look after a six-to-eight-week-old puppy for 12-16 months, providing it with the vital foundation for its future role as a guide dog through training, socialisation, the introduction of new environments and experiences - all while providing a loving home.

Puppy raiser Sharon Wallenberg said it is "very rewarding" to see the dogs develop through the training.

Wallenberg said: "We've put him here today so that he can experience all the different sights and sounds and smells of an airport because in his future life, hopefully as a working guide dog, it may be that his owner wants to take him on a plane, so somewhere in the back of his mind he'll think: 'I've done this before'."

Leanne Kelley, Puppy Development Advisor at Guide Dogs, said it is "really important" to expose young dogs to different environments, such as an airport.

She said: "It's sometimes nice just to pause and for the dogs just to learn to relax in that environment, and that can be difficult when you've got a bouncy playful puppy."

Wallenburg added that the training session was a "lovely experience for humans and dogs alike".

You can find out more about becoming a puppy trainer here.