“Traveling during the holiday time is stressful,” said Jack Hillelsohn, director of volunteer activities for PAL and dad of pony-size Rugi. “How can you not feel better when you have a dog coming over to say hello?”
At Dulles, the dogs “work” two shifts, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Event participants called out to passengers like circus barkers.
“Feeling stressed?” asked John Sapienza. “She’s guaranteed to de-stress.” Patsy lay on her back at his feet, her belly available for rubbing.
From left, John Sapienza, Jack Hillelsohn, Amanda Mielkie and Chuck Mielkie ride on a mobile lounge with their comfort dogs Patsy, left, Rugi, center, and Callie. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The animals and their owners set out from the United Club, which provided a lounge for the dogs. Diva demands: bottled water and bowls. The group strolled through Concourse C, drawing stares that quickly turned to smiles.
“You are welcome to pet her,” Jane Zimmerman said to a man walking by. “She loves attention.”
The man took her advice, and Zimmerman shared Pepper’s rescue story with him. Of all the strange coincidences: The traveler and the dog hailed from the same city in South Carolina.
Nearby, A.J. and Sarah Jane Murphy, from Santa Cruz. Calif., were snapping photos of Rugi as if he were a celebrity pet. The siblings had been pacing the hallways during their long layover.
Rugi was “a nice diversion,” Sarah Jane said.
Kim Denning, wearing the familiar dark-blue United uniform, was making the rounds around the ad-hoc yard. “It is so hard to put into words how they make you feel,” said the service director . “It makes me feel happy.”
On the sidelines, an older woman quietly watched. She approached Cinnamon but then pulled back. “I just lost my standard poodle,” she said softly.
The petting really picked up in the open space outside the mobile lounge. It was a high-traffic location, with folks getting off the people-movers, checking their flights on the overhead board, grabbing a coffee at Starbucks or discovering their fate at the customer service outpost.
Four-legged therapists:
In overly crowded and hectic times,
the world needs love, love, love.
So thoughtful people at United Airlines
provide it on the ground, if not above:
A warm heart and faithful tongue
can comfort both old and young,
and here is the proof:
It goes woof ,woof, woof.
HZL
11/19/1
Sapienza positioned Pasty near the line, knowing that the blood-pressure readings there were probably running high.
“Hey, is anybody stressed?” he called out. Two women responded. One grew teary-eyed, explaining that she had recently lost her dog. The other, Catherine Minto, said that she missed her golden retriever in San Francisco. After receiving her new ticket to Rhode Island, Minto sought out Patsy and spread out on the floor beside her new friend.
“I feel much better now that I’m covered in dog hair,” she said.
Andrea Sachs (not the one who wears Prada) has been writing for Travel since 2000. She travels near (Ellicott City, Jersey Shore) and far (Burma, Namibia, Russia), and finds adventure no matter the mileage. She is all packed for the Moon or North Korea, whichever opens first.
