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OAKLAND — Some 35 puppies and nearly 100 human handlers descended on Oakland International Airport early Sunday morning for guide dog training to better help the young pups learn how to navigate air travel.

Flying can be especially stressful for guide dogs, said Gail Horn, the club leader at San Ramon Valley Guide Dogs. Fewer than half of the puppies that enter the program make it all the way through the incredibly detail-oriented training, she said. It’s a costly and time-consuming 15- to 18-month training regimen that costs tens of thousands of dollars per dog.

And sometimes going through an airport is a “career changing” experience, she said.

“For a lot of dogs, it’s the first time being on a plane after they graduate (from the program),” Horn said. “It can be frightening, and it can be a deal-breaker for some puppies.”

While the dogs get extensive training on buses and trains, they receive much less exposure to airports, because many airlines only allow certified guide dogs, Horn said. Getting the puppies exposed to ticketing lines, baggage claim and boarding the plane is critical, she said.

“The only thing we don’t do is take off,” Horn said. “For a lot of our puppies, that is the only experience they get before they are actual guide dogs.”

Alaska Airlines hosted the guide-dogs-in-training as part of an ongoing effort to ease the stress of flying for visually impaired passengers, said Audrey Curbo, a supervisor at the airline’s Oakland branch. The airline has, for the past 10 years, been working with various guide dog groups around the country to provide puppy training at larger airports where Alaskan airplanes land, she said.

But, three years ago, local groups approached the airline to offer training in the Bay Area, and Curbo said Alaska has been working with the San Ramon Valley Guide Dogs ever since.

Over the years, the program has nearly quadrupled from 25 handlers to 96, she said, and now includes five Bay Area guide dog organizations. During that time, Curbo said she’s seen benefits for not just the guide dogs but for airport employees, as well.

“We were amazed to see not just the general public, but our employees, employees of other airlines and especially TSA benefit from this,” Curbo said. “We learn so much together about what it really is like to stand in someone else’s shoes.”

To learn more about the guide dog program or to become a handler, visit: guidedogsfortheblind.com.