Miami International Airport adding therapy dogs to help ease stress, relax passengers

Frazzled travelers passing through Miami International Airport will be getting a little help from some four-legged friends.

The Miami Hound Machine, a group of five therapy dogs and their owners, will ease the stress and tensions of passengers at the airport beginning Sept. 24.

The dogs from Therapy Dog Teams of Miami will volunteer a few hours each week as ambassadors at Terminals D and E, which serves about 70 percent of the airport’s passengers. During peak travel times, the dogs will also get to other areas of the airport.

“Therapy dogs have shown an ability to relieve stress and anxiety,’’ said Greg Chin, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department which oversees the airport.

“Traveling can sometimes be stressful, so the Hound Machine is another way that we can help put passengers in a paws-itive mood.”

The visiting dogs are Abbey, a goldendoodle; Pico, an Irish Jack Russell terrier; Donavan, a blue merle Australian shepherd; Belle, a chow-Labrador-beagle-collie mix, and Dash, a border collie.

The airport plans to eventually add more dogs to the program. It’s not the first time the airport has brought in dogs to relax passengers. Chin said that a few years ago, a volunteer would bring in her therapy dog to interact with passengers.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has had its own furry program called “FLL Ambassa-Dogs” which launched in 2013.