These Philly dogs keep passengers safe or lend them a comforting paw at the airport

Little Lydia Dykhouse beamed as her mother snapped a photo of her with Copper outside a security checkpoint at the Philadelphia International Airport.

The 4-year-old, traveling back home to Michigan with her mother, Carly Keidel, was one of more than 80,000 passengers who were projected to pass through the airport on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days this week. She is also one of many who will see or interact with a working dog during their travels this holiday season.

Copper, a black Labrador, is a member of the Wagging Tails Brigade, a group of certified therapy dogs that walk through the terminals to comfort stressed and weary travelers. They wear blue vests that encourage passersby to pet them, making them the most accessible of the working dogs at the airport.

Several members of the Wagging Tails Brigade, as well as explosives-, narcotics-, and agriculture-detection dogs, showed off their skills Wednesday. As a couple of the detector pups demonstrated how they find narcotics or prohibited food, the therapy dogs paraded in front of the Terminal D checkpoint before heading through security and getting to work.

Even the week between Christmas and New Year’s, these canines have a job to do — a job that is the culmination of a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck in the dog-disposition department.

When determining if a dog is cut out to be a therapy dog like the Wagging Tails Brigade members, “it’s about the dog and how they behave,” said Harvey Winkel, a South Philadelphia resident and Copper’s handler. Winkel initially raised Copper to be a guide dog, but the puppy ended up being a better fit as a therapy dog at the airport and several hospitals across the city.

“The dog determines whether they’re a therapy dog,” said Jack Don, the handler of a golden lab named Rex, who also proudly wears the blue vest. “The demeanor of the dog dictates.”

As for Rex, his demeanor is that of a “first grader” who loves to play with young children and tennis balls, said Don, of South Jersey.

For Gini, a German shepherd, her demeanor is more intense when she clocks in with her handler, Arnold Sebastian, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection canine enforcement officer.

The pair have worked together for nearly five years, and have developed a strong bond, formed in post-work play sessions and rooted in common interest.

“She’s nice. I’m nice,” Sebastian said. “I like to look for drugs and keep bad things off the street and so does she.”

Byron, an English Labrador mix, and Thuy Ai Le, a cargo canine agricultural specialist with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have only been working together for a couple months, but Le can’t imagine working on her own again.

“It’s amazing,” said Le, who searches cargo with Byron. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

Byron demonstrated his ability to sniff out prohibited plants, vegetables, fruits, and meats from other countries. Le walked him through three boxes, two of which had food inside. Byron stopped at the first and third boxes, sitting down abruptly and once lifting his paw, to alert that a prohibited item may be inside.

Also on hand Wednesday were explosives-detection canines: Zorro, who works for the TSA, and Delores and Phoenix, who work for the Philadelphia Police Department. Zorro is among those who roam security checkpoints, while the police dogs focus on sniffing around trash cans, unoccupied luggage, cars, and aircraft. If they detect something, they alert their handler by abruptly sitting.

That means they seldom sit otherwise.

“She doesn’t stop moving,” said Francis McCourt, the police canine officer who handles Phoenix. Fortunately for the dog, McCourt lives in Broomall and has a backyard where she can get all her energy out off-duty.

When the pair return to the airport, though, she is back to work, sniffing out bombs to keep Philadelphia travelers safe.