Flight delayed at SFO? The Wag Brigade is on the way.

Flights are delayed, safety strains are lengthy, and most of the time vacationers are grumpy and confused. However what if throughout the midst of a sullen march down a transferring walkway, you met eyes with not one other poor schmuck hauling an overstuffed carry-on, however as an alternative, a fluffy golden retriever?

Enter the Wag Brigade, San Francisco Worldwide Airport’s very personal fleet of volunteer remedy canine.

Whereas petting most canine working at airports is strictly forbidden, members of the Wag Brigade put on blue vests that urge “pet me!” SFO has 22 canine on the squad, plus the world’s first-ever airport remedy pig (extra on the pig later).

Remedy canine originated within the wake of 9/11 on the Mineta San Jose Worldwide Airport as a method to alleviate passengers’ anxieties. A program at LAX referred to as “PUP” launched in 2013; SFO shortly took discover.

“We launched as a pilot program in late 2013 with six canine to gauge the response from passengers,” stated Jennifer Kazarian, an SFO worker who manages and trains the Wag Brigade. “The engagement was simply wonderful. So from then on we had been like okay — ship extra canine!”

All collaborating pets are graduates of the SF SPCA’s Animal Assisted Interactions (AAI) coaching program. Changing into a remedy canine is not straightforward — in accordance with the SPCA, stated Kazarian, “It takes a unicorn remedy canine to develop into an airport remedy canine due to the big crowds.”

On a Tuesday afternoon, just a few of those “unicorns” filed in for responsibility at SFO: Benga, a pekingese-shih tzu combine, Brixton, a golden retriever, and Jagger and Toby, each goldendoodles. Accompanied by their handlers, they went by safety. Then, they headed to the Flight Data Show Display to search for delays. The place delays are, stressed passengers comply with — and thus, the canine are referred to as to do their factor.

Normally, this implies Terminal 3, the place United Airways flights are situated.

As soon as the canine parked themselves within the terminal, the crowds did not take lengthy to type. Younger and previous alike stopped of their tracks once they noticed the 4 pleasant canine faces, gasping, guffawing, or letting out quiet “aww”s. Some requested for footage; others had been glad with pets.

Every canine had a distinct strategy: Brixton rolled onto his again to just accept bellyrubs; Jagger excitedly wove by peoples’ legs, his comically poofy hairdo delighting vacationers; the proprietor of Benga, the smallest of the crew, inspired passengers to carry her. When kids approached the canine, their handlers handed out buying and selling playing cards that includes the canine’ faces and bios.

“We frequently hear folks say issues like: ‘I miss my canine greater than my spouse’ or ‘I simply received again from a two-week trip and that is one of the best a part of my journey,'” recalled Kazarian.

However then, it was time for the actual star of the present. A textual content introduced her arrival: “The eagle has landed.”

Minutes later, a pig with red-painted nails joined the canine on the terminal. If folks had been beginning to lose it over the canine, they had been completely toast now.

LiLou, a whip-smart performer who lives in an house in Nob Hill, is this system’s first licensed remedy pig. Doing methods similar to twirling, taking part in a toy piano, and taking a bow, LiLou is clearly an enormous hit at any time when she makes an SFO look.

“Magnificence, brains, and expertise,” introduced proprietor Tatyana Danilov, fondly introducing LiLou to the now enormous, mildly hysterical crowd forming in Terminal 3.

Accepting consideration and pets from a crowd of adoring followers looks like a fairly straightforward job, but it surely’s not all the time a stroll within the park for the Wag Brigade.

“An airport is a way more dynamic setting in comparison with different varieties of areas that animals and handlers would possibly volunteer at,” defined Kazarian. “Vacationers could also be experiencing a variety of feelings, and Wag Brigade members want to have the ability to reply to this.”

To fight this, animals endure an airport familiarization expertise earlier than they begin volunteering. They shadow a present remedy canine, study areas to keep away from within the airport (i.e. the meals courtroom), and get a really feel for whether or not the airport surroundings is an efficient match for them.

However generally, assembly airport-goers on the much less joyful aspect of the emotional spectrum is the place the animals actually shine. Linda Gordon, Brixton’s proprietor, described cases of vacationers heading to or from funerals, or of a lady who received caught at SFO en path to Mexico petting Brixton for half-hour straight with tears streaming down her face.

“That helped get her by,” Gordon recalled.

An hour and a half later, it was lastly time for the animals to go residence. It was tough to get the group to disperse, as vacationers stored approaching the squad for ultimate pets. Actually makes you marvel if folks truly do miss their flights as a result of Wag Brigade sightings.

Madeline Wells is an SFGate reporter. E-mail: madeline.wells@sfgate.com | Twitter: @madwells22