Jordan Winery owner John Jordan flies plane carrying 2 future service dogs from Santa Rosa to Southern California
Two Labrador puppies took their first steps towards becoming future service dogs Thursday when they boarded a flight from Sonoma County to Southern California on a plane piloted by Jordan Vineyard & Winery owner John Jordan.
The flight was in honor of National Puppy Day which is marked annually on March 23.
Jordan, a longtime licensed pilot, has been flying puppies from the North Bay to volunteers who raise them to be service dogs in cooperation with Santa Rosa-based nonprofit Canine Companions for two years, according to a winery representative.
Founded in 1975, the nonprofit works to match service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities in addition to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings at no cost to clients.
Jordan delivered the two eight-week-old puppies Patina and Rain, one yellow Labrador male and one yellow Labrador female, to volunteer raisers in Burbank, flying out of Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport at 11:30 a.m. in Jordan’s Cessna Citation plane.
Described as an avid pilot on Jordan Winery’s website, John Jordan holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with Gulfstream and Citation type ratings as well as a Flight Instructor Certificate.
Jordan has volunteered several times to fly service and/or rescue animals. In 2016, he transported 18 rescue dogs with Wings of Rescue from overpopulated shelters from California to Boise, Idaho, according to a winery representative.
Also to mark of National Puppy Day, Canine Companions is livestreaming a puppy cam through 9 p.m.
Watch the livestream of Canine Companion puppies below.
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