Training Service Dogs to Ride the Bus

Across Southern California, public events for handlers to train service dogs to ride buses are rare.

An estimated 500,000 service animals in the United States help people with disabilities manage daily tasks and medical conditions — including helping their owners travel, sometimes by buses or other public transportation.

But training service dogs to navigate public transportation poses a challenge — bustling vehicles and busy schedules can make it difficult for a trainer to introduce the dog to a bus in a controlled environment.

Larue, a future service dog, stands in front of the ARTIC on April 5, 2025 during OCTA’s service animal training day. Cherie Montaque, a volunteer with Canine Companions, is raising Larue until he is old enough for formal training. He’s currently in the puppy socialization phase of training. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

A handful of counties in Southern California offer service animal training for public transportation, but many are only offered by request and don’t usually showcase a large turnout.

Even agencies that do offer service animal training days haven’t held a session in a few years.

In Riverside County, both the SunLine Transit Agency and the Riverside Transit Agency offer training events by request only. SunLine last held a training in 2023 with approximately 20 dogs from Guide Dogs of the Desert.

The Riverside Transit Agency last held an event in 2022 with three handlers along with their service animals.

Only one of San Bernardino County’s two transit agencies — Omnitrans — makes service animal training sessions available upon request.

Omnitrans last held a training in 2022 with around 10 to 15 dogs and handlers from Inland Empire Therapy Dogs.

Kathy Wooten and Chuck Wooten brought their dogs, Eragon and Arrow, to OCTA’s service animal training day on April 5, 2025. They are both involved with the Guide Dogs for the Blind organization, based out of Huntington Beach. Eragon is a retired guide dog and Arrow is a pet ambassador dog. Arrow was in training to become a service dog for the blind, but he was never able to graduate due to his own eye problems. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

Other Southern California transportation agencies don’t host any kind of training events.

Victor Valley Transit Authority in San Bernardino County, LA Department of Transportation, LA Metro, North County Transit District in San Diego County and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System do not host a public event that allows handlers to train service animals to board public transportation.

Agencies that do not offer a public event cite service interruptions and the size of their teams — as well as budgets — as challenges.

“The biggest obstacle for Omnitrans in terms of organizing a larger-scale event would be two-fold: first, any interruption of existing service and second, dedicating a vehicle(s) and operator(s) to this event that otherwise would be in service,” Nicole Ramos, director of marketing and communications, wrote in a May 12 email.

Others shared that by-request programming keeps operations more manageable for a small team.

“Because of our limited team capacity, budget, and full calendar, we are only able to offer service animal training sessions by request rather than as a large public event,” Carmen Cubero, marketing and events manager for SunLine, wrote in a May 12 email. “This allows us to better manage our resources while still supporting those with specific needs.”

In OC, the Orange County Transportation Authority hosts biannual service dog training days, when multiple buses are set aside for service dogs and their handlers to ride the bus in a loop — working on getting on and off the bus and experiencing the sounds of the moving vehicle.

A sign outside of the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) for the OCTA service animal training day. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

The most recent training day was held on April 5, when over 400 attendees and canines traveled to Anaheim to ride the bus in a controlled environment.

OCTA did not provide specific figures on how much the event costs, outside of the cost of paying 15 staff members to set up and run the event from around 8 a.m. to noon.

“The experience simulates real-world transit environments,” said Eric Carpenter, OCTA spokesperson. “Dogs and their trainers navigate 40-foot buses, street activity, honking horns, and the bustle of nearby attractions, preparing the animals to remain calm and focused amid distractions.”

Riders loaded onto OCTA buses at the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), rode toward the Anaheim Garden Walk and Downtown Disney before looping back around to the ARTIC station, with a few stops along the way for additional practice loading and unloading.

Service animals and handlers ride on a bus to Downtown Disney during OCTA’s service animal training day on April 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Christina Goldner, Director of Program Services for Canine Partners For Life, explained that trainers and volunteers often have to get creative to make sure all their dogs get exposure to as many environments as possible before they’re sent off with their future owners.

That doesn’t always include transportation like planes and buses — those spaces are often not readily available for training. Sometimes, the best they can get is simply being near a bus to at least experience the sights and sounds.

“We hand-pick (field trips) that give us a big variety of experiences for our dogs,” Goldner said in an April 8 interview. “In many of those, there are options for transit, whether it’s being able to officially get on and ride in it, or at least see it from a distance, know that it exists and be around it.”

Goldner said she doesn’t know of any kind of public service animal training event in her area. Canine Partners For Life, which breeds and trains service dogs for recipients nationwide, is based in Pennsylvania.

“The ability to be able to have everybody in one place to get the opportunity to do it all at the same time, it would be a great use of resources,” she said.

An OCTA bus parked in front of the ARTIC on April 5, 2025 during the service animal training day. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

Southern California residents from neighboring counties were among the groups and individual trainers at the bus training event.

Lynn Seehus, a Redlands resident, traveled to Orange County to participate in the event with her therapy dog Rosie.

“In Rosie’s case, and for other therapy and service dogs, on occasion they need to travel to emergencies by public transportation,” she said.

“So if your dog doesn’t know how to ride a bus, they’re scared spitless all the way over there.”

Lynn Seehus and her therapy dog, Rosie, wait at a bus stop located near Downtown Disney during the OCTA service animals training event on April 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Seehus said there aren’t any events near her home offered by public transportation agencies to train service dogs to ride buses, which has led her to travel to Anaheim to train her therapy dogs for the last two years.

Other attendees traveled from neighborhoods north and south of Orange County. Jenny Shrout, a Lakewood resident, traveled to the event alongside handlers and service dogs with VFR Veterans & First Responders.

Shrout noted that the event’s controlled training environment is well-suited for first responders and veterans who have difficulty traveling.

“Travel, whether it be by car, plane or bus can be distressing for veterans and first responders,” said Shrout, CEO and founder of VFR. “It’s all unpredictable, and veterans don’t like unpredictable, so it can trigger anxiety that can trigger episodes of PTSD. Loud noises and crowded spaces can also trigger anxiety.”

“When we train with OCTA, it’s a controlled environment. They know they are safe and that nothing is going to happen to them. They are learning these skills to take out into the real world.”

Rebeckah McCoy and her daughter Annabelle McCoy traveled from Oceanside to attend the event with Annabelle’s diabetic alert service dog, Mickey.

“Events like this are important to train the dogs so they can get used to situations like these with loud noises, different people and different atmospheres,” said Annabelle McCoy, 11, who attended to train Mickey alongside the dog’s trainer, Lisa Whiting.

Lisa Whiting, left, sits next to Annabelle McCoy and her service dog Mickey on a OCTA bus during a service animal training event on April 5, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC

Mindy Romero, a trainer with Guide Dogs of America/Tender Loving Canines, attends the event every six months with others from her organization.

“Our clients, our recipients of the dogs, they use public transportation,” Romero said. “When we get an opportunity to put the puppies on this type of transportation, it allows them to learn what it feels like. We can adjust the training based on their response.”

She said they usually send puppies to attend the training event while the young dogs are in a socialization stage before formal training begins.

Since the event is held every six months, she said the timing helps the puppies of different ages to get exposure at the right time.

“As a school, we do outings all over Southern California, but we don’t necessarily have the buy-on from a group like the Orange County Transit Authority, who actually puts this on and supports this by having the buses here and everything for us,” Romero said. “It’s really helpful for everybody.”

OCTA began offering the training in 1994 on a small scale, initially using OC ACCESS buses known then as Dial-A-Ride.

The first structured training course originally ran from Fullerton Park-and-Ride to Knott’s Berry Farm.

Since 2015, the event has been hosted at the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.

OCTA’s training is held yearly in April and October.

At the most recent training, OCTA also offered a bus with a lift system stationed at the ARTIC for trainers to practice using that kind of technology.

Goldner said her organization has had times in the past where service dog recipients used vehicle lifts, but there was no chance to give the dog that kind of exposure during training.

“We have had some recipients who need to utilize a kind of lift system in a bus, which has been something that we haven’t had a lot of opportunity to practice with,” Goldner said. “That’s something that I think would be really helpful to further break down the skill of riding a vehicle like that.”

Goldner said her organization has had times in the past where service dog recipients used vehicle lifts, but there was no chance to give the dog that kind of exposure during training.

Action, a future service dog, sits in front of the ARTIC during OCTA’s service animal training day on April 5, 2025. Cathy May, a volunteer with Guide Dogs of America/Tender Loving Canines, is raising Action until he’s old enough to move onto formal service animal training. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

Cathy May, a volunteer puppy raiser with Guide Dogs of America/Tender Loving Canines, attended with Action, a puppy who will eventually become a service dog. The organization trains guide dogs for the blind and service dogs for veterans and children with autism.

May is raising Action until he’s old enough to be sent off for formal training. Her job as a puppy raiser is to socialize Action and make sure he learns proper manners while he’s young.

Action, a future service dog, sits in front of the ARTIC during OCTA’s service animal training day on April 5, 2025. Action is still a puppy and will move onto formal service animal training once he’s old enough. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

“This (training day) has been a great experience, not just with getting on and off the bus, but getting on a lift, and being around other dogs,” May said in an interview at the event. “It’s a great opportunity to have tons of distractions and help them be calm through it.”

Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.

Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org

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Training Service Dogs to Ride the Bus

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