Airport Meeting

Our Tuesday night meeting was held at the Clearwater Airport. We had a combined meeting, which was fun as we got to see some familiar faces from down south.

The purpose was to get an exposure to some very specific travel hazards that visually impaired people and their guide dogs might encounter. The first one that we went to was the baggage claim area.

Normally, you would just think of baggage claim as an annoying place to wait for your luggage. In fact, it is a noisy, potentially scary place for puppies. think about the alarm that sounds before the baggage claim luggage mover starts to move (and what is the name for that?!!). There is even a revolving police light! I have NEVER noticed that light before.

So we all crowded around and waited for the siren and lights and the baggage claim thingy to move. then they placed some baggage on it and let it come around. Jam was curious, but unfazed. Jam is so super cool. Really, nothing fazes him.


Then it was on to security.



Security is a major deal. ANYTHING can happen. You can check back to our previous posts about taking a dog through the airport to see that you can have a great experience on a flight out and a horrible one on the flight back. With THE SAME AIRLINE. It all depends on the attendant and whether they are feeling the love.

So it all really rests on you and how you handle the situation. So, some things you can do:

1. Always remain calm, cool and collected.
2. If there is a way to exploit your dog's cuteness, use it. It never hurts.
3. When making your reservation, make sure to tell the airline that you will be traveling with a service dog. They put a special code next to your reservation. It might also be a good idea to call the local airline a day before and ask if they have it noted on your reservation.
4. Be confident. Approach the ticket counter with a smile and have your dog sit and stay. Never use the word puppy. You have a service dog in training. If possible, try to get them to list your dog carrier as an assistive device and not charge you for it. Some managers have done this for us, some haven't. You may not always get this, but it worth asking for.

Now, I recommend that you don't get the largest dog crate to travel with and that you don't travel with it put together (see previous post). It exceeds the largest luggage allowance and if you get a cranky attendant they are going to stick it to you ($125 fee). Then you have to deconstruct the crate and somehow get it to stay together. Better to travel with it deconstructed or buy the smaller one and never have that problem. TRUST ME!!!

When going through security, there are a myriad of things that can happen. You can have a security guard go off her meds and run screaming from the security area:

"I'm afraid of dogs! I'm afraid of dogs!" As happened to one of our puppy raisers. No problem with the puppy getting excited about that hysterical person. Right!

Or you can have the person selected to give you a pat down be afraid of dogs and ask for backup, as happened to me. Making it a menage a tois of a really weird sort with a distracted, jumping 70-pound puppy leaping up and the security guard trying to pat me down shrieking and veering away from me. Lovely. I thought Fred was going to cry he was laughing so hard.

Trust me. You want security calm and happy.

Approach them and tell them what you would like to do.

1. I would like to go through the machine first.
2. I will have my dog sit and stay on the passenger side and I will walk through.
3. Once I have passed through, I will call my dog.
4. Once he has passed through, you can pat him down.

Explain that leaving the leash and collar on will make sure that there isn't a loose dog running around. Ask if this procedure meets with their approval or if they have another procedure they want to follow.

Sometimes they have special short line they put you in. Yea! I love it when that happens.



If you can get the bulkhead sit, take it. There is lots of room. Make sure though, that you keep your dog in your seat area and don't allow him to spread out to the other passenger's space. Encroachment is rude.

If you don't get the bulkhead, don't despair. We have traveled with two dogs, one tiny and one large. They both fit under the seat, no problem. Do a down under and you're good to go.



It was an amazing meeting. Our thanks to all the employees at Clearwater Airport, Michele Routh, the head of marketing, for arranging it, Clearwater TSA and Alligiant Air for letting us board a plane. They really helped us out! And to Judy and John our ACs for making it happen.

Here's a video of some of what we did at the airport!

The Trip to Phoenix

Our journey started off easily enough. We arrived at the airport about 6 am on Sunday. We have flown with US Airways before with Bingo and expeted them to be pretty good about Her Royal Highness. When we got up to the kiosk, there was one frantic guy behind the counter and a couple of ladies further down. I asked the guy if I needed to count her crate as luggage as last time it was considered an assistive device and we didn't have to pay for it. He looked at us and then away.

"Uh, let me ask." He called over the supervisor. Sure, she said. We do it for strollers and baby seats, why not for crates. "I'll sign off on it." He turned to another lady and said, "Can you handle them? I'm full with these." Then he wandered off to his other terminals.

Fortunately, he left us with an animal lover. She LOVED HRH. "Oh, hello lover!" She said. "You are a pretty one. Let me get you fixed up." Then she proceeded to get us set up with the crate, and checked us in and got us signed off.

Then we rode the elevator to the tram, which HRH managed very well. Security didn't blink at her. After the tram ride we got off and went to get into the security line but we were waved into a special line (read very short line). That was nice. We explained to the TSA people that this was HRH's first flight and we were going to take off her leash and coat and then one of us would go through and stand there and the other would hold her while the one on the other side would call her to come through. The TSA agent said to keep her coat on. Then I asked if I could film it.

"NO." Stern look.

"That's why I asked." Smile.

I went through and Fred held HRH. We had to wait for three people to pass and then HRH got to go. I called her. She ran through right into my arms. No problemo.

When we got up to the gate the agent was already working on getting us the bulhead seat and had called up a mom and her daughter. They were moved to an empty row and had an empty seat between them. The agent apologized that she couldn't move the other person in our row.

"No worries. You have been super. We really appreciate all of your help." I tell you, US Airways personnel have always been exceptionally nice to work with and very helpful.

Once we got on the plane, the flight attendents were awesome. They even told the boy next to us, "Once the flight gets in the air, there is a row three rows back that only has one person in it and has an open seat by the window. That way, you can have more room and can give them more room for their gude dog."

Sneaky and manipulative, these US Airways flight attendants. I like 'em! As you can see from the photo above HRH was curled up in one seat are only and didn't extend over into two other areas like Bingo did. She slept the whole way and was a very good girl. When we landed I broke away quickly to find a spot for her to pee and as I was going out to the South an attendant stopped me and said that there was an official spot for pets over on the North side of baggage claim (see photo below).



Sure enough, there was. Unfortunately for HRH it was right next to the heavy traffic noise of 5 lanes of traffic and she just couldn't do her business with all that noise and commotion and humanity looking on. She wandered around sniffing and looking a bit anxious. So we went back inside.

Mom and Dad came to fetch us and we were off to lunch and to deposit our baggage at the house. Our vacation had started.