When we got our now almost 5 year old dog, I flew with him from Boston to Philadelphia. I bought a soft sided carrier directly from the airline and it was only when I went through security that anyone was even aware I had a dog with me.
He was so quiet in both the airport and the car rides back and forth.
He fit under the seat in his carrier and the two women sitting on either side had no clue I had a live pet with me.
I was concerned initially when I arrives to the terminal when they announced a possible delay on the flight because there was no place for him to potty if that came up…the airline had a small fence in area outside, but he wouldn’t cooperate.
He got so much attention and squees from TSA ( hard to resist a puppy )
My biggest worry is for passengers who have allergies to deal with…that seemed to NOT be addressed at all.
Once again DD played by the rules. Her dog’s ticket cost more than hers and he costs her a carryon bag, they do nothing for him, and no one even knows he is there he is so good. He is a low alergan dog so even those with allergies (DD) don’t react to him. Do not like that airlines use this as another fee grabbing excuse.
Will this be the end of snakes on the plane?
My family has two dogs. We got them so that my children would not inherit my crippling terror of dogs. They have been trained to avoid me and I prefer it that way. I don’ t like being around dogs and stopped going to a favorite restaurant when it became dog friendly. I have been known to cross the street to avoid a chihuahua and when my kids were little, I used to throw them in the car and lock the door if I saw the neighbor walking over with his pit bull.
I would freak out if a dog was seated next to me on an airplane, but I would tell the flight attendant that I am deathly allergic.
OTOH, I adore cats.
So what kinds of dogs do you have, @techmom99 ? They really are therapy dogs. Has it helped reduce your fear?
@jym626 -
We currently have a Yorkie and a lab mix, both are 15 years old. The first dog was a border collie, which died last year at 15. I agreed to take the yorkie, which was going to be put down otherwise, after the collie died because the lab mix had never been an only dog. I figured if it had a companion, it would be less likely to approach me. I am not afraid of these dogs but they don’t come near me.
Having the dogs has not reduced my fear of other dogs. When we visit people, they generally put their dogs into another room. The only exception was a couple that is friends of a friend. They had a gigantic dog that they claimed was a therapy dog. This dog followed me around my friend’s house during a party one year and when I politely asked them to keep their dog away from me, the woman said, but he’s a therapy dog! He should make you feel calm. I locked myself in a bathroom until the hostess made them take the dog away. I ran into them recently and the woman said you should be happy, my dog died. I told her that I felt bad that her dog died. Just because I didn’t want it near me didn’t mean I wanted it to die.
I have made my family promise that if I am ever in a coma, or have alzheimer’s or whatever, that they will have a sign put on my bed that says NO dogs allowed.
To put my fear into perspective, I should explain. My mom was bitten by a dog when she was a little girl and had to get a series of rabies shots in her stomach until they found the dog and determined it was healthy. She had a lifelong fear of dogs as a result and, when I was growing up, we only lived in apartment complexes that didn’t allow dogs, we never visited anyone that had dogs and if we were walking down the street and saw a dog, we would either go inside a building and hide or cross the street. I realized that my kids were at risk of being the third generation to fear dogs, which is why I allowed H, who loves them, to bring them into my home.
High energy or excitable dogs take patience. Consider a warm, cuddly dog that will love you- like a cavalier king charles spaniel. Just a thought.
On a recent flight, the couple next to me had a small dog in a carrier that they snuck out and held on their laps during the flight. There was some turbulence and all I could think is that the dog would slam into my head and kill me during the flight. I would put up with that for a baby but not a dog. I might have tried to confront the couple directly, but it appeared that English was not their first language. The flight attendants seemed to be ignoring the whole situation. Did I have any rights in this situation?
@jym626 -
Thanks, but the kids are good with dogs, although I admit that the King Charles spaniels are cute - a neighbor has one. I don’t want to get any more dogs when these die. I am very happy with my cat. She sits on the couch with me and pats me with her paw when she wants to go out. With the youngest graduating HS next year, I want to try to travel. H refuses to board the dogs so if there isn’t anybody to watch them, we can’t go anywhere really. We actually had to take the dogs with us when we took D to college - fortunately, we had an RV so we brought them in their crates. We don’t have the RV anymore.
You have a right to ask the flight attendant to enforce the rule that the dog be in the carrier under the seat.
My parents bought a beautiful Burmese temple cat, just a kitten, in Britain. On the flight back, the kitten was supposed to go in a crate in the cargo hold, but the captain happened to see her and let her sit on his shoulder all the way to the US! A flight attendant let my folks know about it so they wouldn’t worry how the kitten was doing. The captain came back and talked to them during the flight. This was back in 1995, so it might not happen that way today!
Went into a grocery the other day. They had a sign outside that stated Service animals were allowed but Support Animals were not. Some places are addressing the issue between the two.
^^ I saw a woman walking around Whole Foods with a dog on a leash with no service animal vest. I’m sure that sort of thing is totally against health codes and I wish management would have kicked her out.
The USA spends about $61 billion a year on pet food. We spend about $290 billion on human prescriptions, much of it subsidized by government, and have a “crisis.” I can imagine a simple solution.
I’m not allergic to dogs, but reacted extremely poorly to the woman who boarded the plane last, and took the middle seat next to me. The dog smelled so bad! Within 20 minutes my eyes were tearing and my throat swelling. The FA found me another seat pronto.
I saw a story recently about the flood of “emotional support” animals. One guy tried to sneak his monkey on board but got caught by a flight attendant. He didn’t have the required paperwork so the airline (think it was Frontier) put him on their banned passenger list. I was surprised they took such a harsh line, but not really displeased as the guy clearly flouted the rules.
I have a dog and enjoy dogs. One place I don’t enjoy dogs - our busy farmer’s markets! Wall to wall people and vendors - must be so stressful for the dog with all the people and food smells! And it’s awkward for little people when big dogs are there - right eye to eye to them with no room to move!
Our farmer’s market specifically has signs “No Dogs Allowed”. Costco has sign that only service animals allowed. But go to anyone of our indoor grocery stores and I have without fail, seen at least one dog. Drives me nuts. And don’t get me started on how I feel about the dogs in the dressing rooms at Nordstrom’s…
For those of you seeing dogs in your grocery stores, what part of the country do you live in? Living in New England, I don’t see this. If you go somewhere outdoors, yes, but not indoor places of business.