Most airlines do require a call. JetBlue had an online booking system - 3 animals per cabin.
Actually, as someone who has owned both, I don’t think that the generalization holds. Large dogs are often more difficult to train in the first place precisely because they are harder to handle. For example, I never really managed to train my larger breed dogs to walk at heel, but found it much easier with my little guys, particularly the smarter one.
I agree that there is less of an incentive for the small breed owner to train certain behaviors. For example, my little guys are too small to reach anything left on a kitchen counter, so it has never even occurred to me to bother with training in that realm.
But a little dog yapping is every bit as annoying as a big dog barking.
I don’t think any of my dogs is particularly well trained, but size wasn’t a factor. Doggie intellect and responsiveness has been …but as my little 8-pounder has taught me, small dogs can be extremely smart!. But just between the two I now own, one will catch onto something immediately whereas the other needs a lot of repetition and consistency just to figure out what I want her to do (or not do).
I actually used to take my larger pets out with me many more places, but I leave my little guys at home. I think partly because I only owned one dog at a time with the bigger dogs, but now I have two - and of course 2 dogs is a lot harder to manage than one. Plus they have each other for company when they are home, so I don’t feel too awful when I have to leave them for awhile.
I don’t know about Jet Blue, but I have seen it spelled out on the website for Turkish Airlines that a person with allergies will get preference but only if they reserve their spot first and indicate that they can’t travel with animals in the cabin. A bit of a long shot.
If you find yourself next to a pet (or a person spilling into your seat), you can discreetly ask to be moved and stipulate that you may have to take a later flight if they can’t accommodate you. If you have already checked a bag, airlines hate this. I’m glad I’ve never had to resort to anything like that but if I found myself next to a cat, especially on a long flight, I would ask.
I have to say, speaking as a three-dog owner, I don’t want to go out to dinner with them, or be worried about them while I’m out dining, sheesh. Claremont is a walking town and with year round great weather, as I imagine FL has, people walk their pooches and then decide to stop and dine. At this one corner restaurant ine evening, I watched as a diner with her two dogs tried to eat and carry on a convo while every few minutes they would start barking their bloody heads off. I just laughed, I don’t know why but the whole scenario appeared to me like a bad SNL skit, woof!
I recently stayed overnight at Hotel Marlowe (a Kimpton hotel) in Cambridge, MA when picking up my son at Logan at 6 a.m. the next day. They allow pets at no extra charge, so I brought my 100 lb lab with me. It was so much better than spending the night alone! We went for a long walk along the Charles and I loved being fearless in the city. My dog was a big hit at the free cocktail hour with people and the other dogs. It seems like brilliant idea to me. Business people often travel alone and having access to doggies to pet would be relaxing and homey.They provided a huge dog bed, treats, and water and food bowls. They even asked at check-in if he had a preference for a toy.
If someone was sitting there fuming and thinking, “What the heck is that damn dog doing there,” you wouldn’t know it. So saying that the dog was a big hit with some people doesn’t tell you whether he was a big hit with most people. I hate it when people insist on dragging their dogs everywhere they go, but I normally don’t say anything.
@Cardinal Fang - Like I said, my dog was a big hit at the cocktail hour. You weren’t there. Here’s a tip for you: Don’t stay at Kimptons. Dogs can sense when people don’t like them.
<<<
My mom has been in the hospitali news Florida for a week and I’ve brought her dog to see her several times. They only require you to bring their vaccination certificate. I’ve seen several dogs here since I’ve been here.
<<<
Interesting. My H had hip replacement right before Cmas and he would have loved to have our littlest dog visit. He had a private room, so he would have loved having Chloe sitting next to him (she’s only about 4 lbs).
Dogs can sense when people don’t like them, and? Why should that be my concern?
Dogs pickup anger, fear, and anxiety from people and can potentially react aggressively. Not ALL dogs, of course, just some. Perhaps the ones that have been dragged everywhere.
If a dog reacts aggressively to a human patron of a pub etc., guess who will have be asked to leave the establishment? 
“Interesting. My H had hip replacement right before Cmas and he would have loved to have our littlest dog visit. He had a private room, so he would have loved having Chloe sitting next to him (she’s only about 4 lbs).”
That’s just what my moms dog does (only 12lbs.) She is also in a private room - but when my dad was in the same hospital he wasn’t and my mom still could bring the dog to visit.
I bet people who have their dogs with them recover faster and it certainly makes being in the hospital less depressing and less stressful for them.
Her dog also never barks, wouldn’t hurt a flea and is pretty sedate to begin with so a perfect dog to bring to hospital.
Have you been to Disney World lately? Leash city. Speaking of WDW, I stepped in dog poo for the first time ever last year-the number of dogs at the parks has increased substantially. There are now potty spots for dogs…
As to dog-friendly hotels, we avoid them because, like Cardinal Fang, we’re not big fans of other people’s dogs.
Some dog friendly hotels are very fancy. The entire Loews chain, for example. Even so, they usually designate certain floors or wings for dogs so it should not be intrusive to other guests.
My sister drives 2 days each way several times a year to/from their Florida house from PA. She transports 3 Greyhounds and 5 cats and stops overnight. It’s a pet friendly motel (not very nice, but very accomodating). Can you imagine having the room after she and the zoo have been there?
I’ve flown my son’s cat several times. He is in a carrier under the seat that looks like a gym bag and most people wouldn’t even know it is a cat. He’s quiet and the flights have generally been short. The hardest part is getting through security. You have to take the cat out of the carrier, hang onto the terrified cat for dear life, and walk through the xray screener.
^^right, but dog-free hotels are easy to find at every price point. I’ll pick one every time over the possibility of listening to a dog bark all night or picking up fleas.
@MomofWildChild - when I was researching flying with my dog, I read that some people with cats ask for a private screening room so they don’t have to worry about their cat getting spooked and jumping out of their arms. Overall, though, it seems like cats would tolerate being in a bag-type carrier. My doggie didn’t like it but she adjusted. It was easy to carry my dog through security. But cats . . . that could go sideways pretty easily.
The hardest part for us was the first time I put doggie in the bag, and got on the plane, she was scratching at the sides of the carrier as we were walking down the aisle to our seat. I could feel the stares. 
Thankfully she’s pretty calm and I knew she’d be OK once we got going.
Sounds like a reason why only real service dogs should be allowed to go everywhere.
Except for the allergies, the descriptions of dogs’ and cats’ behavior sound amazingly like humans’ behavior. I still think most of us are more at risk from humans than from dogs and cats.
I’ve never been bitten by a human. But when my brother was in preschool, he did bite a classmate.