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Do airlines have double
- 1. Do Airlines Have Double Standards for Canines? – Part 2 The last flightItookwithPennybackin the beginningof October,we encounteredaslightissue.We traveledonan airline thatwe have usedseveral timesinthe pastwithfourdifferentpuppieswithout any issues.We checkedinandboardedourfirstflightoutof Minneapoliswithoutanyissuesotherthan our plane wasdelayed.Noquestionsaskedabouther,or“paperwork”forher.Pennywasa supergood girl and waitedinthe terminal verypatiently.We boardedthe flightduringthe pre-boardtime sowe couldgether all settledin.She sleptalmostthe whole flighttoDenverwhere we hadaplane change. Because ourflightwasdelayedwe basicallyhadenoughtime togetoff the firstplane andwalkto to gate to the nextone where theywere alreadyboarding,sonochance to pre-board. We getin line andthe agentat the deskcallsout to usand asks if we are on the flight.Whyyes,of course we are. She thenaskedtosee our ticketsbecause she hasnothinginherpaperworkthata dog was scheduledonthat flight.We were pulledoutof line (infrontof everyone) andquestionedabout howwe bookedourflight,where our“paperwork”forPennywas,andwhydidn’twe have clearance fromthe airline’s“medical”department.Whenwe statedthatwe hadalreadybeen onone flightthat day withthe airline the agentwasquicktosay that whoevercheckedusinatthe Minneapolisairport messedup. For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: hearingdog, mobilitydog, psychiatric service dog, veterandog, medical alert dog. For more details,please visitus at: http://www.growingupguidepup.org/
- 2. Long storyshort, ittookover 20 minutesof thisagenttellingusthatwe neededpaperworkandwere supposedtogetpre clearedthroughtheir“medical”departmentforPennytoflywithus.She saidthatit statedveryclearlyontheirwebsite thatthese were the necessarystepswhenyouflywithaservice dog. I admitI was notfullyhonestwiththem inlettingthemknow thatPennywasstill intraining,Butthey didn’taskeither.Theyneveraskedwhatshe wastrainedforor if she wasa service dogoran emotional supportdog.I was terrifiedthattheywere onlygoingtoallow hertoflyincargo and if that was the case we were goingto have to renta car and doa two-daydrive home fromDenver,Iwill notputone of my puppiesincargo,so I didleave thatdetail out. At one point,anotheragentexpressedconcernthatthe flightmightnotleave on time because of the situationandthe agentincharge said,“Don’tworry,we can putthemon the nextflight.”Well thatisn’t fair,we hadn’tdone anythingdifferentbookingthistripthanIhad inthe pastwithpreviouspuppies. The last thingI wantedtodo was sitinan airport longerthanI had to witha youngpuppyjusttryingto gethome.We talkedwithasupervisorandthenonthe phone withthissocalled“medical”department and we were finallyallowedtoboardthe fight. Whenwe got home,I went tothe airline’swebsite andnothingthatthe agentclaimedwaswrittenas policywasthere.Andwhatwas Pennydoingthroughoutthisstressful ordeal?Layingquietlyatmyfeet beinga model example of howaservice dogshouldbehave.Notasingle soundoutof her,nota single tug on herleash,barelyachange in herpositionthe entire time.Ontopof that whenwe wenttoour seatstwo otherpeople haddecidedtositthere because the seatswere nexttoeachotherand their assignedseatswere not.We hadto walkdownthe aisle pastour seatsand waitwithPennyinthe aisle as theyshiftedseats.Pennywasthenforcedtowalkbackwardstoour seatsbecause there wasnot enoughroominthe aisle forherto turn around.She didso withoutaproblemorfuss.She backedup downthe aisle,intoourseatsand laidrightdown.I hearda few passengersbehindustalkingabout whatan amazingdogshe was.We had nevertrainedforthisspecificscenario,butbecause we hadbeen workingwithherinstoreswithshoppingcartsand tightspacesand restaurantslearninghow tosettle undertablesshe wasable to adaptin thislessthanideal situation.Butshe isthe dog that wasalmost deniedboardingaplane. Nowmostpuppyraisersare raisingforspecificorganizations,andthose organizationshave theirown policiesaboutwhetherornottheywill allow theirpuppiestravelbyplane.Asanexample,whenIwas raisingforGuide Dogs forthe Blind,I hadto submita travel requestformbefore we wentanywhere out of ourhome area witha puppy.We had to getthat approvedbyour group leadersfirstandthen approvedbyour communityfieldrepresentative.Peopleabove me hadtomake the final decisionon whetherornot the puppyinquestionwasreadytotravel,andairline travel requiredevenmore thought before approval.Theykeepveryclosetabsonthe progressof theirpuppies. We flewwithRicki onaveryshort flighttosouthernCaliforniawhenwe were raisingherandbecause she had a little bitof anxietyonthe flightthere andback,nothingmajorjusta little panting,shakingand unsettledbehavior,butenoughthatwe were notallowedtoflyheronour followingtriptoLas Vegas. We drove instead.Nownoteveryorganizationisasstringentasthis,butmanyorganizationswill not allowone of theirpuppiestobe putintoa situationlikeairline travel if theyare notreadytodo so.This
- 3. isanotherfactor inwhy I don’tunderstandwhyitisso hardto flywitha puppyin trainingwhenitisso easywithan ESA.There are safe guardsin place formany puppiesintraining,butthe airlinesare not aware of these either. Everytime we have traveledwithapuppy,the airline crew wasalwayssohappytosee a well-behaved dog ontheirflight,like itisarefreshingchange.Theymustbe usedtostressedout,outof control ESAs. I wouldbe willingtobetthat the chancesof a puppy/dogintrainingbeingbetterbehavedorbetter preparedtoflythan mostESAs onflightsisalmosta guarantee,butitisthe puppyraisertravelingwitha puppyor dog intrainingthathas a higherchance of not beingallowedtofly.Noone evertalksabout this.ThisissomethingthatI thinkreallyneedstochange.I’mnotsayingthatESAs shouldbe banned fromflyingeither.I’msure manypeopledobenefitfromthem, andthatmanydogs dobehave appropriatelyonplanes.Buttoallowanydogwithjusta note froma doctor isnot enough.There really shouldbe some sortof regulationputintoplace toprotectthese animalsandthe people that encounter them.Proof of canine goodcitizenshipatthe bare minimum, butmore wouldbe better.Eachtime I travel witha puppy,ona plane or not,it has alwaysmade a bigimpacton that puppy.Theygrow so much onthese tripsand travel isveryvaluable intheirtrainingprocess.I’msure thatishelpsthemto become betterservice dogs. Noteverypuppywill be readytotravel byplane while itiswitharaiser.Many puppieswe have raisedI wouldneverhave putona plane.There isno waythat it wouldhave beeninthe puppy’sbestinterest.I will alsobe the firstto admitthat travelingonaplane witha puppycan be verystressful forme,butmy puppy’sneedsalwayscome first.IpickflighttimesthatIthinkwill workbestformy puppy.Iwill plan for layoversif Ithinkthat flightlengthwill be tooklongwithoutapottybreakformy puppy.Iwill payextra for more footroom some mypuppywill be more comfortable.Itisusuallynotarelaxingflightforme because Iam alwayswatchingandready to repositionmypuppyif neededorrespondtoanythingmy puppymay needtokeepthemstressfree andcomfortable forthe flight.DuringPenny’sfirstexperience flyingIspenta goodportionof the flightmovingherfeetoutof the aisle andkeepingherfromtouching the personnexttous. She didn’tmindthatI keptrepositioningher,butIwasn’table torelax at all duringthe flight.Ineedformy puppiestohave agood experience oritmayleave a lastingbad impressionforthe puppyandpossiblyanyone else onthatplane. I do everythingIcan to prepare mypuppiesforflight.We practice lyingquietlyunderseatsforlong periodsof time.We take tripson crowdedloudmasstransit.Itake themto the busiestshoppingcenters I can find.Anythingthat Ican do to simulate goingthroughanairportand sittingona plane.The more I can get themusedtothese thingsthe better. Do all people whotravel withESAsthinkaboutthese thingsorjustthattheywantthe belovedanimal alongand/orthinkthe trip will be toohard to dowithoutthem?Isthere anyone coachingESA travelers on howto make the trip easierontheirpet?Idon’tthinkpeople reallythinkaboutall of thiswhenthey decide totravel withananimal.I knowthatwhenI have beenprepping andmakingplanstotravel with my puppiesbyplane mycoworkersoftenmake commentsof “Ineverthoughtof that” whenItalk to themaboutthe prepworkI do to make the trip a successful one forall involved(thatincludesthe flight crew,otherpassengers,the puppyandmyself andanyone inmytravelingparty).
- 4. So whoisadvocatingfor the puppyraisersor trainerstryingtotravel while trainingwiththeirpuppyor dog?Service dogusershave the ADA (AmericanswithDisabilitiesAct) tofall backon wheninpublic,and the ACAA (AirCarrierAccessAct) protectsservice dogteamsand ESAsinthe air.But puppyraisersdon’t have anythinginplace,andneitherdoownertrainers.The foundationthese raisersinstill intothese puppiesisthe reasonwhysomany dogsmake it throughthe trainingprocesstobecome fully functioningservice dogs.Withoutall the hardworkpuppyraisersdoand all the situationstheyexpose and workthese puppiesthrough,therewouldbe alotfewerservice dogs.Butforsome reason,the airlinesdon’trecognizethis.The airlinescanreallyhelpinthe trainingprocessandthe benefitsthat these puppiescanreceive byallowingthemthe access. Some of the largerservice dogorganizationsdohave certainagreementswithspecificairlinesfortheir program puppies.SouthWestAirlinesallowsCanineCompanionsforIndependence puppiesontheir flightswithpermissionandproperpaperworkfromthe organizations.Butwhataboutthe smaller,lesser knownorganizationsorownerswhotrain theirowndogs?Theymaynot have the resourcesto make these same arrangements.Doesthatmeanthatthe raisersinthese situationscan’thave the same opportunitiesfortheirpuppies?Orthatthe dogs theyplace are not as entitledorimportantasthe largerorganizations?Howaboutthe numberof raiserswhodon’tlive close toan organizationwhere the formal traininghappens?There are anumberof organizationsthatallow theirraiserstolive anywhere inthe U.S.as longas those raiserswill be willingtotransportthe puppiestoandfromthe organizationwhenneeded.Thinkhowmuchthose organizationsandpeople withdisabilitieswould benefitif transportingpuppiesonflightswere allowed.Itwouldbe awin-winforeveryone.The organizationswhodependonthese arrangementswouldgetmore raisers,potentially,andtherefore be able to produce andplace more service dogswithpeople whoneedthem,andthe puppieswouldget valuable traininginthe process.Icanguarantee that the people whoreceive thesedogsfromeventhe smallestorganizationorwhoowner-trainthinkthattheirdogisjustas importantandshouldhave had the same opportunitiesasapuppyor dog froma large organization. So I ask youthe public,service dogusers,puppyraisers, orjustsomeone whousesairline transportation:Whowouldyourathersitnextto on a plane?Orbetteryet,airline executives!Maybe youshouldaskyour flightcrewaboutwhoand whattheywouldratherhave to deal withat workbefore youwrite and implementapolicy.A personwithapuppywhois beingraisedandtrainedtobehave appropriatelyandtobe comfortable withairtravel—orsomeone withapetdogor, insome cases,a turkey,iguana,monkey,parrot,oranythingelse,thatistravelingwiththat animal eitherbecause they needitfor theirownmental healthorfakingitto avoidthe extrafeesinvolvedorthe requirementto put theirdogor otheranimal incargo fortransport.A petthat may or may nothave beenconditioned or mentallyable tohandle the stressof beingonanairplane.Maybe itistime to speakupnot only aboutthe dogswhoshouldnotbe onplanes,butthe oneswhoreallyshould. For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: hearingdog, mobilitydog, psychiatric service dog, veterandog, medical alert dog.