Comments on: Flying with Service Dogs – Good or Bad Experience?

By: Shari T.

Shari T. — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:33:54 +0000

I have an autism service dog for my 10 year old son Austin. She is a 4 year old 45lb. Labradoodle named Maggie that we got from the North Star Foundation when she was a year old. She went through training since she was a puppy and then more training when we received her that I had to do with her. The fact is, training never ends. It’s a constant thing but she is well worth it and has probably saved my son’s life more than once. Her main function is to prevent Austin from ‘bolting’ either into traffic or a crowd where he can easily get lost. He has done both of these when he was little and I have never been more scared in my life. It was fate the day I was doing some research into autism and found an article on autism service dogs. It was an answer to my prayers. Austin is non-verbal and although I make sure to have some form of identification on him if God forbids he does get lost in a crowd, my worst fear is that he could be abducted and wouldn’t even know to shout for help. He wears a vest that is attached to Maggie’s vest by a lead line and then I have control of a leash that is also attached to Maggie’s vest. Maggie is also trained to block him if he starts walking toward moving cars. My son has sensory issues and hates to hold my hand while walking so the vest is the only way I can have control of him in potentially dangerous situations. Maggie has flown once from Seattle to San Diego and she did great. In fact she was so quiet in the bulkhead, many passengers did not even know she was there. We flew Alaska and they did not give me one bit of trouble. They were very accommodating and I was so pleased that we will be flying Alaska again this summer to Hawaii to see my family. We will also be flying to Houston to see the in-laws a month later but even though we booked through United, it will be on a Continental flight since they merged and do that now. Our flight is scheduled for next month and like a few other posters, I always call the airlines right after booking the flight to check about seat assignments with Maggie. For our previous Alaska flight, they gave us the bulkheads with no problem. That also happened when I called about the trip to Hawaii. Continental however is giving me some problems. First they want me to fax in a doctors note. I told the agent that I have flown with Maggie and my son before on Alaska and was never asked for a doctor’s note. I was told that it was required for emotional assistance animals. I asked him what about service animals? He said that service dogs for the blind or mobility issues were not required to do this but emotional assistance animals are. I patiently tried to explain that Maggie is a service dog. That she provides a service for my son to keep him safe. We discussed it back and forth for awhile but he was adamant. Since I have a doctors note in her file, I said fine. It was just the principal of the matter that bothered me. So I faxed in the doctor’s note and waited a couple weeks not hearing anything back so figured everything was set. But something in the back of my mind told me to double check so I called again and asked if all the documentation is okay. The lady told me that the doctors note was 2 years old and they only take doctors notes that are a year or less old. Why didn’t Continental call me about this? What would have happened if I had gone to the airport without this settled? When I told her no one notified me about it she said “Well that’s strange, someone should have.” So far, I’m not impressed with Continental and am praying that things go smoothly when it is time to fly. At least now I have time to get the Drs note fixed beforehand. If we do encounter any problems with the flight, I will avoid Continental in the future. So although we have only flown Alaska with our service dog so far, I give Alaska high marks.
I do want to mention that the reason we got a Labradoodle as opposed to a Labrador Retriever or Golden is that my son is very allergic to dogs so we had to find a hypoallergenic breed. It has worked great with Maggie and my son’s allergies rarely flare up. The big issue I’m having now with travel is staying at hotels. If we go to a hotel that has pet friendly rooms, that’s where they want to put us because of Maggie. The problem is, other dogs have been in that room and causes my son’s allergies to go haywire. I’ve had a couple of hotels that refused to let us stay in the regular rooms and I’ve had to actually leave one and find another hotel. The other we tried to stay in the pet friendly room but my son was pretty miserable and he had to take quite a few Benadryl. Also would like to know what others do about rental cars? The last one we rented balked when they saw Maggie but I had called ahead to tell them we had a service dog so they did let us rent one but didn’t seem too happy about it.

By: Lonnie

Lonnie — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:18:50 +0000

My dog and I fly Delta. We have made 26 flights and have never had a problem with the airlines. Flight Attendants even brought me a bowl and small bottle of water for y dog. Delta has been truly wonderful to us and supportive. I have ran across 2 TSA people that have been very nasty about the dog. With 26 flights under our belts, I don’t think that is so bad. I listened to them smiled and moved on. Our hats are off to the folks at Delta Airlines!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:46:22 +0000

I have only traveled on Delta from Detroit to Salt Lake with Riley. It
was a breeze except that Riley is a 65 lb. lab and one bulkhead seat was not wide enough for her. Luckily, I had 2 lab lovers in the seats next to me. They couldn’t have been more helpful, even sitting with their feet on the bulkhead to give Riley more room.
TSA was also very helpful explaining about not triggering the metal detector, by removing her collar and vest. I had a piece of webbing with me which I put around her neck as her leash and collar went through the baggage screener. We walked through the screener with no alarm and were on our way.
I was so proud of Riley as she was just 14 months old, newly certified, and a perfectly behaved SD.

By: June Pasko

June Pasko — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:57:46 +0000

My Doctor wrote a short hand written letter on his prescription pad. All it states is “SERVICE DOG” Required for medical condition. This is easy to carry in your wallet. I made an extra copy and placed in my dogs pocket on her service dog vest with her spot tags showing. When I am asked for medical documentation it is reachable.

I have traveled on South West, Jet Blue, USA, American & No West airlines. I have only been asked once to show documentation and once a stewardess asked me what my “problem” was. I asked her if she would ask someone in a wheelchair what their problem was? She said NO, that was the end of our conversation. I have stayed at some high end Hotels with NO problem and NEVER had a problem going into any class of restaurants once they see her with her tags/vest on. I carry a zipped dog blanket bag with me, unzip it and she lays on it by my feet or the side of the table while we eat. She is an American Hairless Terrier (coated variety) around 12 lbs and trained.

Always try and be pleasent to those people who have not a clue as to what a service dog is for. When they see how well behaved she is and I am not demanding I do not run into any problems anywhere.

By: Ave Guevara

Ave Guevara — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:32:51 +0000

How does one get USSD documentation for their therapy service dog? Currently I only have a letter from my doctor containing no explanation of the medical reason, simply his recommendation for a service dog on his letterhead stationery, and my SPOT ID tags. I have purchased a red vest from the pet store that is not an official SD vest, but looks official and her ID tag is fixed onto it. I’ve had no problems thus far, but would like USSD documentation before I take her on any flights. She is a standard red poodle.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:39:46 +0000

Alaska airlines when ever possible. Traveled from Alaska to Portland this past October. I have a bouvier and he weighs 105 lbs. He is a physical assist dog but does many other things as well. At the time I also had a smaller Bouvier that was in training. I called ahead to make sure I had no problems and when I got to the airport not only did they come and ask me to the front of the line when they saw us standing there but they also made sure that we had a bulk head seat. The flight was full but the attendants knew even in the bulkhead we were going to be tight so on their own they blocked the center seat so my dog would be comfortable. Not only did they not charge me for my registered adult dog but they did not charge me for the one in train. Of course she went as check baggage but I had already expected that as per the rules for service dogs. During the flight the attendants even came by several times to make sure were were confortable and to give my boy some attention which he ate up. He really likes girls anyway. The only problem we had if you even want to call it that was with TSA on our return trip. The training was very poor and when they went over my dog they did it in a very dumb manor. All I can say is they were lucky my boy is so tolernet of idiots. I even told them when we passed through that they ha dbetter to learn how to properly go over dogs or one day they might lose a hand. I rate Alaska Airlines as number 1 in my books.

By: Katie Smith

Katie Smith — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:44:22 +0000

Can my doctor write the letter on a prescription pad? I have the note from him on a prescription pad and I’m due to fly out on Oct 31st on American Airlines to Paris.

By: Kimberly Kubalek

Kimberly Kubalek — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:43:10 +0000

I have had HUGE problems with American Airlines. Not only did they pull me OFF of a flight MID TRIP – stranding me due to a minor issue with my service dogs health certificate, they have flat out, in my face lied to me on multiple occassions. After making multiple calls to confirm the notification of my service animal, they actually had the nerve to claim, AT the airport, that I never made the calls and and that I never faxed the documentation (which I have faxed twice). And one customer service and disabilities services MANAGER actually LAUGHED in my face as I was crying in front of her. I cannot believe that there are such awful organizations as American Airlines. I urge everyone I know not to fly with them. American Airlines made flying an absolute NIGHTMARE.

By: Barbara S.

Barbara S. — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 21:58:49 +0000

I am new to this website and found it to be helpful. However, I was amazed that people are not supportive of each other on the subject of service dogs. Why not stick to the subject – airline travel. Instead people are arguing about whether or not your dog is a service dog based on size, etc. As service dog owners, we should be banding together to educate the public and change laws – not fight with each other. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories of airline travel. It was very helpful and appreciated.

By: Bill W.

Bill W. — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:54:43 +0000

We’ve traveled to HI 3 times with our SD Budley, 100 lb. Lab/Retriever mix, direct PHX to OGG. Fortunately, with Miles, we’ve been able to upgrade to the right-front seats in 1st. Next trip, however, we’ll be back in the “cheap seats” just behind 1st.
We’ve never had a spot of bother, except for one small incident which was probably our fault. HI requires a Health Cert dated within 30 days of travel, but USAir requires it be withion 15 days. We assumed HI took precedence but not so. We were 16 days out but they let it slide.
Work with your vet, read HIDA Service Animal rules, and your airline’s. Start planning EARLY!
Feed your dog no food and only tiny water before your flight, empty him as possible; take a few paper towels or a diaper, just in case. Carry 2 handfuls of dog food and use sparingly. FA’s will gladly bring you a cup of ice (no water).
Finally, be familiar with “Frequently asked questions—” by the ADA and carry a copy or two. Patience, pleasance & perserverance.
If you try to smuggle your pet aboard, be prepared to go to jail.