Can Your Dog Fly?

There are a lot of dogs flying these day. From Service Dogs like Poppy and Clifford to Emotional Support Animals like Pico & Q-Tip.

Poppy

Clifford

Pico

Q-Tip

There are big ones and little ones. Where do they sit? Some lay on the floor under the seat in front of you. Others sit on your lap.

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Service Animals help passengers with everything from Anxiety to PTSD. They might guide the blind or assist someone in a wheelchair. These pets are highly trained.

Service Animals are generally dogs and sometimes miniature horses. Some of these amazing animals help with medical issues alerting their handler when their blood sugar is low or when they are close to having a seizure.

Emotional Support Animals calm their owners when they fly. In most cases, these animals are not trained for a specific need. They just love their owners. They provide comfort to help relieve a symptom or effect of a person’s disability.

Emotional Support Animals are generally dogs and cats. Other animals may provide support to their owners like guinea pigs or miniature horses, but exotic animals may not qualify due to risks of harm to others or potential diseases.

Most airlines will allow Emotional Support Animals, with proper documentation from a veterinarian and/or mental health counselor, and small animals such as cats and dogs can be held on the passenger’s lap during the flight.

Regarding airline policies affecting persons flying with animals that are not emotional support or service animals, most airlines charge fees and require the animal to be in a cage that can fit under the seat. If a caged animal cannot be placed under the seat, the animal flies with the luggage. You can find a lot of great information regarding traveling pets on the Department of Transportation website.

For example, American Airlines is not checking pets right now due to flight changes due to COVID19. In the past, American has been asked to transport an ant colony, a sloth, kangaroos, rabbits, lizards, pigs, crabs, wallabies and monkeys.

With Emotional Support Animals, on the other hand, they are not required to be caged, nor are people charged for flying with an Emotional Support Animal.  In 2017, Delta Air Lines had a quarter of a million passengers who boarded flights with their Emotional Support Animals.

Peanut cruises along through O’Hare in Chicago

In my own flying adventures I had to ask myself, “Will our dogs fly well or not?” Our Shitzu-Bishon mix named Ollie is hyperactive and skittish around strangers. Peanut on the other hand is calm in most circumstances unless Ollie eggs him on.

Flying with your dog isn’t as ruff as you might think.

Here is a good article on 8 Things to Consider Before Flying With Your Pet

Below you will find links to pet traveling policies of other airlines flying out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and Concord, NC.

Air Canada
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/special-assistance/pets.html

Allegiant Air (flies out to Concord, NC)
https://www.allegiantair.com/traveling-with-pets

America Airlnes
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/special-assistance/pets.jsp 

Delta Airlines
https://www.delta.com/us/en/pet-travel/overview

Frontier
http://www.airline-pet-policies.com/frontier-airlines-pet-policy.php

JetBlue
https://www.pettravel.com/airline_pet_rules/jetblue.cfm

Lufthansa
https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/travelling-with-animals

Southwest
https://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/traveling-with-animals/pets/index-pol.html

Spirit
http://www.airline-pet-policies.com/spirit-airlines-pet-policy.php

United
https://www.united.com/ual/en/US/fly/travel/animals.html

Want to bring Fido? Check your Airlines for their Pet Traveling Policies

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My Buddy Max

I have been back to work for nearly a week now after a world wind trip to Nepal and Bangladesh and I’m still dragging. My weariness is partly due to jetlag and mostly due to lack of sleep caused by a common cold and nagging cough.

My dog Max though reminded me this morning that my condition could always be worse. You see Max is a 16 year old toy poodle weighing in at eight pounds soaking wet. He is nearly blind due to cataracts, cannot hear a thing, and has to deal constantly with 12 pounds of constant terror in the form of a puppy named Ollie.

Just coming in the back door, Max has to negotiate getting past Ollie who has assumed the pounce position. Any opportunity to maul his older brother is fun for Ollie.

All the while, Max just does his thing. He waits until Ollie gets bored and flies past him before Ollie realizes he missed.

Max has not been the brightest bulb over the years. His brother Niko (who we lost last November) used to hide his own treats and then come steal Max’s. Niko used to let Max fetch whatever was hurled across the room only to have Niko take it from him just before returning it to the hurler.

Just the same, Max would just do his thing.

What is Max’s thing? He is patient and he is a cuddler. Of all his personality quirks, Max’s greatest gift is his love. He gives it away like a bee makes honey. All he has to do is a few butt ups for a back scratch and the opportunity to snuggle. He waits and waits and waits. Then he just nestles alongside you insuring he has contact somewhere with someone.

How does this help me in my state of fatigue? Max reminds me that all God asks from us is to operate out of the gifts He has given us.

Max does that every day.

All day.