Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 - Seattle, WA -> Atlanta, GA -> Jackson, MS
When it was time for me to strip (you know the drill) and put out all electronic items, I let go of Sunshade's leash for convenience sake. She just stood beside me and waited. I moved she moved, I stopped, she stopped, like a true Service Dog!
We walked through the security gate and we beeped. So they wanted us to go through one at a time. The officer said to me, "how should we do this?" Then he asked another officer to go hold on to Sunshade's leash. I told them that it wasn't necessary as she would just wait on the other side until I called her over. I remember this was one of the test items during the Canine Good Citizen testing (that Sunshade passed with flying colours). So Sunshade waited until I called her over. It ended up being her leash that was setting off the metal detector.
Once through security, we made our way to the gate and waited for about an hour before boarding started.
Sunshade waiting by my feet outside the gate,
I'm not sure why, but I felt very calm and relaxed the entire time we were waiting. There wasn't any doubt, anxiety, or second guessing in my mind. I just knew Sunshade was going to take flying like the way she conquers life. I knew she would be fine as long as she had me around. The only slight concern I had was whether or not she would need to pop her ears and how I could help her do it. I brought some treats with me thinking maybe the chewing action would help, not that she really chews her treats, but swallowing should work too?
Boarding time. Walking up the skybridge (is that what it's called?) to the plane.
When this trip was finalized, I ordered a doggie travel bed that could be stuffed into a little sleeping bag for Sunshade's comfort on the plane. It was shipped to Lydia's place, and I picked it up the day before were scheduled to travel.
Sunshade had never used the travel bed before, but for some reason, she knew that was her place to lie down whenever I put the bed down. We got on the plane, and she right away laid on her travel bed and went to sleep.
I watched from my window as two animals got loaded into the cargo.
Not for my Sunshade girl!
A Service Dog must fit in the foot area in front of your seat. This is the reason why I had to ask for bulkhead seats for all flights. Now believe it or not, this was FIRST class! They did not have any bulkhead seats available for this particular flight, so they upgraded us to First Class.
She barely fitted!
Poor girl will need to see Gail, her chiropractor when she gets home!
She was soooo good. Never a sound, no complaints. The flight from Seattle to Atlanta, Georgia, where we would get our connection flight, was suppose to be 4 hours and 15 mins. However, due to weather conditions, the flight took a 1.5 hour detour in the aire. Sunshade never moved. The flight attendant came over a few times asking me if I would like her to take Sunshade to the front for her to stretch her legs. She was worried Sunshade was going to cramp up. I politely declined her offer as I didn't see any point in trying to move Sunshade when she was sound asleep. She didn't spend the entire 6 hours with her neck kinked btw. This photo was taken before the take off, when she was just trying to find a comfy position. She spent the majority of the flight with her head under my seat.
It was a long flight and I had to go to the washroom twice. Both times, I just gave her a "stay" hand signal, and she stayed right at the seat while I went to the washroom. I sat next to a lady who was perhaps in her late fifties, and she could not believe how GREAT Sunshade was the entire flight. She had so many good things to say about her and became very interested in Sunshade's breed. I had to tell her that Sunshade was somewhat of an exception for the breed.
When we were deplaning, the flight attendant said to me, "she is the best behaved Service Dog we have ever had!".
I had to hold back my giggle when I heard that lol! Yup, that's my perfect girrrrl!
When our flight finally landed in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport at 5:15pm (EST), I basically had 15 minutes to get to the gate for our next flight that was due to take off at 5:40pm! I should also mention, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport is the largest/busiest aireport in the US. To get from one concourse to the other, we had to take an underground rail. We arrived in Concourse B, our next flight was departing from Concourse C. So Sunshade and I rushed to the rail and took the train to concourse C. Then we had to go all the way to gate 66! Sunshade trotted like a champ in the aireport. She moved surprisingly well on the slick marble flooring. Honestly, you couldn't tell she was 13.5. She moved beautifully, and she didn't stumble!
Once we got to our gate, I put the travel bed down and yes, you guessed it, Sunshade plopped herself on it! I left her on her bed and went up to the board to see the status of the flight. I couldn't believe it! All that rushing for nothing! Our plane hadn't even arrived yet. The arrival time was said to be around 7:20pm. That's an almost two hour delay.
It was 5:40pm EST, so 2:40pm PST. It had been 10 hours since Sunshade last went to the washroom. I had originally planned to take Sunshade out to do her business during the layover. However, due to the detour we took in the aire, there wasn't enough time for her to go out had the connection flight been on time. Sunshade has amazing bowel and bladder control and I know she can hold it longer if necessary. However, since it was going to be another two hours at least, I decided to ask for an escort to take us out.
She drove us to a grassy hill on the opposite end of the runways. That's where all Service Dogs go and do their businesses.
Poor girl really needed to go. She went pee three times within two minutes!
Leaving her SuperMARK in Atlanta, Georgia!
After Sunshade finished going potty, we were escorted back inside the aireport. I swear within minutes of us getting to our gate, thunder and lightening started. Then they announced that they were stopping all boarding, and some of the flights were being diverted to other cities due to the severe weather conditions. So they basically had no estimated arrival time for our plane! It was fine though, Sunshade was comfortable now and I had called my friend in Mississippi to let her know of the delay. I was relieved actually that I could have some breather time.
While we were all stranded at the gate, people started noticing Sunshade. They saw how calm she was when unruly kids were running around and screaming around her. They saw how obedient she was whenever I would ask her to get up, or when I would put the travel bed down and she would go lie down on it. There was this black African American Mississippian woman who became very fond of Sunshade. She couldn't take her eyes off her, and she asked me a lot of questions. We chatted for quite some time, and then I started playing on my phone. All of a sudden the woman called out to me and asked me if Sunshade was having a seizure! I looked down and Sunshade was having a happy dream. It was so nice to see how people were naturally drawn towards her and genuinely cared about her wellbeing.
At around 9:30pm, they announced on the PA that the aireport was under operation again, boarding had resumes. Soon after, our gate operator announced that they had found us another plane (since our plane got diverted to Nashville) to Jackson, Mississippi. It was great news but we had to move to another concourse yet again. Yes, this meant back on the rail!
See, travel bed down, she's on it! I swear she can more than read my mind. She always does exactly what it is I would like her to do and then more!
The flight to Jackson, Mississippi was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. I once again had the pleasure of sitting next to another nice lady. She insisted that I spread Sunshade's travel bed across both of our foot areas so Sunshade could be more comfortable. She said she had been watching Sunshade in the airport over the last 4 hours and she was just amazed at how good Sunshade was about everything. We chatted the entire flight, about Sunshade and dogs in general.
Finally!! We reached our destination at 10pm CST (haha, yes, we'd traveled through all the time zones!).
Our first flight was scheduled to leave SeaTac at 8:20am. I fed Sunshade a small chicken breast when I got up, and then took her out for a walk around 5:20am. We arrived at SeaTac just before 6:30am. At the check in, I was asked for paperwork for my Service Dog. Paperwork that I didn't have. From the research I had done and people that I had talked to, I knew I was not required to have paperwork to bring a Service Dog. An Emotional Support Dog on the other hand required paperwork. I told the attendant exactly that, and after checking with her supervisor, she came back and apologized about getting the Service Dog policy mixed up with Emotional Support Dog policy. WHEW!
Next obstacle, going through security! Sunshade walked beside me like a good Service Dog should :-)
When it was time for me to strip (you know the drill) and put out all electronic items, I let go of Sunshade's leash for convenience sake. She just stood beside me and waited. I moved she moved, I stopped, she stopped, like a true Service Dog!
We walked through the security gate and we beeped. So they wanted us to go through one at a time. The officer said to me, "how should we do this?" Then he asked another officer to go hold on to Sunshade's leash. I told them that it wasn't necessary as she would just wait on the other side until I called her over. I remember this was one of the test items during the Canine Good Citizen testing (that Sunshade passed with flying colours). So Sunshade waited until I called her over. It ended up being her leash that was setting off the metal detector.
Once through security, we made our way to the gate and waited for about an hour before boarding started.
Sunshade waiting by my feet outside the gate,
I'm not sure why, but I felt very calm and relaxed the entire time we were waiting. There wasn't any doubt, anxiety, or second guessing in my mind. I just knew Sunshade was going to take flying like the way she conquers life. I knew she would be fine as long as she had me around. The only slight concern I had was whether or not she would need to pop her ears and how I could help her do it. I brought some treats with me thinking maybe the chewing action would help, not that she really chews her treats, but swallowing should work too?
Boarding time. Walking up the skybridge (is that what it's called?) to the plane.
When this trip was finalized, I ordered a doggie travel bed that could be stuffed into a little sleeping bag for Sunshade's comfort on the plane. It was shipped to Lydia's place, and I picked it up the day before were scheduled to travel.
Sunshade had never used the travel bed before, but for some reason, she knew that was her place to lie down whenever I put the bed down. We got on the plane, and she right away laid on her travel bed and went to sleep.
I watched from my window as two animals got loaded into the cargo.
Not for my Sunshade girl!
A Service Dog must fit in the foot area in front of your seat. This is the reason why I had to ask for bulkhead seats for all flights. Now believe it or not, this was FIRST class! They did not have any bulkhead seats available for this particular flight, so they upgraded us to First Class.
She barely fitted!
Poor girl will need to see Gail, her chiropractor when she gets home!
She was soooo good. Never a sound, no complaints. The flight from Seattle to Atlanta, Georgia, where we would get our connection flight, was suppose to be 4 hours and 15 mins. However, due to weather conditions, the flight took a 1.5 hour detour in the aire. Sunshade never moved. The flight attendant came over a few times asking me if I would like her to take Sunshade to the front for her to stretch her legs. She was worried Sunshade was going to cramp up. I politely declined her offer as I didn't see any point in trying to move Sunshade when she was sound asleep. She didn't spend the entire 6 hours with her neck kinked btw. This photo was taken before the take off, when she was just trying to find a comfy position. She spent the majority of the flight with her head under my seat.
It was a long flight and I had to go to the washroom twice. Both times, I just gave her a "stay" hand signal, and she stayed right at the seat while I went to the washroom. I sat next to a lady who was perhaps in her late fifties, and she could not believe how GREAT Sunshade was the entire flight. She had so many good things to say about her and became very interested in Sunshade's breed. I had to tell her that Sunshade was somewhat of an exception for the breed.
When we were deplaning, the flight attendant said to me, "she is the best behaved Service Dog we have ever had!".
I had to hold back my giggle when I heard that lol! Yup, that's my perfect girrrrl!
When our flight finally landed in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport at 5:15pm (EST), I basically had 15 minutes to get to the gate for our next flight that was due to take off at 5:40pm! I should also mention, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport is the largest/busiest aireport in the US. To get from one concourse to the other, we had to take an underground rail. We arrived in Concourse B, our next flight was departing from Concourse C. So Sunshade and I rushed to the rail and took the train to concourse C. Then we had to go all the way to gate 66! Sunshade trotted like a champ in the aireport. She moved surprisingly well on the slick marble flooring. Honestly, you couldn't tell she was 13.5. She moved beautifully, and she didn't stumble!
Once we got to our gate, I put the travel bed down and yes, you guessed it, Sunshade plopped herself on it! I left her on her bed and went up to the board to see the status of the flight. I couldn't believe it! All that rushing for nothing! Our plane hadn't even arrived yet. The arrival time was said to be around 7:20pm. That's an almost two hour delay.
It was 5:40pm EST, so 2:40pm PST. It had been 10 hours since Sunshade last went to the washroom. I had originally planned to take Sunshade out to do her business during the layover. However, due to the detour we took in the aire, there wasn't enough time for her to go out had the connection flight been on time. Sunshade has amazing bowel and bladder control and I know she can hold it longer if necessary. However, since it was going to be another two hours at least, I decided to ask for an escort to take us out.
Did you know, at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport, there are a few people whose job is just to go from gate to gate to escort Service Dogs and their handlers out for potty breaks? The escort is necessary if you don't want to have to go through security again.
So here we were, in the escorting van on aireport grounds,
She drove us to a grassy hill on the opposite end of the runways. That's where all Service Dogs go and do their businesses.
Poor girl really needed to go. She went pee three times within two minutes!
Leaving her SuperMARK in Atlanta, Georgia!
I made her walk around more, and she pooed within minutes. What a GOOOOOD girl!
After Sunshade finished going potty, we were escorted back inside the aireport. I swear within minutes of us getting to our gate, thunder and lightening started. Then they announced that they were stopping all boarding, and some of the flights were being diverted to other cities due to the severe weather conditions. So they basically had no estimated arrival time for our plane! It was fine though, Sunshade was comfortable now and I had called my friend in Mississippi to let her know of the delay. I was relieved actually that I could have some breather time.
At around 9:30pm, they announced on the PA that the aireport was under operation again, boarding had resumes. Soon after, our gate operator announced that they had found us another plane (since our plane got diverted to Nashville) to Jackson, Mississippi. It was great news but we had to move to another concourse yet again. Yes, this meant back on the rail!
See, travel bed down, she's on it! I swear she can more than read my mind. She always does exactly what it is I would like her to do and then more!
The flight to Jackson, Mississippi was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. I once again had the pleasure of sitting next to another nice lady. She insisted that I spread Sunshade's travel bed across both of our foot areas so Sunshade could be more comfortable. She said she had been watching Sunshade in the airport over the last 4 hours and she was just amazed at how good Sunshade was about everything. We chatted the entire flight, about Sunshade and dogs in general.
Tuesday, June 11th, 2013 - Jackson, MS -> Atlanta, GA -> Hartford, CT
After spending a wonderful 5 days at Auntie Nhi's place, Sunshade and I disembarked on the second leg of our trip. We were to go from Mississippi to Connecticut to visit Auntie Sue, with a layover in Georgia.
Waiting at the gate at Jackson-Evers International Aireport,
It was the same thing, as soon as I put the travel bed down, she automatically went and laid down on it.
A tired Service Dog haha!
I had reserved a bulkhead seat, but they decided to move us to row 6 where both seats were empty so Sunshade could have more space. Yes, this is more space lol!
We once again arrived to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Aireport in Atlanta, GA. Yes once again, the busiest aireport! I needed to go to the washroom before our next flight, so we went and lined up in the nearest washroom. Well, the line up was so long and for me to bring Sunshade into the stall with me would mean that I could only wait for the handicap stall. I didn't think we would have time as we still needed to take the rail to the next gate. So I decided that I was going to take one of the regular stalls, meaning, Sunshade couldn't go in with me. To do this, I went and put her travel bed in an open area in the washroom that was still in view of the stalls. She didn't walk to her travel bed like she normally would, probably because it was just such a strange place! So I walked her over and put her in a down-stay which she readily obeyed. There was no doubt in my mind that she wouldn't stay. I just knew she would stay until I came out. A regular stall became available and I walked in. While I was in the stall, I could hear people in the line up discussing about Sunshade. Someone wondered how she would not get confused or anxious in a crowded place like this, and another lady responded by saying that [the dog] was trained to be ok in this kind of environment. Someone else asked how she would know if her handler came out if she was sleeping (I guess she had put her head down and relaxed), and another woman responded by saying "oh he'll know, just watch".
LOL, needless to say, I had my fingers crossed that Sunshade would at the very least look like she knew when I came out of my stall. I opened my stall door, and sure enough, she lifted her head and her eyes followed me to the sink while I washed my hands. I had not released her from her "stay" so she did not get up from her travel bed. After drying my hands, I walked over to her, tapped my hand against my thigh, and said "up up", knowing fully well that she couldn't hear me. That was a new signal we had just developed during our aireport travels. It meant I wanted her to get up from the bed. She knew exactly what the signal meant and popped onto her feet. People watched her in amazement, and complimented on how well "behaved" she was even for a Service Dog!
She again trotted on this marble flooring extremely well. Nothing like a 13.5 yr old!
We made it onto the flight.
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I had the window bulkhead seat in a row of three seats. I crammed Sunshade in front of me leaving no leg room for myself.
Technically, she wasn't suppose to intrude onto another seat's foot area, but we had been so lucky that the people we sat next to where all so compassionate and friendly. They always offered to let Sunshade use their foot area as well. We were lucky that in this row of three seats, the middle seat was empty, so Sunshade got to stretch out.
Oh, and I must not forget to mention, the man sitting in the aisle seat in our row of three seats was an MD. A cardiologist to be precise. He had been very friendly from the start and talked to me about dogs in general. Our conversation got to the point where he casually asked what kind of alerting Sunshade did. So I said diabetes. He said "oh, what type of diabetes do you have?" (I knew my friend Lydia should have prepared me better! She had given me her insulin kit as well as the blood sugar testing monitor.) I was trying to think of an answer that wouldn't make me look like a total fake, but before I answered, he answered himself by saying "it must be type 1!". I happily concurred of course LOL!
It was raining when we got to Bradley Internation Aireport in Hartford, CT. Sunshade took a moment and looked out the window to the run way. I just love this photo. Yes, you flew on one of those Sunshade you airemazing SuperDALE.
We saw a rainbow as we drove out from the aireport :-)
Sunday, June 16th, 2013 - Hartfort, CT -> Atlanta, GA -> Seattle, WA
Twelve days flew by just like that. It was time for us to head back to Seattle, and then home. Our flight was at 6:15am. Sunshade got a walk around 4am EST where she only peed, no poopie, and then we headed to the aireport.
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I want to share with you something cute that Sunshade did at the Bradley Internation Aireport. Usually after we pass security, I would go find a store to get a bottle of water for Sunshade. This day was no different. At the till, I was having trouble getting to my wallet that fallen to the very bottom of my backpack after the security drill, so I dropped the half folded travel bed that I was holding to free up my other hand. I had dropped Sunshade's leash long before to free up my first hand. The bed landed on the ground, half folded still. Miss Sunshade the SuperSERVICE-DOG saw this as her cue to get on the bed, yet the bed was half folded?!?! So she got on it, and started digging at it in an attempt to flatten it. She managed to get the job done and proceeded to lying down on it as I was just finishing up with the casher. The woman that was lined up behind us said to me "oh my gosh, did you train her to make her bed? That's amazing!".
Last look out the window before boarding. It was a beautiful morning.
Empty seat beside me, YAY!!
Sunshade trying to get comfortable, that poor neck!
My sweet girl, how will I ever live without her??
The flight from Hartford to Atlanta was just a little over an hour. As we were waiting to get off the plane, two passengers asked me if Sunshade had been "sedated" or "drugged" prior to flying. They could not believe a dog could be this calm, quite, and well behaved. Once we got to the doorway, the pilot was there thanking all the passengers. He saw Sunshade and said "was this beautiful dog on my flight the entire time?" Then he peeked inside the cockpit and told [I'm assuming the co-pilot] to come see this "beautiful, well behaved dog".
I had wanted to get an escort to let Sunshade out to use the washroom as the next flight was going to be five hours. I did the math, if she didn't get to go out in Atlanta, by the time we got to Seattle, she would have held her bladder/bowel for close to 12 hours. However, due to the late take off from the previous flight, we had only 10 minutes before boarding started. So I apologized to Sunshade and told her that she had to tough it out... I decided I wasn't going to go to the washroom either until Seattle! (although I had gone in Hartford already...)
Last flight!!
Bulkhead but still crammed. Sunshade immediately assumed her comatose state haha.
Once we got to Seattle, Sunshade's Auntie Lydia came to pick us up in Sunshade's SuperVAN and drove us to a nearby grassy area. There, Sunshade peed many times and pooed twice! This girl has amazing bladder and bowel control! This concludes our special aireport report :-)
If you had witnessed Sunshade at any point during this trip , you would have never believed that she had never gone through aireport procedures, or travelled on a plane before. Throughout the entire trip, she never showed signs of distress, anxiety, fear, or discomfort, and she was never disobedient or troublesome. She travelled nonchalantly like a seasoned pro, who had done this many times. I lost count how many nice comments she had generated from pilots, flight attendants, aireline personals, aireport personals, and the general public. I remember a man asked me how old Sunshade was during one of our aireport stops. I told him 13.5. I [think] I kind of made a bittersweet face when I said the age.... The man responded by saying he believed that love had a lot to do with longevity, and the reason Sunshade looked so good at 13.5 was because of my love. I wish his theory were true because that would mean we would all get to spend an eternity with our beloved pets.... but alas... that's not how life works. However, it still made me feel very happy to hear that :-)
Sunshade has once again proven to me what I have always believed, and that is - as long as we are together, there is no obstacle too great. She is content and at peace as long as she knows I'm around. It doesn't matter what the task is at hand, she WILL always tackle it to perfection under those conditions. This entire flying experience was no different from me bringing her to my university lectures over 12 years ago when she was only 18 months old. It wasn't like this was something I was just able to do with her now because she was an older dog; it was something that I could have done with her ever since she was young. Another analogy to this experience would be me showing up with her to the Canine Good Citizen test with no prior practice at all, yet having total faith, and confidence in her. I just knew that she would be totally awesome flying and traveling through aireports, like I knew she would excel at all test items and get her CGC title. We have always had this kind of connection and mutual understanding that enable us to share many special experiences together. I will treasure the memories from this special adventure for the rest of my life. We were so in sync, we really moved as one.
