Traveling to Texas

After 5 days of bonding with Morey's at my family's home in Indiana, it was time to head back to Texas. Leaving Jessie behind while Morey went with me was bittersweet; signaling the end of my partnership with Jessie and the beginning of new adventures with Morey. I know both dogs will be happy with this arrangement as Jessie has adapted well to her retirement and life with "grandma".

I had never flown with a dog before, but was confident in Morey's ability to handle the trip. And he more than proved me right!!

He was great going through security (not really a surprise, since he is used to going through pat downs at the prison). He attracted a lot of attention and an Asian couple stopped to take a picture of him. Morey's got paparazzi already!

He didn't have any problem loading onto the plane, but because he is so long, he had to curl up in a ball to keep his paws from sticking out in the aisle. We were seated in bulkhead with no one sitting next to me so there was plenty of room. He awed the flight attendants by his excellent focus on me. Go Morey! He enjoyed some ice cubes and then slept through most of the flight. He didn't even wake up when we landed!

I had to take the SkyLink train to get to my connecting terminal in Dallas. The speed and turns made Morey scramble a bit to keep his footing, but as with everything else, he took in all in stride. We made our flight and this time were seated next to a boy who was thrilled to share his foot space with Morey. Once again, Morey acted like a pro and was the perfect service dog ambassador.

The last leg of our trip after arriving in Austin was to take the bus to get back to my van. That made the 3rd new type of transportation Morey was introduced to in one day! (Not something I would normally do, but under the circumstances, I didn't have a lot of options).

By the time we got back to my apartment, my confidence in Morey had skyrocketed! He handled every new situation perfectly and he definitely left a positive impression of service dogs on everyone we encountered. His attention and focus on me were amazing, as was his willingness to follow commands in new situations.

We're off to a great start with many more adventures to follow! Stay tuned...