Service Dogs in Flight

On our flight home, Morey and I had a "first". During our layover in Dallas, I found a spot to hang out and wait to board our second plane. I started reading until I noticed Morey inching forward. When I looked to see what he was doing, I noticed a woman with a black lab at her feet sitting a few feet away. Her dog was wearing a vest but I couldn't tell what it said. The dog was well-behaved and stayed in place while he/she leaned forward and sniffed Morey. After a few moments the woman got up and walked away with her dog and Morey settled back down.

As usual when it came time to board the plane, Morey and I boarded first and then got to wait while everyone else filed onto the plane. At the end of the line, the woman and her dog came in and sat down in the row opposite Morey and me. It was the first time I had been on a flight with another service dog and several of the flight attendants said it was their first time to have it happen too.

Thankfully Morey was so exhausted from his visit at Grandma's that he wasn't even interested in the dog laying only a few feet away. I can't say the same for the other dog though and she kept trying to crawl over to Morey.  I struck up a conversation with her partner and found out that Nellie was a seven year old self-trained hearing dog. I offered to have Nellie say hello to Morey if that would help her settle down. Her partner gratefully agreed and after sniffing Morey for a few minutes (and not having Morey respond), Nellie settled down for the rest of the flight. I am proud to say that both Morey and Nellie were both excellent examples of well-behaved service dogs.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to chat with another service dog partner. We exchanged experiences of traveling with our dogs, our pet peeves with people interacting with our dogs when they are working, the silliest questions we have been asked, our equipment and reward systems, and the training challenges we have faced. Nellie and her partner live in Austin so maybe someday we will meet up at the dog park and Morey and Nellie can get to know each other while they are off the clock.