Common Courtesy

Thankfully our trip back to Texas was much less eventful than our trip to Indiana. The only excitement that happened was on our flight from Dallas to Austin.

As Morey and I were hanging out waiting for our plane to arrive, a man with a houndy-looking chocolate lab with a service dog vest walked by us and up to the gate agent. I actually didn't notice the dog until it started barking at Morey. I was very proud that although Morey was quite interested and alert, he didn't bark back or even move from his down stay. The dog continued to bark as the man tried to check in and the man pulled out a muzzle and put it on the dog. After he finished his business with the gate agent, he walked right by us as he left. The poor dog was having trouble breathing with the muzzle on and its sides were heaving from stress/excitement.

A moment later the man walked by with his dog again and it almost seemed that he was intentionally trying to bother Morey. I moved over to a place out of the way and settled Morey there. Less than five minutes later, the man walked his dog by us again. I was annoyed as it was pretty obvious that the only reason I had moved was to get away from him and his dog. When he walked his dog by yet again, I spoke up and said "Sir, would you mind giving us some space and keeping your dog away from mine?"  He didn't even look at me as he responded "I'll walk my dog wherever I want to". I was quite surprised by his rudeness. Most service dog partners I have encountered have been very polite and understand the distraction another dog can pose.

Thankfully after that he sat down far away from me and stayed there until it was time for us to board. However, even though that distraction was gone, a woman with a tiny dog soon came and sat close to us. She had a carrier for her dog but she had it out on a leash and was letting it socialize with everyone. Despite all these distractions, Morey behaved himself like a professional!

All the people with dogs got to board first and we were all called up at the same time. The gate agent told me and the man with the service dog to go down the jetway to board. The man with the other service dog said "That woman doesn't want me near her service dog so I can't go down with her." Unwilling to be seen as the one causing the problem I replied "It just seems like it will be less chaotic if we keep our dogs apart. Why don't youboard first and then I'll go down once you are settled on the plane". The gate agent decided that was a good idea and so the man went down with his dog.

I didn't necessarily think the dog was vicious (I've certainly seen other service dogs bark out of fear, excitement, etc) but without knowing more about it and how it might respond to another dog in close quarters I didn't want to take any chances. I also didn't trust the man's ability to control his dog. I know that when I am boarding the plane I have enough to focus on without worrying about Morey's safety.

Altogether there were 4 dogs on the plane: Morey and the other service dog and two little dogs. Once we were all on board there weren't any problems and most people probably didn't realize how many canines were on board!

That was my first negative experience traveling with another service dog and it was more because of the man than his dog!