First time Flying

 

Our First Time Flying!

	Morning Schedule (Pre-Airport) -Up at 6:00am, gave Benadryl for calmDramamine For motion sicknessand Trazodone (100mg for anxiety) -Went to the park to play ball til 7am -Washed our paws, put on our shoes and vest drank some water, and headed to the airport.
	Uber -Took a blanket for the back of the car to be nice to their seats, this is always appreciated by the driverI used to tell my Uber on their way to pick me up “Hey, just so you know, I have a service dog.” but after doing this multiple times, I would be dropped. So I Stopped Doing ItNow I have to deal with Ubers coming to get me, but if they see I have a dog clearly wearing a vest and they refuse me, I take it up with Uber for discrimination. At the Airport -When we got to the airport, we checked out suitcase outside at curbside, I think being outside made him more comfortable -We got our boarding passes, yes he required an extra seat however the airline told us that as long as he’s behaved, we could be reimbursed for the seat, after the flight.
	-Going through TSA refer to our previous post First Time Flying for how we did through going into TSA. We did not have Priority Boarding however, not knowing this, I simply asked the attendee at the gate if I did or not, to which they replied “You don’t but since you have such a nice well behaved doggy I’ll let you go through” My mother always says “You don’t ask, you don’t get” -We did get pulled aside for our “Marshmallows stuffed with meds” which the TSA agent was like “Oh wait, I know what that is, that’s for your dog right? You’re good” so be wary of that.
	-Once we got to our gate, we asked the attendee where the closest “pet relief station” was. This is always good to know. Nox doesn’t like to go on artificial grass, so that’s something to be aware of, try to go before you head to the airport, or even if it’s outside the airport itself.
	On The Plane -We flew on Southwest. We got the Pre-Board since we’re flying with a service animal. You don’t have to purchase this with a Service Dog. I do suggest to sit in the front as there’s more leg room, but be prepared for there not to be a tray, easy trade off.
	-Right before take off, our lovely flight attendant Liz gave a wonderful instructional demonstration which really got Nox’s attention!
	Take Off -Take off actually went a lot smoother than anticipated. Once we got to our seat, I placed a blanket (same one we used for Uber), a small bowl of water, his favorite toy with a treat inside, and buckled him in. We got car seat buckles, and simply buckled the airplane seat, and attached the car seat to the airplane seatbelt. This gave him room to move around our isle. -Make sure your dog is not in the isle, you will get into trouble for this. -We brought a “Dog Bag” as our 2nd carry-on. This made it easier to store things like the handlers belt, bottles of water, treats, and seat buckles in on the plane.
	After Take Off -The lovely flight attendants handed out snacks, and Nox got TWO trail mixes, He was thinking, “I get treatos and cookies the whole flight?! This is AWESOME!”
	-About halfway through the flight he started to get a little antsy, but once I told him “Halfway there” he pretty much gave up and decided to take a nap