Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[wizard-of-roz]

Thats great Roz!!! Of course we all wish we could be there cheering you on.

 

Sunshine, What a wonderful story. Mackey must have made that kid feel so good!

 

Guitarest, I think every family is dysfunctional. I know mine is and so is Johns. There is no such thing as "normal". We all just do what we have to, to get by.

 

 

We have a very busy weekend. My son is coming up tomorrow and John has offered to put some new tires on his truck. My son will be here to take the new tv and camera he is getting. We had to buy a table to put the tv on, so I am going to pick that up today and my son will be putting it together and setting up the new tv (you know, the one we didn't need).

 

Cindy

 

The t.v. story is so funny. Here's mine: Morey wants to put a t.v. on top of the refrigerator so when he's cooking he won't miss CNN. There's one in the living room [huge], there's one in the bedroom [huge] and now there will be one in the kitchen [not so huge]....sometimes, I think that all they are is "noise!" I love when he's not watching they're off and I can hear myself think!!!!

 

You're a good mom, your son's very lucky!

Edited November 18, 2011 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

Just got this from the AKC about the subject matter at hand..... Talk about great timing

 

http://www.akc.org/akctherapydog/

 

Interesting; "therapy dogs" do not have public access, I wonder how the AKC will handle this? Maybe there really isn't an issue and these dogs will only be used in certain situations such as; home, hospital or rest homes.

[guitarest]

Interesting; "therapy dogs" do not have public access, I wonder how the AKC will handle this? Maybe there really isn't an issue and these dogs will only be used in certain situations such as; home, hospital or rest homes.

 

I did more research and the AKC Cert comes after a confirmed number of visits to hospitals or patients that could be helped with this type of visit.

[wizard-of-roz]

I did more research and the AKC Cert comes after a confirmed number of visits to hospitals or patients that could be helped with this type of visit.

 

That's great. To be able to have a dog lay on your bed or just be by your side, when you're at your most vulnerable [in a hospital setting] is just the best thing ever! Dogs sure have a way of putting a smile on a child's face! :)

[guitarest]

That's great. To be able to have a dog lay on your bed or just be by your side, when you're at your most vulnerable [in a hospital setting] is just the best thing ever! Dogs sure have a way of putting a smile on a child's face! :)

 

And those who remain childlike, ya know me..... :)

[DisneyKidsDad]

CCI does not allow active working dogs to become therapy dogs.

They say if the dog is focused on being a therapy dog, then they are not focued on being a service dog to their person. I agree.

[guitarest]

CCI does not allow active working dogs to become therapy dogs.

They say if the dog is focused on being a therapy dog, then they are not focued on being a service dog to their person. I agree.

 

Good point, never looked at it that way. I looked at it as sharing Blitz with others.

[wizard-of-roz]

CCI does not allow active working dogs to become therapy dogs.

They say if the dog is focused on being a therapy dog, then they are not focued on being a service dog to their person. I agree.

 

Me too! A therapy dog is a great "La Dee Da" kind of dog. That's not to say that what they do is not important, it's just that they're very mild-mannered ["I think I'll count the holes in the acoustic tile in the ceiling"] kind of dogs. Love em!!!! And, our society truly needs them! They're just not the best at that "focus" thing!

Edited November 18, 2011 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

Good point, never looked at it that way. I looked at it as sharing Blitz with others.

 

Blitz is best under your control and not so much, right now, as a "Therapy Dog!" He's more wired to "work" not just lay around!

[guitarest]

Blitz is best under your control and not so much, right now, as a "Therapy Dog!" He's more wired to "work" not just lay around!

 

 

Oh Blitz is wired for work and loves to work. I have never had a dog so focused on what I want to do or what I need. I will be picking up my car decals Monday next week. One says Jocko and under Pilot and the other is Blitz and Co-Pilot. I then designed another decal to put behind the driver/passenger windows.

 

What do yall think? I can do different breeds if any one wants something like this.

[wizard-of-roz]

Oh Blitz is wired for work and loves to work. I have never had a dog so focused on what I want to do or what I need. I will be picking up my car decals Monday next week. One says Jocko and under Pilot and the other is Blitz and Co-Pilot. I then designed another decal to put behind the driver/passenger windows.

 

What do yall think? I can do different breeds if any one wants something like this.

 

The word "caution" leaves a bit of question in my mind. I prefer "Attention!"

Please be careful as this forum does not allow advertising and I'm not sure if this falls under that category? :confused:

[DisneyKidsDad]

Oh Blitz is wired for work and loves to work. I have never had a dog so focused on what I want to do or what I need. I will be picking up my car decals Monday next week. One says Jocko and under Pilot and the other is Blitz and Co-Pilot. I then designed another decal to put behind the driver/passenger windows.

 

What do yall think? I can do different breeds if any one wants something like this.

 

I have to agree with Roz. I think CAUTION gives the wrong impression.

[Valentine's Mom]

Hi all, We just returned from our European cruise on the Carnival Magic. We had a great time and as usual Miss Valentine was the hit of the cruise. Of course as she was doing her showing off, I was telling everyone about all of the smart and wonderful dogs on this board esp. our Miss Brenny! Just thought we stop to say hi.

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi all' date=' We just returned from our European cruise on the Carnival Magic. We had a great time and as usual Miss Valentine was the hit of the cruise. Of course as she was doing her showing off, I was telling everyone about all of the smart and wonderful dogs on this board esp. our Miss Brenny! Just thought we stop to say hi.[/quote']

 

Welcome Home! We definitely missed you. That must have been a truly exciting trip. We want to hear all about it. How long, what did you see, how was the Magic?

Can you believe it's less than two weeks before I get my new partner? I can't wait until my dog ticker has the Lab sitting in my lap!!!!;)

[guitarest]

Thanks for the advise on the words. As far as advertising I was offering to do for free not sell. It gives me something to do with the free time I have. So many other things I could be doing and would be doing if I didn't have heel spurs. I blew upon the VA this week, and they finally ordered the inserts and I have a appointment with prosthetic on the 28th to order the proper stuff through them.

 

I will change the wording in that decal. Yeah all I was going to do is design a decal of the breed of dog yall have. It would be print quality and a donation of my time and not for sale so hopefully I will not be banned.

 

I also interviewed and joined Patriot Guard Riders today, I explained I could not ride a motorcycle and they had no issues with that. They invited Blitz and I to join them in the Mustang.

 

[Latitude 20]

Oh Blitz is wired for work and loves to work. I have never had a dog so focused on what I want to do or what I need. I will be picking up my car decals Monday next week. One says Jocko and under Pilot and the other is Blitz and Co-Pilot. I then designed another decal to put behind the driver/passenger windows.

 

What do yall think? I can do different breeds if any one wants something like this.

 

I think I agree with the others that "caution" isn't really the message you're trying to convey. I'm assuming you're concerned about an accident so maybe "steal" from the ever popular "Baby on Board" sign and make one that says "Service Dog on Board" with your same graphic (which is very cute IMHO).

[Laura-SF]

Hi -

This is Asta's, my mom's service dog's, first cruise. We are going on Cunard from LA to Hawaii over x-mas. First, I want to thank the posters on this board so much!! as many of the threads include VERY helpful info!

 

A couple of more questions:

Asta eats frozen food. Any one have experience with requesting access to a freezer several times during the cruise to pick up food and put in it the room fridge?

 

Sea sickness - we are cruising in winter in the Pacific - not sure what to expect,, but does anyone have experience with dog "sick as a dog?" what do you do? give a quarter Bonine (Asta is 12 lbs).

 

walking - what about exercise? Asta enjoys a bit of a walk, and typically pees along the way to make her mark.... what do you do about this? Papers towels and Nature's Miracle?:o

 

thanks so much!

 

(BTW, will be happy to report on Cunard's potty facility, but we'll also be taking a puphead for the balcony)

 

Laura from San Francisco

[guitarest]

Good Luck on your Cruise Laura...

[guitarest]

I thought this was cute....

 

Hmm not any more and no way to delete post

Edited November 21, 2011 by guitarest

[Valentine's Mom]

Welcome Home! We definitely missed you. That must have been a truly exciting trip. We want to hear all about it. How long, what did you see, how was the Magic?

 

Can you believe it's less than two weeks before I get my new partner? I can't wait until my dog ticker has the Lab sitting in my lap!!!!;)

 

 

Hi guys. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you but it has been very busy here lately.

Our trip started off with a service dog problem. We had notified everyone that we would be bring a service dog and found absolutely no problems until a few days before leaving when my husband was looking at our plane reservations and found out that the Spanish airline for our last leg of the trip only recognized a seeing eye dog was the only dog they recognized. After much anguish they decided that if we could find the original paperwork from the doctor saying that I needed a dog they would allow it. Valentine is 11 years old and we have moved 6 times since then. Well we never seem to throw anything away and I did find that paper!!! Can you believe it! Anyway we were set to go. Going through a small airport like Norfolk Va has it’s advantages and we were on our way in no time.

When we got to NY we found out that our plane had a mechanical problem and they had to replace the plane so we were an hour late taking off. Arrival in Madrid was late by an hour so we had to get our luggage. They said that they didn’t transfer luggage to a different airline so off we were to find the lost bags. I think that we must have traveled 4-5 miles around that airport! We never did find it either although American did say that they knew where it was and would send it along. Funny but the Spanish airline never did ask for the paperwork for Valentine but when we got to the hotel they did require it. It was a Marriott and we reserved it online through the US 800 number and they didn’t say anything at all about it. If the airline hadn’t required it or if we had a direct flight we would have been in real trouble. They were great though about starting the hunt for our bags. Next day onto the ship raining cats and dogs.

The transfer that we from Carnival tried to drop us off at the wrong terminal but we did eventually get there and got on without any delay. When we got to the room we found Valentines box on the balcony. No matter how we try to explain that she is tiny they insist on putting up a huge box that she couldn’t climb into no matter how hard she tried. Easily fixed and it was the beginning of a 16 day cruise that we had been waiting for for a long long time.

By the third day we received a note that our luggage arrived at the first port. We were glad to get our stuff but I think that Valentine was really happy as her steps and most importantly her treats were in that bag!

Almost everyone was happy to have Valentine onboard and she did give to opportunity to teach the never ending saga of how great these dogs are. We did have one lady refuse to ride in the elevator with her but then again she was just weird!

We love these cruises because of the quiet sea days. I know they aren’t for everyone but we really enjoy them. The Magic seemed very handicapped accessable.the only thing I wish they could come up with is a way to open the cabin doors that didn’t require you hold them open. Takes mucho mucles!

On the last days of the cruise we developed a problem with a thruster and although we were to go to Grand Turk they had to reroute us to Freeprot Behamas. This was not usually a problem but we had no papers for Valentine.

Carnival got all the paperwork that we needed and we had 2 nice days in the Bahamas. It was the best weather on the whole trip. We had rain and rough seas for most of our trip but it was nice and quiet and just what I needed.

[Valentine's Mom]

Hi -

This is Asta's, my mom's service dog's, first cruise. We are going on Cunard from LA to Hawaii over x-mas. First, I want to thank the posters on this board so much!! as many of the threads include VERY helpful info!

 

A couple of more questions:

Asta eats frozen food. Any one have experience with requesting access to a freezer several times during the cruise to pick up food and put in it the room fridge?

 

Sea sickness - we are cruising in winter in the Pacific - not sure what to expect,, but does anyone have experience with dog "sick as a dog?" what do you do? give a quarter Bonine (Asta is 12 lbs).

 

walking - what about exercise? Asta enjoys a bit of a walk, and typically pees along the way to make her mark.... what do you do about this? Papers towels and Nature's Miracle?:o

 

thanks so much!

 

(BTW, will be happy to report on Cunard's potty facility, but we'll also be taking a puphead for the balcony)

 

Laura from San Francisco

 

Having never been on Cunard but you may have a problem with her peeing

because almost everything is carpeted:o

[Laura-SF]

LOL! She is not that bad!... was thinking more about walking on the outdoor deck.

[PennyAgain]

Service dogs are trained to potty on command and in the correct and allowed places. Peering on deck is absolutely not going to be tolerated.

 

Contact the trainer of the service dog to find out how this dog was trained and how to bring back that level of training.

 

The frozen food is going to be a big issue and will require an agreement with Cunard as they will not let any passenger food (or dog's food) to go into the ship's freezers.

[guitarest]

Just in case I get too busy tomorrow Blitz and I want to wish all a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving and for those Shopaholics have a Great Black Friday.....

 

[PennyAgain]

Thank you. What a handsome pair!