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

[DUTRAVEL]

Oh, puppies and eagles! :)

 

This has been the hardest thing for me. I really am a softy and was letting him do things he shouldn't, like pull and wander. I just didn't want to be "mean". So we are getting there!

 

Of course I have to post a photo!

 

 

 

Holly

 

Jagger is so handsome. I also am a bit of a softy and I have to remind myself to be tougher and correct Henri. That is definitely the hardest thing to do.

 

Dianne

[wizard-of-roz]

I loved our Alaskan cruise onboard the Golden Princess. I think in one of my past lives I was an Inuit Indian.

 

The tram in Skagway is a must so you can see the eagles and their nests. Also you can visit the Inuit's displays and talks.

 

I haven't taken Horton there yet......It will have to be something he gets to do one day.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! It's going to be 85 degrees here in L.A. Well, we did have 2 weeks of winter with some rain. We're such wimps when it comes to WEATHER!!!! :cool:

[Algebralovr]

Meet Scooter!

 

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B7g8fkSeGGFsb3BMblBqRXJYTXM/edit

 

He is 3/4 Golden Lab, 1/4 Chow. He is mild tempered and seems quite motivated by food.

[thephantomsgirl]

Oh what a cutie!!!!

[Caribbean Chris]

Meet Scooter!

 

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B7g8fkSeGGFsb3BMblBqRXJYTXM/edit

 

He is 3/4 Golden Lab, 1/4 Chow. He is mild tempered and seems quite motivated by food.

 

Hi, Scooter! You are a precious pup!

[Algebralovr]

Hi, Scooter! You are a precious pup!

He would say thanks, but he is worn out and sleeping at my feet.

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[thephantomsgirl]

Jagger and I went to the Deland, Florida Annual Dog Parade. This year's theme was Patriotic Pups. It was a great time. It started pouring a bit after the parade, but the weather up until then was great.

 

Jagger picked up a small decal for me and gave it to me! I'm so excited as one of the things we have been working on is retrievals. As you know, thin paper or materials are so hard for them to get. He kept at it until he got it. He got a BIG "good job" and a treat. :)

 

Things are going much better for us as a team-to-be.

 

And of course, as you all know...I love posting photos. Here's the album on FB that has many of the parade photos:

 

https://www.facebook.com/hollysumner.ff/media_set?set=a.10153398753518543&type=3&pnref=story

 

I'll add the one photo I have of Jagger and me from the parade. You can barely see Jagger:

 

 

 

Holly

Edited February 7, 2016 by thephantomsgirl

[alexspepa]

OK...I know this is not normally a sports thread, but Lucy wanted to remind everyone;

 

GO PANTHERS!

[thephantomsgirl]

OK...I know this is not normally a sports thread, but Lucy wanted to remind everyone;

 

GO PANTHERS!

 

I want to see the Wiener commercial! :D

[Caribbean Chris]

OK...I know this is not normally a sports thread, but Lucy wanted to remind everyone;

 

GO PANTHERS!

 

As always, Keith - you said it!! KEEP POUNDING!

[Caribbean Chris]

Holly, great news that things are going well! You and Jagger are going to make a great team.

[thephantomsgirl]

Holly, great news that things are going well! You and Jagger are going to make a great team.

 

Thank you Chris! :)

[rangeley]

We're baccck. Had a great cruise. The ship was beautiful. Ended up driving into airport at 3am as our ride didn't come. Got there as they were boarding. Told we couldn't check our luggage cuz it was to late. John threw a fit and they let us check it. Ship was very accessible except for cleaning carts in the skinny hallways. I must have moved a hundred of them.

Potty box was right down the hall in a crew area. Convenient but not accessible for John at all. The door was huge and so heavy I could barely open it. The woman in charge tried to switch us to a balcony but that didn't work out. We dealt with it. The bedding was for hampster cage and I had the fake grass. Wex hated it!!! We actually had problems getting him to go. He pooped only a few times. When we got to St Thomas they got grass and it was like he jumped for joy. Next time big balcony and grass if I have to rip it up myself. I guess Miami has no grass, not sure what the deal was.

This was our first inside cabin. It was pretty good size and we managed fine. I'll post pics at the end.

As usual the crew were the worst with the dog. Calling him, waving, making noises. John offered on next cruise to enlighten them with a demo. Toward the end we got sick of hearing about everyone's dogs, dead or alive. Lol

Good ride home. Bulkhead on American sucks!! The flight attendants were nasty. Poor Wex couldn't even curl up. Nothing but Jetblue for us.

[wizard-of-roz]

He would say thanks, but he is worn out and sleeping at my feet.

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

Scooter is going to make someone fall madly in love with him! Have fun with him......he looks like he's going to be a very big boy!!!!

[wizard-of-roz]

We're baccck. Had a great cruise. The ship was beautiful. Ended up driving into airport at 3am as our ride didn't come. Got there as they were boarding. Told we couldn't check our luggage cuz it was to late. John threw a fit and they let us check it. Ship was very accessible except for cleaning carts in the skinny hallways. I must have moved a hundred of them.

Potty box was right down the hall in a crew area. Convenient but not accessible for John at all. The door was huge and so heavy I could barely open it. The woman in charge tried to switch us to a balcony but that didn't work out. We dealt with it. The bedding was for hampster cage and I had the fake grass. Wex hated it!!! We actually had problems getting him to go. He pooped only a few times. When we got to St Thomas they got grass and it was like he jumped for joy. Next time big balcony and grass if I have to rip it up myself. I guess Miami has no grass, not sure what the deal was.

This was our first inside cabin. It was pretty good size and we managed fine. I'll post pics at the end.

As usual the crew were the worst with the dog. Calling him, waving, making noises. John offered on next cruise to enlighten them with a demo. Toward the end we got sick of hearing about everyone's dogs, dead or alive. Lol

Good ride home. Bulkhead on American sucks!! The flight attendants were nasty. Poor Wex couldn't even curl up. Nothing but Jetblue for us.

 

Cindy, sounds like you had a few hiccups but just like me......I power my way through them and try to have as good a trip as I can. Poor Wexy and the potty box issue. You can only hold it in for so long!!!!!

 

So, you brought artificial turf and Wexy refused to use it? In spite of it all you say you had a great cruise!

 

American Airlines bulk-head is not so great, uh!

 

Thanks for the heads up. Welcome Home!!!!

[Krypti]

Great information here. Thank you!

 

I have a question about drinking water for dogs, though. I'm from Arizona, where we have really hard, low-quality water. When my service dog was a puppy, he ate something he shouldn't have, and it scarred up his stomach and esophagus. He's on a gentle diet of oatmeal and raw ground beef that I'm going to have to pre-make for him before we cruise next year, and I'll have to request a refrigerator for it.

 

However, he's also sensitive to water. He'll drink anything, but unless it's water he's used to drinking, he'll just barf it back up.

 

He currently drinks tap water that goes through our home reverse osmosis system (not a filter-pitcher, but a full under the sink unit). I can get him slowly accustomed to drinking bottled water, but this will only help if I can bring the bottled water onboard. And since he's 95 pounds (chow/golden mix), he's going to need quite a lot of it.

 

We're cruising on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. I've looked up their beverage policy, and they seem to have zero tolerance for bringing water onboard. Reports from cruisers, however, imply that this policy is rarely enforced. Some cruisers say you can get around it by carrying your water in a carry-on bag and letting the security inspectors shake each bottle. Others say you can pack water in your checked baggage or put a luggage check on the flat packs.

 

Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

It's a pain in the butt having a service dog with a sensitive stomach, but he's otherwise wonderful, even if he's getting on in years!

[wizard-of-roz]

Jagger and I went to the Deland, Florida Annual Dog Parade. This year's theme was Patriotic Pups. It was a great time. It started pouring a bit after the parade, but the weather up until then was great.

 

Jagger picked up a small decal for me and gave it to me! I'm so excited as one of the things we have been working on is retrievals. As you know, thin paper or materials are so hard for them to get. He kept at it until he got it. He got a BIG "good job" and a treat. :)

 

Things are going much better for us as a team-to-be.

 

And of course, as you all know...I love posting photos. Here's the album on FB that has many of the parade photos:

 

https://www.facebook.com/hollysumner.ff/media_set?set=a.10153398753518543&type=3&pnref=story

 

I'll add the one photo I have of Jagger and me from the parade. You can barely see Jagger:

 

 

 

Holly

 

Good work Jagger! Before you know it, you and your Mom will be cruising together! ;)

[wizard-of-roz]

Great information here. Thank you!

 

I have a question about drinking water for dogs, though. I'm from Arizona, where we have really hard, low-quality water. When my service dog was a puppy, he ate something he shouldn't have, and it scarred up his stomach and esophagus. He's on a gentle diet of oatmeal and raw ground beef that I'm going to have to pre-make for him before we cruise next year, and I'll have to request a refrigerator for it.

 

However, he's also sensitive to water. He'll drink anything, but unless it's water he's used to drinking, he'll just barf it back up.

 

He currently drinks tap water that goes through our home reverse osmosis system (not a filter-pitcher, but a full under the sink unit). I can get him slowly accustomed to drinking bottled water, but this will only help if I can bring the bottled water onboard. And since he's 95 pounds (chow/golden mix), he's going to need quite a lot of it.

 

We're cruising on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. I've looked up their beverage policy, and they seem to have zero tolerance for bringing water onboard. Reports from cruisers, however, imply that this policy is rarely enforced. Some cruisers say you can get around it by carrying your water in a carry-on bag and letting the security inspectors shake each bottle. Others say you can pack water in your checked baggage or put a luggage check on the flat packs.

 

Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

It's a pain in the butt having a service dog with a sensitive stomach, but he's otherwise wonderful, even if he's getting on in years!

 

Those eyes, those wonderful eyes!!!!

 

I'm so sorry about the stomach issues. On every cruise line we've ever cruised on, including RCCL, my DH brought 2 large jugs of water. Sometimes he would bring 2 flats from Costco. He would wrap them tightly with packing tape, he'd place two luggage tags on them and drop them at the pier with our luggage. They ALWAYS made it to our cabin along with the rest of our luggage.

 

I must say that the water onboard the different ships is really very good. I spoke to the Vet about this and he just gave me a raised eyebrow and a wave of his hand, while saying, "nonsense!"

 

The water onboard is filtered and after my DH passed and I continued to cruise with my dog, I discontinued the schlepping of the water onboard [it was a true bone of contention between us, I really never saw the need to bring water onboard, and I've since used the ships water.] After 9 cruises with my dog drinking only the ships water, he shows no signs of stomach or other health issues.

 

Your dog comes with health issues so I suppose you MUST use bottled water.

[Host Walt]

Great information here. Thank you!

 

...He currently drinks tap water that goes through our home reverse osmosis system (not a filter-pitcher, but a full under the sink unit). I can get him slowly accustomed to drinking bottled water, but this will only help if I can bring the bottled water onboard. And since he's 95 pounds (chow/golden mix), he's going to need quite a lot of it....

 

Most ships employ RO systems for all on board water. Obviously there are likely to be other characteristics, such as taste, that could bother your dog, but at least you probably won't need bottled water.

 

It's worth the time to call your cruise line to see what they can tell you about the on board drinking water.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Host Walt

[rangeley]

Krypti, We have always used the ship's water with no problem. You might want to ask your vet about it.

 

And your dog is beautiful! !!

[DUTRAVEL]

Meet Scooter!

 

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B7g8fkSeGGFsb3BMblBqRXJYTXM/edit

 

He is 3/4 Golden Lab, 1/4 Chow. He is mild tempered and seems quite motivated by food.

 

Really adorable!

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

Jagger and I went to the Deland, Florida Annual Dog Parade. This year's theme was Patriotic Pups. It was a great time. It started pouring a bit after the parade, but the weather up until then was great.

 

 

Holly

 

So glad that things are coming along with Jagger - I hope you get to have him with you full-time soon.

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

We're baccck. Had a great cruise. The ship was beautiful. Ended up driving into airport at 3am as our ride didn't come. Got there as they were boarding. Told we couldn't check our luggage cuz it was to late. John threw a fit and they let us check it. Ship was very accessible except for cleaning carts in the skinny hallways. I must have moved a hundred of them.

 

Glad that you enjoyed the cruise Cindy. I hate those carts in the hallways - so hard to get around and there is one every ten feet! I don't understand why it is so hard to get the potty box in a good location, even if you have someone to help you, you need to be able to get to it if you are in a wheelchair. We have an extra large aft balcony on our Panama cruise in October, I hope they let us have the box there.

 

That's disappointing about American. JetBlue was great for us too. I am trying to figure out a good alternative for us to get from Fort Lauderdale to SFO since the JetBlue flight is too early. I don't want to be stuck on a six-hour flight with no room for Henri.

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

Great information here. Thank you!

 

I have a question about drinking water for dogs, though. I'm from Arizona, where we have really hard, low-quality water. When my service dog was a puppy, he ate something he shouldn't have, and it scarred up his stomach and esophagus. He's on a gentle diet of oatmeal and raw ground beef that I'm going to have to pre-make for him before we cruise next year, and I'll have to request a refrigerator for it.

 

However, he's also sensitive to water. He'll drink anything, but unless it's water he's used to drinking, he'll just barf it back up.

 

He currently drinks tap water that goes through our home reverse osmosis system (not a filter-pitcher, but a full under the sink unit). I can get him slowly accustomed to drinking bottled water, but this will only help if I can bring the bottled water onboard. And since he's 95 pounds (chow/golden mix), he's going to need quite a lot of it.

 

We're cruising on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas. I've looked up their beverage policy, and they seem to have zero tolerance for bringing water onboard. Reports from cruisers, however, imply that this policy is rarely enforced. Some cruisers say you can get around it by carrying your water in a carry-on bag and letting the security inspectors shake each bottle. Others say you can pack water in your checked baggage or put a luggage check on the flat packs.

 

Does anyone else have experience with this?

 

It's a pain in the butt having a service dog with a sensitive stomach, but he's otherwise wonderful, even if he's getting on in years!

 

I have not sailed on Royal Caribbean; Celebrity let's you bring all of the bottled water that you want. If you can't bring you own water on board, you might try to contact the ship that you are going to sail on and find out what kind of bottled water that they have. You could try the same brand at home and see if your dog tolerates it. You might also try contacting the special needs department and see if they will make an exception in your case and let you bring on water for your dog.

 

Dianne

[wizard-of-roz]

Water: When I went to my first Team Training before I got a Service Dog, I was watching the various trainers out and about with different dogs and I watched what and where the dogs got their water from. There were buckets that stayed next to the water nozzles and hoses outside of the training buildings. A lot of different dogs slobbered in them, some had grass on their faces, some had mud and some had pooh [after all, there were older and younger dogs who were offered this water at different times of the day.]

 

I thought in my head, Oh! My! Gosh! How unhealthy was that water? Can you imagine the crud that these dogs were drinking? And, they eventually grew up, were trained and came home with us!

 

Then I would watch my husband go insane when Brenda's water bowl had some saliva in it or I hadn't washed it enough and, then I told him I wasn't going to give her Successor bottled water. That my next Service Dog was going to drink from the faucet. He practically had a "hissy fit!"

 

Well, I've had Horton since 2011, he is now 6 years old and he's only had water from the faucet. He drinks from the faucet when we're cruising, while at work and when we're traveling. I'm knocking on wood as I say this, but, he's been very healthy and has had NO stomach issues!!!!! I hope he lives a long, long and healthy life!!!!