since when did it become a "thing" to travel with your dog?

[Elle23]

I guess I’m the odd one out, but I thought we hit the jackpot yesterday when we got to sit behind a dog on our flight home. We even got to boop his nose when he stuck his head between the seats to look at us.

As long as they are well behaved, what does it matter?

 

[Heather07438]

If I want to pay to take my 8 lb dog on a flight, pay the extra and stay in a pet friendly hotel and my dog is well behaved (doesn't bark and disturb others, house broke etc) and I clean up after it, then as long as it's legal and those places allow it, then why not?

I agree with that. My mom used to travel with her min-pin to come visit her family for the holidays and probably wouldn't have if the dog was unable to join the flight. She paid tho. It was almost as expensive as her ticket to bring her dog.

The difference with the ACAA is that there cannot be any fees where support pets are concerned. Emotional support pets fall under this category. Unfortunately this encourages certain people to abuse the law either to skirt the fee or just make life more convenient for themselves.
The proposed rule making made early in 2020-
https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...0-01546/traveling-by-air-with-service-animals
This is also playing out in the rental market where it is not uncommon to either have a lease state no animals, or an added fee monthly for animals. Using laws intended to help those with ESPs, unscrupulous people can skirt the rental fees and even the owner's right to decide whether they'd like to allow renters pets or not.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

I unexpectedly flew with an emotional support animal and her owner. I happened to be in the front row with the extra leg room. The owner took the window seat and I had the aisle. I had to get up and let them board. The dog was a pit bull or pit bull mix and was huge! She had to back into the row in order to be comfortable and lie down. She could not turn around in that small space, so there was one way in and one way out. The dog was calm and sweet and lay down with her head resting on my feet. There really wasn't room for any other way to settle and the owner got to figure out what to do with her feet at the back end of the dog.

The flight was only an hour or so and was uneventful. The dog was a dream. The owner, on the other hand, was high strung and complained the whole time about something the flight attendant had said. It was a poor choice of words when talking about boarding the dog and she sincerely apologized, but the owner could not let it go. She put up a stink and wanted to get off the plane, threatened to call her lawyer, did call the lawyer when we were in the air, etc. She was obnoxious to say the least and I left that flight feeling very sorry for that sweet dog.

 

[dez1978]

I unexpectedly flew with an emotional support animal and her owner. I happened to be in the front row with the extra leg room. The owner took the window seat and I had the aisle. I had to get up and let them board. The dog was a pit bull or pit bull mix and was huge! She had to back into the row in order to be comfortable and lie down. She could not turn around in that small space, so there was one way in and one way out. The dog was calm and sweet and lay down with her head resting on my feet. There really wasn't room for any other way to settle and the owner got to figure out what to do with her feet at the back end of the dog.

The flight was only an hour or so and was uneventful. The dog was a dream. The owner, on the other hand, was high strung and complained the whole time about something the flight attendant had said. It was a poor choice of words when talking about boarding the dog and she sincerely apologized, but the owner could not let it go. She put up a stink and wanted to get off the plane, threatened to call her lawyer, did call the lawyer when we were in the air, etc. She was obnoxious to say the least and I left that flight feeling very sorry for that sweet dog.

See, dogs are so much better than people. I'd rather be on a flight full of dogs than humans lol

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

See, dogs are so much better than people. I'd rather be on a flight full of dogs than humans lol

You wouldn't want to be on a flight with my dog! LOL! He's a 5lb toy poodle and he's a whiner and a crier. He's all excited to go for a ride and then we back out of the driveway and it starts. Ugh. All of a sudden he realizes he has no idea where we are going and starts that worried whimpering, crying routine. It's heartbreaking and annoying all at the same time. As soon as he sees we are heading home, it all stops and he calms down and enjoys the ride. That said, I would never, ever take him on a plane, for my sake and everyone else's.

 

[Woodview]

Taking dogs & cats on planes has been going on for many years , at least 18 years since we saw this.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I had to chuckle when the standards I read on the first page here said that "documentation may be required for Emotional Support animals" Really? What kind of documentation? One of those service vests that you can buy on Ebay?
And yes, the only thing that frosts me about calling pets "Emotional Support" animals is the lack of fee When we moved (3000 miles), we flew with our 3 cats and paid dearly to fly them and keep them in carriers the whole trip Fortunately the company reimbursed us the fee, otherwise I'd wish we had called them "Emotional Support Animals" so they could fly for free

 

[KrazeeK120]

Here's my 2 cents which I figure will prob not be popular. If I want to pay to take my 8 lb dog on a flight, pay the extra and stay in a pet friendly hotel and my dog is well behaved (doesn't bark and disturb others, house broke etc) and I clean up after it, then as long as it's legal and those places allow it, then why not? I def do NOT agree with ppl who fake service/emotional support animals. They ruin it for the ppl who legit need them. I get that dogs might make some people uncomfortable, but if my dog is curled up on my lap, in a carrier or whatever, if you are that uncomfortable around a dog that you would freak out about that, you probably need some counseling. As long as what I am doing is not offensive (racist, cussing etc) then it's not my job to make everyone comfortable. And again, I know that won't be popular either. I'm not saying that it's ok to be rude or be a jerk, please don't think that. But it's also not ok for your sensibilities to infringe upon everyone else.

For what it's worth, I've never traveled with any of my dogs bc they are a pain in my butt lol. My small one would bark at everything and my pit bull, while she's the goodest girl in the whole wide world, I don't want to deal with peoples dirty looks bc "OMG its a Pitbull!!"

I totally agree. As long as you’re following all of the rules, the dog isn’t a disturbance to others, and the dog isn’t in distress, I don’t have any issues with that, nor should anyone else.

 

[Sandiz08]

If kennels are closed, I can see why more people are taking their pets with them. That being said, we do not like taking our dog on vacation, just more work for us. She is a member of our family, but not everyone may want her around at a family members house, hotel, etc. It cost money to travel with your dog too, so we might as well leave her at Camp Bow wow where she can socialize with other dogs.

 

[GingerPilot]

My dog, who is 12 months old, travels wonderfully. She hasn’t been on an airline flight but she flies in our personal airplane (little) and work airplane (private jet). I would happily pay for an airline seat for her if it was allowed. But she’s been on planes since she was 8 weeks old and when we take her in public she is picture perfect. It’s all about the dog and what behavior they exhibit. If they’re good, let em fly (with a fee), and if they’re bad then they have to go. I love seeing well behaved doggos on my flights, it makes everything so happy!

 

[spiders]

I don’t see a situation outside of moving where I would ever travel with my pets. With that being said, as long as they are clean and well behaved then I couldn’t care less if there are cats/dogs on board.

Some people smell much worse yet they aren’t thrown off. Airplanes are just another form of public transportation and you get the good and the bad with it.

 

[Tigger1]

People should have to prove the animal is a service animal (or one in professional training). I saw "service animals in the parks over the last few years. The owners did not appear to be in need of such animal in the parks (In MY opinion, emotional need does not count in the parks).
Where do the pets go potty? Where do they go in rain storms.

As far as flying, I thought they had to stay under the seat (small dogs only). I do understand that these pets get very lonely when the owner is away. Overall, happy they can take their pet. Just as long as they do not fake the reasoning.

 

[Befferk]

(1) People should have to prove the animal is a service animal (or one in professional training). I saw "service animals in the parks over the last few years. The owners did not appear to be in need of such animal in the parks (In MY opinion, emotional need does not count in the parks).

(2) Where do the pets go potty?

1. I have a friend that has a service dog, you'd never know by looking at him, but has a serious medical condition that comes on quickly and has to take medicine immediately, and the dog can sense it before he does and alerts him to take his medicine before it's an emergency. Many have the same for seizures, and these people look completely "normal".

2. I could be wrong, but I do believe Disney has designated animal relief areas for them to go potty? I swear I've seen them on a map somewhere.

 

[CanucksRock]

I love my dog to death... but when I’m on vacation, I don’t have the time to provide the attention he needs. So he stays with my Mom, or if I’m travelling with her at an amazing dog boarding/daycare that is crate optional (which is good- because he’s been anti-kennel since he was a puppy)

I always feel bad for the dogs I see at WDW - especially in summer with the ground being extremely hot.

 

[Makmak]

Prob unpopular opinion, but as a few others stated emotional support animals are not guaranteed the same rights as a service dog. Some businesses choose to recognize them but I think it’s garbage. I teach and have had students with service animals for various reasons. That led to other students saying “oh I can bring my dog to class!” And I said no you cannot. A person with a documented disability can bring a service animal anywhere. And they furiously googled on their phones (as students do nowadays) -“and one girl yelled “you are not allowed to ask! We can bring our dogs and you will get fired if you ask!” So I literally got my phone and called the ADA office on speaker and the very kind lady explained the law, what can be asked (does a person with a documented disability depend on a service this animal performs? What service does it provide?) and that they DO NOT cover emotional support animals. The lady also said the law was made a long time ago when the only service dogs were for blind people so it was pretty obvious what was going on and she said the law needs to be changed. I am currently working with lawmakers on my state to set limits and certification standards to make sure my students that DEPEND on their service animals are not treated poorly by those that selfishly abuse the current rules. I’ve even had reports from my nurse friends that work in the labor and delivery unit that women bring “emotional support” dogs to the hospital while in labor and the nurses are like “who’s going to take it outside to relieve itself??” And the patient expects the nurses to do that......insanity
Edited bc autocorrect sucks

 

[Lilsia]

It must be more popular now because on my trip last month, both of my flights had big dogs on them. On my first flight, there were 2 big dogs that got on. The first one on got the seat up front, that had the most leg room(this is a Southwest flight). But the second person with a big dog made a huge stink about not being able to sit up there since they were all full already with handicapped and the other dog. She was ranting and raving how she was just going to let her dog take up the whole row so that it could be comfortable. On my flight home there was another big dog that took up most of the leg room of the stranger next to them. Planes are not set up to accommodate big dogs. If it starts to encroach on the person next to them, then you should have to pay for 2 seats or even the row, just like they do with bigger people. Everyone is entitled to the use of their space that they paid for without either a person or a dog in your space. I just kept thinking, what if the person accidently stepped on the dog and it bit them. There needs to be a better way then how it is set up now.

 

[Marthasor]

You are assuming that people are taking their dogs on a vacation. There are plenty of reasons people may take a dog on a flight. Perhaps they are moving or going to a second home for an extended period of time. Perhaps they have just purchased a dog from a kennel far from their home (a friend of mine flew to TX from NY to pick up her dog). Or, maybe they ARE vacationing with their dog. As long as they are following airline rules, who cares? This reminds me of the threads where people tell others not to bring their children to WDW signature restaurants even though it is absolutely allowed.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've flown with cats twice now. First time I was bringing my son's cat to him in Fl, from Mass. Paid about $125 to fly that cat one way. Second time was two years ago, my dd was moving home from Orlando, to Mass. We had her cat with us. Again, another hefty charge for the cat. Both times, the cat was kept in a carrier, okayed by the airline, beneath the seat at my feet. The first time I flew down I tried to get a seat way to the rear of the cabin, so as to not bother anyone. When I got to the gate, I realized that there were going to be plenty of people around me (had checked the seating chart that morning). When I asked the gate attendant if I could move to the empty row at the very back of the cabin, she says "What, don't you like people? Do you have an issue??" Ah, no. I have a cat, I would like to be as little bother to others as possible, especially someone who may have an allergy to cat dander! Oh, she said. I ended up in an empty row, no one across from me, or in the seat above the cat carrier, but there was a couple seated directly in front of me...seats B and C. I asked if they had any cat issues....they thanked me, and said no. That poor cat yowled upon take-off and then landing, that was it.

When we flew with my dd's cat, she cried a bit at the gate, but settled quite nicely on the flight. Again, we asked if anyone around us had cat issues.

I have seen far too many little dogs being allowed to be out of their carriers, both on the flight as well as in the terminal. One dog, at MCO, in a ladies room, was given free roaming...scared the bejeebers out of an older lady!! The 'policy' is supposed to be that animals are kept in their carriers, unless toileting.
People have taken advantage of this whole thing.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

People should have to prove the animal is a service animal (or one in professional training). I saw "service animals in the parks over the last few years. The owners did not appear to be in need of such animal in the parks (In MY opinion, emotional need does not count in the parks).
Where do the pets go potty? Where do they go in rain storms.

As far as flying, I thought they had to stay under the seat (small dogs only). I do understand that these pets get very lonely when the owner is away. Overall, happy they can take their pet. Just as long as they do not fake the reasoning.

did you think of dogs that alert on medical conditions that you cant see like diabetes. and yes there are places at Disney for the animals to potty. is it any different for dog at Disney if it rains than if it rains and they are out at home. service dogs do not have to fit under the seat not joking but how would you put a miniature horse under a seat? check the ADA flying rules

 

[DVC-Don]

Just yesterday I was flying from Albany, NY to Orlando, FL when a fight broke out in the gate area in Albany between two small dogs. What a racket!