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

[gharter]

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".

I have no issue with people who have true service animals with them in the park. Its easy to tell a true service animal. They are the best trained animal. You don't even realize they are there. One of my partners had a service dog and he was amazing.
I compare that to the pet wearing a purchased "service animal" vest that barks and runs around on the leash.

 

[LadybugsMum]

This was just posted: https://www.disboards.com/threads/faa-changes-service-dog-and-esa-flight-rules.3819575/

 

[skeeter31]

This was just posted: https://www.disboards.com/threads/faa-changes-service-dog-and-esa-flight-rules.3819575/

It’s like they read this thread!

 

[nw6675]

It’s like they read this thread!

Lol, I came to post it, too! This was the first thing I thought of!

 

[linco711]

Yesterday we flew on 3 separate flights, and on each flight, there were a couple of little dogs flying with their owners On the first flight, the people had an"Emotional Support Animal" sign attached to the leash, but then when they were waiting for the flight, chatting with another couple, they were bragging "Oh no, she's not an Emotional Support dog, just our pet, we've had her for years" And on another flight, no vest of any kind, the lady had the little dog sitting on her lap throughout the entire flight And in the airports it seemed that we saw more dog relief areas than before, and they were ofter an area between the men's and women's rest rooms

Seriously?? Obviously you’re not a pet owner. Some of us think of our pets as family. Actually, they’re much kinder then people these days.

 

[Lilsia]

Seriously?? Obviously you’re not a pet owner. Some of us think of our pets as family. Actually, they’re much kinder then people these days.

I am going to respond. I AM a pet owner and I love my pets very much. But I love them enough to not put them through the stress of travelling with them. To me, that is selfish of the human to do so. There are a few animals that can travel well, but many do not and it stresses them out. There is no reason to bring your dog with you to someplace like WDW to just sit in the strange, small hotel room all day while you are at the parks. I try to give people that are travelling with their pet the benefit of the doubt that they need to take their animal with them because of a move, or some other legitimate reason. But true service dogs are trained in these circumstance to be able to handle this. Pets are not. On my trip to WDW this last Oct, I stayed at the Yacht Club and saw two families with their little dogs(that looked like the one in your picture) start fighting out in the porte cochere as the families where packing up to leave. They had their young children in charge of the dogs(which is irresponsible) and they could not control them and they went at it. These obviously where not service animals. If you want to travel with your pet, then they need to be properly trained. We are seeing these necessary rules going into place because owners are irresponsible in not training the dogs that they are travelling with. I think a lot of owners need to step back and look at what is best for their animal, and not be selfish in wanting to keep their "family" with them at all times.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Seriously?? Obviously you’re not a pet owner. Some of us think of our pets as family. Actually, they’re much kinder then people these days.

I guess you'd be shocked to know that I am a pet owner who loves my pets However, I hate when people disobey rules (blame it on my being a teacher, where teaching obeying rules is part of our job)

 

[JimMIA]

Well, whether you love to see dogs in airplanes or hate it, the rules are changing Jan 1. The FAA is changing the rules for service animals (expanding access to include psychiatric service dogs) and emotional support animals (airlines will be allowed to restrict them to cargo holds, charge fees for them, or both).

It's like anything else -- abuse the system enough and the system eventually responds.

It's not yet clear how it's all going to shake out with the airlines, but the legal framework is definitely changing, and I suspect the puppy population on flights will be dramatically reduced.

There's a thread on it on this Transportation Board.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/faa-changes-service-dog-and-esa-flight-rules.3819575/

 

[Dis703]

Funny you mention this as my boyfriend just asked me the same question. He flew up to spend Thanksgiving with me and he said there were at least 4-5 dogs on his flight. I've never seen more than one myself, so I was surprised to hear there were so many on one flight alone.

I agree there is a bit of an entitlement issue to it. More than once I've seen people with their pocket pets allow them to run around the airport before or after a flight. They think it's adorable so they assume everyone else does as well. Drives me nuts even as an animal lover. There are enough things to deal with when traveling. Pets, mine or anyone elses, aren't something I'd want to add to it.

 

[Dis703]

Seriously?? Obviously you’re not a pet owner. Some of us think of our pets as family. Actually, they’re much kinder then people these days.

As a lifelong pet owner and animal lover, I think lying about your pet being an emotional support dog, or trying to take your pet everywhere even when it might annoy others is a crappy thing to do.