[nagdu] RE Air Travel with Guide Dogs

[Elizabeth Rene]

I'm writing, after a long silence, because I think that coast-to-coast 
flights can be especially challenging to older guides.  I've had several 
guides, and I find that the older ones need to go outside more often to 
urinate, even when inactive.  When I've ended a long flight with an older 
guide, say from Seattle to Atlanta, my dog has been desperate.  He'd been 
relieved just before the flight, had had minimal water and food, and had 
taken a nonstop, red-eye flight to simulate a night's rest.  All the same 
...

I felt compelled to hand my guide over to a TSA officer to take onto the 
tarmac at the gate so Wilson could relieve while I waited inside, just to be 
humane.  That's something I would never recommend to another.  No one should 
be forced to separate from their guide dog.  Nonetheless, I saw no 
alternative.

Pet stores do sell training pads for puppies and sick dogs.  These are 
scented with pheromones that supposedly ease a dog's use of them for 
relieving inside when needful.  They can be laid out on the floor in an 
accessible bathroom stall during an airport lay-over, and, theoretically, a 
dog can be trained to use them in a pinch.  Then these soiled pads can go 
the way of dirty disposable diapers.

I'd purchased some of these for Wilson's longer flights, but he wouldn't 
even step on them.

Training pads might be the answer to having to go through the nightmare of 
repeated airport security checks on long trips.  But I'd recommend starting 
early in the guide's career to get her used to them.

Just a thought.

But here's a question about guide dog air travel that I've never seen 
discussed.

What about taking a guide down the emergency slide in the event of 
emergency?  The instructions are there in the seat packet, but with seconds 
in the balance, is this the time to learn?

God forbid that this event should befall a guide dog team, but I wonder if 
we shouldn't be ready.

Are any guide dog instructors or school board members out there reading this 
list who've pondered the question of emergency exit training?

Thanks.

Elizabeth