[nagdu] Report on my travels to Mexico with Loyal

[Ioana Gandrabur]

Hello everyone,

Hope my message finds you well and spring is giving you a nice energy boost.
Some time ago I received valuable insight from the list about traveling to Mexico with my guide dog and I thought I would give you an update on how it went.
I found after some searching the official website of the Mexican embassy about importing pets. Meeting all their requirements made the control at the airport very smooth. Took about 20 minutes. 
Here is the link for anyone interested:
http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/canada_eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3938&Itemid=41
My biggest concern was that they officially do not allow you to bring your own food. I found out about stores that carry Loyal<s food but brought mine anyway and they made an exception. BUt they recommend that you bring the food in original packaging for even better chances of success.
Now about the trip itself, I stayed in 3 hotels and went to many restaurants and never had an access issue. This might have something to do with the fact that I was traveling with an official team of the music festival organizers. I have to say that most room service people were scared of Loyal and very hesitant to come in the room when we were there, even when he was on leash.
Loyal was incredible! Stayed through hours of judging an international competition pretty much without a sound. Best news for me was that he stayed backstage without wining when I performed my concerts. I hope it will stay that way and not that he was too tired to care. I think that the fact that I brought his mat everywhere I performed might have helped to make him feel safe.
It is in any case good to know that he can deal with long days of teaching judging in competitions and ending with concerts where he has to be quiet  and after concert late dinners. Poor dog did not get much walking but I made sure we played a bit but he was too tired even to play too much at the end of a long day.
Guiding was outstanding on almost non-existent sidewalks at time. No relieving issues either although often there was just cement available. In time the other participants of the festival learned to trust his guiding and stopped freaking out at any potential difficulty like over-heads or stairs. 
He ended up being the mascot of the festival and got quite some publicity even on tv. 

Flying went ok but given that I had 7 hours wait time I made sure I could relieve him twice and actually fed him since the trip took 20 hours.
Well, hope this helps someone and thanks for following my story about our adventures.

Take care,

Ioana