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

[fairbourne]

Thank you so much. I am so blessed to have him. So my fiancé who also has a Service Dog and I are planning on getting married on a cruise out of Florida and this would be both of our first times cruising with our SD. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

 

Nplaceres - Congratulations on your upcoming wedding .... Now don't be following these guys on here and make your wonderful service dogs wear some stupid outfits! I'm only kidding ;):), I think boy dogs look wonderful in their "tuxes", so handsome.

 

We are blessed aren't we to have our dogs, but I'm truly sorry that you had a situation which necessitated you to have a service dog. It brings home to me what brave young people we have in this world, thank you for what you have done for your country and mine in helping to make this world safer for all of us. :):)

 

And do let us know how the wedding plans go, photos would be appreciated! :D

[fairbourne]

A picture tells a thousand words .... I just love dogs' expressions - a dog's facial expression is priceless and worth every one of those thousand words. Ok I exaggerate but you know what I mean!

 

Aruba is doing well, she had her 16 week inoculation last week (an extra one that guide dogs do) and didn't even notice - didn't like the doggy treat the vet gave her for being a good girl, actually sniffed at it and looked at him as if to say "is that IT Mr? I usually get a big biscuit from the nice lady behind the desk out there!" She took a bit of persuading to eat it! Guess she wasn't too keen on him!

 

She is so much better now with her walking. We go with the "big dogs" and she bounces along, sniffing it all in, and only grabs her lead in her mouth when we are almost home. She's on the second last notch of her baby collar, so we need to go collar shopping. I did get adult collars from the guide dog people but they are still way too big for her. I rather fancy a nice red collar, much prettier for a girl dog than the boring old brown leather and would be very smart with her black coat.

 

If we could only stop her from picking everything up - I didn't notice she had an empty packet of cigarettes in her mouth the other day. Now we live in the countryside, rarely any litter, but there are some builders doing some work nearby where we go walking and you wouldn't believe how these guys have so little respect and just chuck their litter out of their vans! Makes me so cross. She picked it up - she's quite good at the stealth picking up, quite sneaky - but thankfully I spotted it (remember I'm still trying not to look at her as we walk along!) and grabbed it out of her mouth. I chucked it back at them into the back of their pick em up truck! I can be sneaky too!!!

 

 

Yesterday I could have seen her far enough!

 

 

I had bought a new iron and having unpacked it from its big box (we all know how much packaging everything has these days) I took it through to the kitchen, returning approximately 10 seconds later to move the empty box and polystyrene packaging in it. Oh yes, you've guessed! Miss Aruba the Tink, had pinched a piece of the polystyrene packaging and had settled herself down in Max's bed to eat it! I grabbed it off her and rushed her to the sink to wash the pieces of this horrible stuff out of her mouth. I think I got most of it - I managed to match the piece she had to the bigger bit still in the box and it looks like she was pretty much thwarted before she could have a real treat!!! OMD, she got such a row, she skulked into her bed without any prompting and stayed there! She avoided all eye contact with me for about an hour! So of course, when the DH came home, she was all over him, giving me the evil eye! :rolleyes:

 

She is not allowed upstairs in the house, or into bedrooms (this is what we have to do but of course this could all change when she goes to her guide dog owner who may have her in the bedroom, and even up on the bed! Eh Wexy?).

 

So, yesterday she went beyond the front paws on the first step, pretending to greet the cat, and was up those stairs before you could say "No Aruba No!" with cats running in all directions, hissing and fissing, and little Missy Aruba thinking it's a right laugh! We will have to get a baby stair gate, and I am looking for one with a cat flap in it. Either that or I need to get some eyes in the back of my head - anyone know where I can get some of those???

 

So I can safely say, yesterday was a challenge! But today, all is calm and everyone is about to have their afternoon nap.

 

We are practising our "sits", which she is very good at, and then "downs" which need a bit of work! She responds to the whistle, especially at feeding time, when 3 short blasts summon her - rapidly in her case - to her eating mat. From jumping up trying to grab the kibble out of the dish when she first arrived, she now sits on her mat, listening very patiently and intently (you will know that look), to me telling her to wait, wait, wait, and then the dish goes down and she gets a "go". Ok the last bit isn't quite there yet, but we are working on this too. Our two have their own "table", (a stand for their dishes), as I think bigger dogs can eat more comfortably if their dishes are at standing level for them, rather than bending down to eat from the floor. It's also easier for humans with dodgy knees to pick the dishes up! I must ask my puppy walking supervisor about this.

 

We have our second puppy workshop on Friday, so that will be fun and at the end of the session, we have a chat with a nice cup of tea and homebakes! That's the humans, definitely not the puppies! :D

 

She met a very nice Scotty dog today at the local shop called J J. He was a rescue and he was so gentle with her, I could have given him a cuddle too. She loves meeting other dogs and this is good, as she doesn't see them as a threat or anything to chase (well, Max aside of course!)

 

Thanks for all your kind comments, I keep telling her when we have our cuddles that she is "famous" all over the world - she just gives me one of those looks .... now wasn't that where this all started ..........

 

Photo - in jail after the poly episode! :eek:

 

DKD - how's Davis doing? Any new photos, I bet he's grown so much! :)

[Red84]

Nplaceres - Congratulations on your upcoming wedding .... Now don't be following these guys on here and make your wonderful service dogs wear some stupid outfits! I'm only kidding ;):), I think boy dogs look wonderful in their "tuxes", so handsome.

 

We are blessed aren't we to have our dogs, but I'm truly sorry that you had a situation which necessitated you to have a service dog. It brings home to me what brave young people we have in this world, thank you for what you have done for your country and mine in helping to make this world safer for all of us. :):)

 

And do let us know how the wedding plans go, photos would be appreciated! :D

 

Thank you so much I appreciate your kind words. While I have had soooo many people suggest ring bearer tux and flower girl dress which I think is too cute for words. I just worry it might be to hot for them? we live in TN and are getting married in FL. Also we are worried that if we DO dress them up people wont take our SD as serious as they should? I do have a small dog. If we do dress them up we will make sure to take lots of pics. I cant wait we are so excited! The lovely lady to the left is Iris(his SD) and the handsome Gentleman to the right is Casey(My SD)

[S.S. Cruisers]

Welcome Nplaceres. Also a big thank you for your service. Nothing can compare to your sacrifice, especially being injured. I am glad you now have a service dog. As Roz said, "It opened a whole new world"!

Fairbourne: OMD, that poor little sweety. Look at those :(, :(, (sad, sad) eyes. I don't know how you let her sit in her bed for an hour! I know, I know, it must be done. And as for her eating styrofoam! Little booger. She knows not what she does! When our Reno was about 3-4 months old, we just couldn't keep up with him. Papa decided he would build a "playpen" area for our little darling. Of course Papa is a perfectionist and by the time he got said playpen done, you guessed it. Popped Reno in it and in 2 seconds he popped right back out of it! He was already too big for it! Back to the drawing board!

[fairbourne]

Thank you so much I appreciate your kind words. While I have had soooo many people suggest ring bearer tux and flower girl dress which I think is too cute for words. I just worry it might be to hot for them? we live in TN and are getting married in FL. Also we are worried that if we DO dress them up people wont take our SD as serious as they should? I do have a small dog. If we do dress them up we will make sure to take lots of pics. I cant wait we are so excited! The lovely lady to the left is Iris(his SD) and the handsome Gentleman to the right is Casey(My SD)

 

Iris and Casey are so cute - oh my Casey is teeny, but then I don't imagine Iris is too big either! ;):)

 

For a special occasion such as your wedding, dress them up I would say - have you looked back at some of the lovely photos on here of our favourites all dressed up to the nines? I'm sure Roz, Cindy will come along and give you great advice about this and the best way to handle any "comments" you may get!

 

Thanks for posting the photos, we just love photos around here.:D

[fairbourne]

Welcome Nplaceres. Also a big thank you for your service. Nothing can compare to your sacrifice, especially being injured. I am glad you now have a service dog. As Roz said, "It opened a whole new world"!

Fairbourne: OMD, that poor little sweety. Look at those :(, :(, (sad, sad) eyes. I don't know how you let her sit in her bed for an hour! I know, I know, it must be done. And as for her eating styrofoam! Little booger. She knows not what she does! When our Reno was about 3-4 months old, we just couldn't keep up with him. Papa decided he would build a "playpen" area for our little darling. Of course Papa is a perfectionist and by the time he got said playpen done, you guessed it. Popped Reno in it and in 2 seconds he popped right back out of it! He was already too big for it! Back to the drawing board!

 

Now Nancysmartypaws, that is just what we need - a puppy pen, for the next time! What am I saying? The next time!!! Yikes! She has two "crates" one for sleeping in and this one in the photo for "time out" in the living room - saves any sneaky pees! Yep little booger is exactly how I would have described her! And don't let those puppy eyes, all Miss Innocence fool anyone! LOL!

[wizard-of-roz]

Thank you so much. I am so blessed to have him. So my fiancé who also has a Service Dog and I are planning on getting married on a cruise out of Florida and this would be both of our first times cruising with our SD. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

 

Call the cruise line's "Special Needs Dept. one week before you cruise to make sure that they will set-up your dogs potty box near your cabin.

Make copies of the paperwork from the Vet. One for the ship, one for you and one to give to Immigration.

Give yourselves lots of time to get anywhere on the ship. You will be stopped and asked tons of questions by other passengers and they will want to pat the dogs, do allow the public to pat them [when they're not working], they're missing their own dogs/cats and are in complete awe of the "Service Dog!"

Make sure that the ports that you will be visiting will allow your dogs ashore.

Be aware of folks who either do not like dogs/are fearful/or have allergies and want a distance between themselves and your dog. Especially, when you're in an elevator or other closed-in areas.

Keep a smile on your face and always be sure your dog is acting appropriately in public.

 

Have fun. You're going to get "hooked" on this kind of travel.

Edited June 25, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

A picture tells a thousand words .... I just love dogs' expressions - a dog's facial expression is priceless and worth every one of those thousand words. Ok I exaggerate but you know what I mean!

 

Aruba is doing well, she had her 16 week inoculation last week (an extra one that guide dogs do) and didn't even notice - didn't like the doggy treat the vet gave her for being a good girl, actually sniffed at it and looked at him as if to say "is that IT Mr? I usually get a big biscuit from the nice lady behind the desk out there!" She took a bit of persuading to eat it! Guess she wasn't too keen on him!

 

She is so much better now with her walking. We go with the "big dogs" and she bounces along, sniffing it all in, and only grabs her lead in her mouth when we are almost home. She's on the second last notch of her baby collar, so we need to go collar shopping. I did get adult collars from the guide dog people but they are still way too big for her. I rather fancy a nice red collar, much prettier for a girl dog than the boring old brown leather and would be very smart with her black coat.

 

If we could only stop her from picking everything up - I didn't notice she had an empty packet of cigarettes in her mouth the other day. Now we live in the countryside, rarely any litter, but there are some builders doing some work nearby where we go walking and you wouldn't believe how these guys have so little respect and just chuck their litter out of their vans! Makes me so cross. She picked it up - she's quite good at the stealth picking up, quite sneaky - but thankfully I spotted it (remember I'm still trying not to look at her as we walk along!) and grabbed it out of her mouth. I chucked it back at them into the back of their pick em up truck! I can be sneaky too!!!

 

 

Yesterday I could have seen her far enough!

 

 

I had bought a new iron and having unpacked it from its big box (we all know how much packaging everything has these days) I took it through to the kitchen, returning approximately 10 seconds later to move the empty box and polystyrene packaging in it. Oh yes, you've guessed! Miss Aruba the Tink, had pinched a piece of the polystyrene packaging and had settled herself down in Max's bed to eat it! I grabbed it off her and rushed her to the sink to wash the pieces of this horrible stuff out of her mouth. I think I got most of it - I managed to match the piece she had to the bigger bit still in the box and it looks like she was pretty much thwarted before she could have a real treat!!! OMD, she got such a row, she skulked into her bed without any prompting and stayed there! She avoided all eye contact with me for about an hour! So of course, when the DH came home, she was all over him, giving me the evil eye! :rolleyes:

 

She is not allowed upstairs in the house, or into bedrooms (this is what we have to do but of course this could all change when she goes to her guide dog owner who may have her in the bedroom, and even up on the bed! Eh Wexy?).

 

So, yesterday she went beyond the front paws on the first step, pretending to greet the cat, and was up those stairs before you could say "No Aruba No!" with cats running in all directions, hissing and fissing, and little Missy Aruba thinking it's a right laugh! We will have to get a baby stair gate, and I am looking for one with a cat flap in it. Either that or I need to get some eyes in the back of my head - anyone know where I can get some of those???

 

So I can safely say, yesterday was a challenge! But today, all is calm and everyone is about to have their afternoon nap.

 

We are practising our "sits", which she is very good at, and then "downs" which need a bit of work! She responds to the whistle, especially at feeding time, when 3 short blasts summon her - rapidly in her case - to her eating mat. From jumping up trying to grab the kibble out of the dish when she first arrived, she now sits on her mat, listening very patiently and intently (you will know that look), to me telling her to wait, wait, wait, and then the dish goes down and she gets a "go". Ok the last bit isn't quite there yet, but we are working on this too. Our two have their own "table", (a stand for their dishes), as I think bigger dogs can eat more comfortably if their dishes are at standing level for them, rather than bending down to eat from the floor. It's also easier for humans with dodgy knees to pick the dishes up! I must ask my puppy walking supervisor about this.

 

We have our second puppy workshop on Friday, so that will be fun and at the end of the session, we have a chat with a nice cup of tea and homebakes! That's the humans, definitely not the puppies! :D

 

She met a very nice Scotty dog today at the local shop called J J. He was a rescue and he was so gentle with her, I could have given him a cuddle too. She loves meeting other dogs and this is good, as she doesn't see them as a threat or anything to chase (well, Max aside of course!)

 

Thanks for all your kind comments, I keep telling her when we have our cuddles that she is "famous" all over the world - she just gives me one of those looks .... now wasn't that where this all started ..........

 

Photo - in jail after the poly episode! :eek:

 

DKD - how's Davis doing? Any new photos, I bet he's grown so much! :)

 

Awwwwww! I love the picture of Aruba.......such a sweetie. You two have been very busy. She might try all sorts of bad behavior but, thank goodness, you're right on top of her!!!!! She has such a wonderful little personality....such an imp!!!!!! :p

[wizard-of-roz]

Thank you so much I appreciate your kind words. While I have had soooo many people suggest ring bearer tux and flower girl dress which I think is too cute for words. I just worry it might be to hot for them? we live in TN and are getting married in FL. Also we are worried that if we DO dress them up people wont take our SD as serious as they should? I do have a small dog. If we do dress them up we will make sure to take lots of pics. I cant wait we are so excited! The lovely lady to the left is Iris(his SD) and the handsome Gentleman to the right is Casey(My SD)

 

Thank you for sharing the great pictures of Casey and Iris. You won't want to walk them around the ship in costume [put the costumes on when you get to the venue], that way you don't have to worry about it being too warm, and take them off before you leave.

 

I agree that the costumes will take away from their sense of importance to the other passengers and wouldn't want them to look "silly" onboard. That said, I do think that having pictures of them at your ceremony, in costume, would be perfect and we would expect nothing less! ;)

 

I don't even know you and I'm excited for you both. Congratulations on finding someone to love! ♥

[wizard-of-roz]

Welcome Nplaceres. Also a big thank you for your service. Nothing can compare to your sacrifice, especially being injured. I am glad you now have a service dog. As Roz said, "It opened a whole new world"!

Fairbourne: OMD, that poor little sweety. Look at those :(, :(, (sad, sad) eyes. I don't know how you let her sit in her bed for an hour! I know, I know, it must be done. And as for her eating styrofoam! Little booger. She knows not what she does! When our Reno was about 3-4 months old, we just couldn't keep up with him. Papa decided he would build a "playpen" area for our little darling. Of course Papa is a perfectionist and by the time he got said playpen done, you guessed it. Popped Reno in it and in 2 seconds he popped right back out of it! He was already too big for it! Back to the drawing board!

 

Nancy, I liked the playpen story. Morey would start projects and had a terrible reputation for not finishing them......this sounds just like Morey.

 

Thanks for sharing another wonderful Reno story. I know how much you loved that big boy!

Edited June 25, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

Now Nancysmartypaws, that is just what we need - a puppy pen, for the next time! What am I saying? The next time!!! Yikes! She has two "crates" one for sleeping in and this one in the photo for "time out" in the living room - saves any sneaky pees! Yep little booger is exactly how I would have described her! And don't let those puppy eyes, all Miss Innocence fool anyone! LOL!

 

CCI calls it "falling for the fur" when our dogs give us "those eyes!" They'll tell us "don't fall for the fur" and give in to any bad behavior! Yeah! Right! I fall for it all the time! I such a sucker for Horty and his eyes!

[Red84]

Thank you everyone for all your kind words I know the My Fiance and I are so excited about this cruise and have every plan to include our SDs in our wedding I promise to post pics later on!

[wizard-of-roz]

Thank you everyone for all your kind words I know the My Fiance and I are so excited about this cruise and have every plan to include our SDs in our wedding I promise to post pics later on!

 

You are so welcome! :)

[rangeley]

I had to share this with all of you.

 

Today was Horton's day at the groomers. It's a wonderful place with a "doggie day care" as part of the business. When I went to pick him up, the groomer had a video to show me. It was Horton leading all the other dogs in a doggie parade. Horton loves other dogs, as opposed to Brenda who didn't like to interact with dogs at all. She loved people, not so much dogs.

 

Following behind Horton was a little brown/black and white Shi Tzu. It was so cute to see and soon became heart wrenching as the groomer told me the little dog's story. He's the product of in-breeding and is totally blind. Horton adopted him and wouldn't let any of the other dogs get in front of him. He made sure the little guy stayed right behind him. It was so precious to see and the little dog just loved Horty.

 

I'm seriously thinking of allowing Horton to have a day a week to just go and play with the other dogs. It's a great environment, he really loved it and they adore him.

 

Horton's a great guy, I'm really proud of him and the way that he supported the little underdog.

 

 

That is so cute! Just like Wex and his little buddy.

[rangeley]

Can someone come over and tame my beast!

 

The kids all came over for a visit and Horton thinks that means, "pick up my bed and throw it at them!" What is wrong with this dog? Seriously! He eventually calms down and lays at their feet or goes to his bed [after I've rescued it] and all's good, but his greetings are over the top folks!

 

And, now he thinks he must make a noise at every person/bird/dog/child who walks by our front door. Sometimes it's a low growly/bark and sometimes it's a huge roar of a bark........Oh! Gawd! I have a dog that needs Ritalin!

 

OMG Roz that is too funny. He is certainly your protector.

[rangeley]

Hi All, Help!!! John is out of school!!! Yikes! :eek::eek::eek::eek: Just kidding, I love having him home all day bugging me. :D Oh and the dog too, what a pest.

 

Next weekend we will be sitting for out fav yellow lab, Pontiac. Just for the weekend. Hes a good boy. Wex will be all bent out of shape, but he'll live.

 

I am learning how hard it is to deal with elderly people. My mom is driving us crazy, I feel so bad. It's very hard to deal with.

 

Hope everyone is well and keep up all the doggie stories, I love reading them.

 

Nancy and Roz....behave yourselves. :p

[S.S. Cruisers]

Nancy and Roz....behave yourselves. :p

Never! What fun would that be?:p

[DisneyKidsDad]

So my wife got a call from CCI yesterday. It seems a reporter from one of the very local papers by us is doing a story on service dogs and wanted to know if there was anyone in the area he could interview. My wife said sure. Anything to get the word out. So a reporter is coming over Monday evening to do the interview. Like I said, I think this is one of those local papers that get thrown on your driveway once a week. It's the next town over so I don't think we even get it. I'll have to see how we can get a few copies.

[Caribbean Chris]

That's great, DKD, and you never know what legs that article could have. I'm a freelance writer and worked for some small publications early on. It was not uncommon for my words to pop up elsewhere when some other small publication across the country picked up and ran the article (with or without the publisher's OK.)

 

I enjoy so much reading everyone's posts and seeing the photos, even when I don't add a comment. Love hearing all the people & doggie adventures!

[S.S. Cruisers]

That is Pawsome, DKD! I wonder if the newspaper has a website? Even our little podunk town of 12,000 residents has a website. At least we could look it up. Please give us the name of the paper. Thanks. Oh and good luck on the interview. Be on your best behavior! :eek: I hope they take lots of pictures.

[DisneyKidsDad]

That is Pawsome, DKD! I wonder if the newspaper has a website? Even our little podunk town of 12,000 residents has a website. At least we could look it up. Please give us the name of the paper. Thanks. Oh and good luck on the interview. Be on your best behavior! :eek: I hope they take lots of pictures.

 

As soon as I get more information about when the article will appear and if they have a web-site, I will let everyone know.

[wizard-of-roz]

So my wife got a call from CCI yesterday. It seems a reporter from one of the very local papers by us is doing a story on service dogs and wanted to know if there was anyone in the area he could interview. My wife said sure. Anything to get the word out. So a reporter is coming over Monday evening to do the interview. Like I said, I think this is one of those local papers that get thrown on your driveway once a week. It's the next town over so I don't think we even get it. I'll have to see how we can get a few copies.

This is great. Do us proud, as I know you will! It always amazes me how Horton and I can go into a place of business on our travels and folks in there have NEVER seen or heard of a Service Dog, except for the blind.

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi All, Help!!! John is out of school!!! Yikes! :eek::eek::eek::eek: Just kidding, I love having him home all day bugging me. :D Oh and the dog too, what a pest.

 

Next weekend we will be sitting for out fav yellow lab, Pontiac. Just for the weekend. Hes a good boy. Wex will be all bent out of shape, but he'll live.

 

I am learning how hard it is to deal with elderly people. My mom is driving us crazy, I feel so bad. It's very hard to deal with.

 

Hope everyone is well and keep up all the doggie stories, I love reading them.

 

Nancy and Roz....behave yourselves. :p

 

 

You're kidding, right! I haven't behaved since, well, I don't know when!!!

 

I wish we were closer [we say this all the time], Wex and Horty would have so much fun together.

 

I'm slowly turning into my mother......I can see it happening and I feel so sorry for my kids.

Edited June 27, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[S.S. Cruisers]

This is great. Do us proud, as I know you will! It always amazes me how Horton and I can go into a place of business on our travels and folks in there have NEVER seen or heard of a Service Dog, except for the blind.

Roz: When this happens, just start waving your arms around aimlessly and try and accidently smack them! That should put a damper on it. :eek:

[rangeley]

As soon as I get more information about when the article will appear and if they have a web-site, I will let everyone know.

 

Cool Den! Look forward to reading it. :D