Traveling with a Service Dog✨🐶

Meet Skyy!

Skyy is a mobility & psychiatric service dog that loves flying, probably because she gets so many compliments. ✈️

Here's how we travel!

Step 1:

Check in at the counter and present her DOT travel form that details that she has been trained, won't relieve herself in the cabin and is vaccinated. We also request pre boarding so we can sit in the front row (bulkhead) so Skyy can have more room than the typical leg room available. More comfort for both of us!

Step 2:

TSA! When we go through TSA, we have TSA Pre check so it's a little less crowded in our area. We remove Skyys vest, collar, hand strap and leash. I can either loop her leash around her neck in a slip lead kind of way, or I can put her in a sit and stay until I go through and then ask her to join me on the other side. If I give Skyy any treats during this process, TSA requires me to have my hands swabbed and tested. Skyy doesn't get treats when she is working, but I have seen it be done.

Step 3:

Preboard the flight & get settled in our seats. She has a task of "lap" during this time as I am an extremely nervous flyer and my panic attacks typically start the moment I step on the plane. This task can be promoted or unprompted, depending what she's sensing based on her training. This task is a precursor for her to perform DPT (Deep Penetrative Therapy), which means she lays on my lap/chest to help me regulate my heart rate and breathing.

Step 4:

In flight! If Skyy isn't sending anything that she needs to alert to she is free to nap and just hangout. Most flights she is on is only about 2 hours long or so. If we get turbulence, she will immediately provide support and alert me of heart rate changes.

Step 5:

Landing! Once we land we are the first to get off the plane and that's when I will let the flight attendants pet her and give her praise as they typically ask to do it throughout the flight but I need her to be focused.

Have you ever traveled with a service animal? If so, is my experience different than yours? Let me know if you have any questions too! 😊🤍✈️

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