Help Mike keep his blood pressure down

A small dog yipped and lunged at wonderful Whitney the Seeing Eye dog when we checked in at Midway Airport for our flight to New England last month. No one got hurt in the run-in, but it was alarming. When Mike shared some of the highlights of that trip in his Mondays with Mike post last week, I was relieved he decided not to write about the incident at Midway – I approve his efforts to keep his blood pressure under control.

Whitney knows what to do on an airplane.

When we got to the gate, that same small dog barked and lunged at Whitney again. Just our luck: the yippy dog and its owner were going to be on our flight. I know to ready myself for distractions from other dogs when I’m outside with Whitney, I just forget that I have to be prepared for dog distractions inside airports now, too. Mike told me that the dog who’d lunged at Whitney was wearing a vest that said “Service dog in training” and he wondered out loud whether we should ask the owner if it’s possible for a dog like that to flunk out (a  great number of dogs bred and trained to become guide dogs never make it — simply barking in public or growling during training, for example, can result in what guide dog programs schools euphemistically call a “career change”).

Anyway, instead of asking the owner about any grading system for her dog, I opted for the two questions federal law allows businesses to ask people claiming their dogs are service dogs: “Is that a service dog?” and “What tasks or work does your dog perform for you?” The owner answered “yes” to the first question, then told me the dog keeps her calm and prevents her from getting panic attacks. Another woman at the gate had another smallish dog on a leash — that dog also had a vest on that said “service dog” –and when Southwest announced that people with disabilities could pre-board, both woman rushed to the front of the line to grab the bulkhead seats.

I sat in the 8th row window seat, Whitney, a 60 pound Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever cross, sat with her bottom under the seat in front of us, her head on my feet, and didn’t make a peep during the flight. When I stood up with her after we landed, the couple who’d been sitting in the row in front of us complimented Whitney’s good behavior. “We didn’t even know there was a dog behind us!” they marveled.

“She’s a service dog,” Mike responded with a shrug. “She was trained to behave in public.” I waited for the two dogs in the bulkhead seats to leave before giving Whitney the “Forward!” command. And then? My Seeing Eye dog calmly led me off the plane.

In light of the challenges people working with service animals are facing during air travel, The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is making plans to amend and clarify its regulations implementing the Air Carrier Access Act. DOT has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) and is seeking comments from the public on these specific issues:

1. Whether psychiatric service animals should be treated similarly to other service animals.
2. Whether there should be a distinction between emotional support animals and other service animals.
3. Whether emotional support animals should be required to travel in pet carriers for the duration of the flight.
4. Whether the species of service animals and emotional support animals that airlines are required to transport should be limited.
5. Whether the number of service animals/emotional support animals should be limited per passenger.
6. Whether an attestation should be required from all service animal and emotional support animal users that their animal has been trained to behave in a public setting.
7. Whether service animals and emotional support animals should be harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered.
8. Whether there are safety concerns with transporting large service animals and if so, how to address them.
9. Whether airlines should be prohibited from requiring a veterinary health form or immunization record from service animal users without an individualized assessment that the animal would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause a significant disruption in the aircraft cabin.

This week the Seeing Eye sent an email message to its 1700+ graduates urging us all to contact DOT with our own comments. The Seeing Eye was at the forefront of making it possible for blind people to travel with trained guide dogs, and they’ve already weighed in with responses to DOT. The email included some of the responses they sent. As an example, here is their combined answer to the first two issues:

Comments to questions 1 and 2: Service animals should be defined as those that are 1) individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability and 2) public access trained. Animals that do not meet both of these criteria should be designated as a separate and distinct category from service animals.

The Seeing Eye bred and trained all of my dogs (and trained me, too, for that matter) — and was at the forefront of making it possible for blind people to travel with trained guide dogs. So I take their, ahem, guidance, seriously. I think clearer rules about traveling with service animals could help eliminate some problems, so I’m going to follow their recommendations and send my own comments to the Department of Transportation. You can comment there, too — just make sure you submit comments by July 9, 2018 either on line, by fax, or by mail.