I was busy and anxious, the whole company "Winter break," (PwC closes for the 2 weeks of Christmas and New Year so that employees can spend time with their friends and families for the holidays), because right after we opened again, I was to be flying out to Dallas for a training conference, as part of my new department and team. That meant Cookie Monster (my ever faithful service dog and absolute best friend) would be going with me. I was anxious because he hasn't flown much. Cars, trucks, vans, busses, trolleys, boats (big and small), he had tackled these things with apparent ease. But take off and landing were worrying me for him. Still, being a part of the PMI team for these training conferences was/is potentially a big break for me and I was determined that Cookie and I could do it.

I registered for the conference as an admin and booked our travel through the company systems, making sure there were notes everywhere to expect a large service dog (77# isn't small). I even called the airline a couple of days before we flew to make sure that had seen the notes and were expecting a large dog. American Airlines were great! They confirmed my flight to and from Dallas, and went ahead and assigned us seating in the bulk head area, so Cookie would have room to lay down, since he wouldn't fit in a seat and wouldn't fit under one either. The CSR told me to just check in at the gate a little early and we would be pre boarded. Ok, we had our plan.

I called his vet and got a check up and copies of his health record, including shots so there would be no problems, had him groomed and had his nails cut. He looked gorgeous, had a clean bill of health, his vest was newly washed and ready. Then I looked at the forecasted weather for Dallas the week we would be there. COLD, COLD and more COLD!!! OK, no problem. I had a heavy coat for him. But is does get snow in Dallas. So, a trip to the doggie store later, he had a set of booties in case there was snow or his little Florida feet couldn't handle the cold Texas ground. I also picked up his favorite treats and a carefully calculated bag of dog food that would not put us over weight and accommodate his breakfast and dinner needs on the trip. I could have simply let the concierge handle it with a call to the hotel, but I'm not the type to leave things to chance, if I can help it. I thought I had thought of everything for him, so shifted focus to making sure I thought equally as well about everything I would need and everything the kids might need, in case there was a problem while I was gone. I wasn't going to be "just a couple of hours drive away," this time.

The big day came. Garion, my son, works nights. Before leaving for work that night, he asked me to please wake him up when I left for the airport, so he could say good bye. Tessa, his wife, asked me to do the same, if she wasn't up already. Being pregnant, she has a weird sleep pattern and is up at all hours. I made her promise not to have the baby until I got home, but if things went wonky, my mother was on call. So, that morning, I woke the kids up, hugged and kissed them good bye for a week, pointed out the note on the fridge with all important phone numbers as well as my travel and hotel information, gathered an excited dog, our suitcase, carry-on and my laptop, and off we went, in the dark of the pre-dawn hours to be at the airport the recommended 2 hours before boarding.

Sky Caps are GREAT!! At the curb where my friend Danielle dropped me off, one took my bags, minus the company provided laptop which I was determined to keep in my hands, and took us straight to check in, where we didn't have to wait in line, due to being "special travelers" (meaning the large sized service dog). The preservationist behind the desk was very nice and accommodating, got us checked in, took our checked bag, and let me know where to take Cookie for a pre-security potty break, which I decided was a really good idea, even though I had withheld food after midnight and water after 2 am, to cut down on the chance he would throw up in flight or have any other kind of accident.

Security "pre-screened us, so we didn't have to do the whole "take your shoes off, take everything out of the laptop bag, etc." and we got through that pretty quickly. Cookie was fantastic. I put him in a "sit and wait" focus, then I walked through the screener, with his traffic lead in my hand. Nothing got set off. Once I was through, I called Cookie to me and he happily trotted through, as if he did it every day of his life. Also no bells went off. Then they swabbed his vest for "explosive materials." He didn't like latex gloved hands going over him and did stiffen, but he didn't growl and didn't refuse. He stood, rigid, and let them do what they needed to do. Everyone of the TSA employees on the floor had to stop and see the dog, and we got a lot of compliments on how beautiful we is and how well trained and well behaved he is. OK, I beamed a little bit, since he is 100% Owner trained. That really made me feel like I had done a good job with him. Plus, he;s always been an eager and attentive learner. Good Cookie Monster! So, through security, we were off to airside.

There are things that sort of look like the trains at Walt Disney World that move people around the resort hotel and to the various parks, that take us from terminal to airside, only smaller and they move with more of jerk. Cookie doesn't love them, but he dealt with them, and before you can say "Bob's your Uncle," we were disembarking the tram at airside, with about 45 minutes until we were to check in. I stopped and picked up a pack of gum to shew during take off. I had Cookie's jerky treats in our carry-on, so he could be chewing too, so that his ears would pop. I also picked up something for me to drink, suddenly realizing that I hadn't drunk or eaten anything that morning....and my nervous stomach wasn't going to take food, but liquids seemed like a good idea. And we sat down to wait until we could check in at the gate.

Cookie Monster is, as I have said, a large dog. He is white, with dark brindle spots on his back, covering the entire left half his face, a spot around his right eye, and making smaller spots (one shaped like a heart) on his left ear. When newly groomed, his white coat practically shines, so excited to be on an adventure, smiling and in a royal blue vest that read "Service Dog, Do Not Pet," sitting on the black carpet of the airside gateway floor, he is going to get noticed. I, long ago, surrendered myself to the fact that we would never be able to go out in public unnoticed and started to people watch. I may not be able to Adam from Ernest, or Eve from Olivia, but I can still read emotions on faces, and it's interesting, to me, to see the emotions that a dog the size, coloring and general description of Cookie Monster evokes in members of the general public. He is, after all, the love pp of an America Bulldog and a German Short Haired Pointer. In Florida, the general public reads that as "pit bull." Pit bulls evoke strong emotions in most people, both positive and negative, even more so when wearing a service vest. That morning, the vast majority of the emotions Cookie evoked were positive and accompanied by lots of "oh look, Mommy, a doggie," "what a beautiful dog," and "wow, he is magnificent, ins't he, what kind of dog is he?" Cookie sat still, smiling, and soaked up the energy of all of that praise and attention, until the airside agent arrived at the gate and we could check in with her.

As we walked to the counter, she smiled and said, brightly, and with a laugh, " well, Tiny has shown up for his flight!" Then she check us in, confirmed our seat, let us know there would be another person in our row and told me pre-boarding would begin in about 15 minutes. OK. We went to sit back down, but our original seat was taken and, as it was nearing boarding time, a lot of people had suddenly shown up at the gate, so seats were at a premium. As things would have it, a gentleman gave his seat up for us. I smiled and thanked him and Cookie gave him an approving sniff. 15 minutes later, we were called to pre-board.

The flight attendants on the plan didn't flinch when Cookie led me down the ramp and onto the plan, but they did comment that they had expected a smaller animal. I smiled and said, "no, I travel with the full-size version of a mobility dog." We both laughed and Cookie and I went to our seat. He tucked in, easily and laid out on the floor while a flight attendant helped me with stowing the computer bag and carry-on, after I took out my tablet and Cookie's treats. He laid quietly through all of the pref-light, and taxiing down the runway. When the engines revved for actual takeoff, Cookie got nervous, but didn't try to get up and didn't make a sound. I laid a comforting hand on him and cooed that he was ok and a good boy, while we took off, the wheels clunked into their flight position, and we reached cruising altitude. Once we were at 30k feet, Cookie yawned a couple of time, shook his head, ate his jerky treat, and settled in for a 3 hour nap. I turned on the tablet in airplane mode and watched a movie. Our seatmate commented that Cookie was both beautiful and perfectly behaved, and we both stretched our legs out over his back, so that he was, more or less, denned up half under the seats and half under us. We flew that way all the way to Dallas.

About the time the engines changed speed for landing, Cookie moved under our legs and stretched, awake and alert to the change. He didn't shake as much landing as he had taking off, and, again, didn't try to get up or make a sound. We landed and he looked up at me as the wheels touched down as if to say "are we there yet?" I assured him we were down and he was a good boy. People, who hadn't noticed him when they boarded the plane, suddenly noticed the large dog sitting up at attention as they deboarded the plane. Cookie Monster was sitting up, alert and expectant, for the time when we got off the plane. We waited until most of the other passengers had gotten off, to make things easier. The flight crew helped me with our bags and smiled and said good by to Cookie, who got off the plane like a boss.

Our next hurdle was baggage claim. Cookie doesn't do escalators. I don't think he feels they are safe. I don't think I disagree with him. But, there were no escalators to baggage at the Dallas airport. There were, however, revolving doors and no other way to get from the terminal to baggage claim. The last time I asked Cookie to take a revolving door, he flat out refused. I was a little worried. This was, admittedly, a larger revolving door than I had asked him to try before, and, to accommodate disabled persons, it did have a button that slowed it down considerably. So, we slowed the rate of the door and I moved us into it. Cookie didn't love going through the revolving door, but he didn't refuse, didn't freak, and followed my commands through it. Darn that boy really is a boss at things like this! I was so happy and so proud of him. He'd jumped every hurdle like it was nothing, so far. Our next challenge would be getting from the airport to the hotel. I figured we'd be calling a cab and I'd be dealing with a driver. I was wrong.

Once through the revolving door, I spotted an obvious chauffeur, holding a tablet with the name "L. Acevedo" on it. My guess is he had been instructed to look for a short woman with a large service dog, because he recognized us almost at the same moment I noticed him, and he walked up to us, relaxed and purposeful. Cookie didn't think twice about this stranger approaching us, even though he was very alert because we were in completely unfamiliar surroundings. The man introduced himself and asked if he could take our bags. I gave up the carry-on, after retrieving both Cookie's coat and mine, and even let him take the computer bag. After all, the company had hired him to drive us from the airport to the hotel, and I had his name. When the luggage hit the conveyor belt, Joe, our driver, stepped in and took the suitcase I reached out for, pulling it off the belt like it weighed nothing. I told him that was all the luggage we had. He proceeded to lead us out to our car.....a beautiful, brand new Lincoln town car. Boy was I glad I had had Cookie groomed for the trip, and his nails cut. The seats were real leather. Cookie jumped into the back of the car like it was our car, stepped over the middle divider that held water bottles and snacks, and settled into the other back, passenger seat like it was where he rode every day. I climbed in after Cookie while Joe put our bags in the trunk. 30 minutes drive from the airport later, and a pleasant conversation with Joe, and we were at the Dallas Sheraton hotel. A doorman started to open Cookie's door, but Joe told him to wait. He let me our first and came around to Cookie's door, then told the doorman it was ok. I told Cookie to "wait," until I got his traffic lead on him (a traffic lead is a leash that is only 12 inches in length. It is made to use when a handler doesn't want their dog getting very far away from their side, due to dangers or close quarters). Lead attached, Cookie hopped out of the car. Joe gave me his card and let me know that he was at my call for the week. I thanked him, tipped him, and the bellman took our luggage, Cookie and me into the hotel and over to registration.

We were in Dallas for the week, and well into our latest adventure. I'll post our trip later. I'm in the office today and there is work to be done.