The last flight I took with Penny back in the beginning of October, we encountered a slight issue. We traveled on an airline that we have used several times in the past with four different puppies without any issues. We checked in and boarded our first flight out of Minneapolis without any issues other than our plane was delayed. No questions asked about her, or “paperwork” for her. Penny was a super good girl and waited in the terminal very patiently. We boarded the flight during the pre-board time so we could get her all settled in. She slept almost the whole flight to Denver where we had a plane change. Because our flight was delayed we basically had enough time to get off the first plane and walk to to gate to the next one where they were already boarding, so no chance to pre-board.
We get in line and the agent at the desk calls out to us and asks if we are on the flight. Why yes, of course we are. She then asked to see our tickets because she has nothing in her paperwork that a dog was scheduled on that flight. We were pulled out of line (in front of everyone) and questioned about how we booked our flight, where our “paperwork” for Penny was, and why didn’t we have clearance from the airline’s “medical” department. When we stated that we had already been on one flight that day with the airline the agent was quick to say that whoever checked us in at the Minneapolis airport messed up.
Long story short, it took over 20 minutes of this agent telling us that we needed paperwork and were supposed to get pre cleared through their “medical” department for Penny to fly with us. She said that it stated very clearly on their website that these were the necessary steps when you fly with a service dog. I admit I was not fully honest with them in letting them know that Penny was still in training, But they didn’t ask either. They never asked what she was trained for or if she was a service dog or an emotional support dog. I was terrified that they were only going to allow her to fly in cargo and if that was the case we were going to have to rent a car and do a two-day drive home from Denver, I will not put one of my puppies in cargo, so I did leave that detail out.
At one point, another agent expressed concern that the flight might not leave on time because of the situation and the agent in charge said, “Don’t worry, we can put them on the next flight.” Well that isn’t fair, we hadn’t done anything different booking this trip than I had in the past with previous puppies. The last thing I wanted to do was sit in an airport longer than I had to with a young puppy just trying to get home. We talked with a supervisor and then on the phone with this so called “medical” department and we were finally allowed to board the fight.
When we got home, I went to the airline’s website and nothing that the agent claimed was written as policy was there. And what was Penny doing throughout this stressful ordeal? Laying quietly at my feet being a model example of how a service dog should behave. Not a single

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