HenryKisor

I have been to the Bahamas and am going there next month. You have to have an import permit for the dog. Do NOT mail in the application for the permit. It will just get "lost." Take the application to your veterinarian and have him FAX the application with his letterhead as the cover page. The Bahamas ag people seem to respect professional veterinarians as honest and legitimate and act quickly on the application.

Even if you are not planning to get off the ship, you still need the import permit to enter Bahamian waters with a dog. Royal PITA but there it is.

The good thing is that if you describe your dog as a service dog and have genuine documentation of its training, such as a certification card from the training organization, you will not have to pay the $15 fee.

I have torn my hair out twice over the Bahamian authorities "losing" my mailed-in application and documentation. Then last month I asked my vet in Evanston, Ill., to FAX the documents to the Bahamian agricultural people. He did. A week later the permit was FAXed back, completely done and good for one year from issue.

The Bahamians are still stuck on yesterday's technology. And I think they are quick to respond to FAXes from veterinarians . . . that makes everything seem ever so much more official.

I'd say no responsible service dog handler would take a dog on an 8-hour flight unless that dog had been specifically trained to use a pee pad and is reliable at it.

Don't worry about service dogs touching you. Service dogs are trained to lie and stay and do not go around socializing with people unless their handlers allow and encourage it, and they as a rule don't. The dogs are working.

As for untrained emotional support or comfort dogs, you have to take your chances.

We called the Bahamas agricultural people last month and were told we had to have the approved import permit plus 7001 even if we were not going to go ashore at Half Moon Cay or elsewhere in the Bahamas. Just entering Bahamian waters requires a permit, they said. Bummer.

I suspect the Bahamians are still getting their stuff back together after the recent hurricane.

One of the wisest things Trooper's trainer told me, after I expressed worry about a bad habit, was: "Dogs are not robots. Sometimes they will be dogs. Don't worry about an unfortunate incident, but keep on with the dog's training." And so that's what I do. For instance, Trooper will sometimes bark if an elevator door opens in our condo and someone is standing there, a rare occurrence. Now, just before the door opens, I offer a treat to get his attention on me. Soon, every time the door opens, he will look at me hopefully and ignore anyone who may be standing in the door. His follow-up trainer suggested this ploy during her visit last winter.

Note to all planning to take their service dogs to the Bahamas: We called the Bahamas Dept of Agriculture people today, and they said the OLD address (Box N-3704) as it appears on the current import permit application is STILL valid. They added, however, that it now takes EIGHT WEEKS to process applications. No idea why.

Dammit. I just sent off an application to the old Bahamian address because that was what the website said. Should I send off another copy to the new address, or hope that there is such a thing as mail forwarding in Nassau?

Just got off the phone with the Bahamian agricultural people. Earlier this year someone on this forum said they'd had to get an import permit for their service dog even though they were not getting off the ship when it docked in Nassau. Turns out that I have to get an import permit for my service dog even though I'm not getting off the ship while it's anchored offshore at Half Moon Cay, the HAL Bahamian captive island. Utter pain in the ass, but there it is.

You fried five turkeys for 60 service dogs? Well, good for you! But now the dogs will hang around your doorstep all day.

NFLDpenguin, I see you're Canadian. What do the cruise lines say when you tell them you want to bring a service dog aboard? Have you ever been turned down? I am aware that Canadian provincial and national laws do not address the right of a Canadian to bring a service dog on a cruise ship the way the U.S. laws do, but I believe that some cruise lines simply extend the courtesy to Canadians that they give U.S. cruisers with service dogs. I'm deeply interested in your experience.

This is for Canadian citizens with service dogs, NOT U.S. citizens: Do Canadians with service dogs enjoy the same legal access to cruise ships that call at Canadian ports that Yanks with service dogs do at U.S. ports? If so, is there a law that I could look at? If not, is it simply the practice of cruise lines to follow U.S. custom in Canadian ports?

Roz, here is the language from the 2015 U.S. v. Carnival Cruise Lines settlement (my boldfacing). "Operating in" seems to cover embarkation, disembarkation, calling at, etc. I've got a message in to the Department of Justice for further clarification. Meanwhile, Ponant's PR firm, with which I'd been dealing, sent me an uh-oh-we'd-better-check-with-Ponant's-customer-service-and-legal-department message. In the project I'm working on, I've discovered that many of the initial responses are from lower-level factotums who don't know jack about the issue. This happened with a couple of the smaller super-luxury cruise lines, and once I reached management the tunes changed. Incidentally, Lindblad, as luxurious a small-ship line as there is, seems to have the friendliest view of service dogs of all.

• The Company is a public accommodation because it is a private entity that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation, i.e., cruise ships operating in United States' waters or those of its territories. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181(6), (7) and 28 C.F.R. § 36.104. Accordingly, the Company is subject to the requirements of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-12189, and its implementing regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 36.
  

Roz, the federal courts have held that cruise ships that call at US ports ARE subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act on their cruises. This includes service dog rights. I just looked it up on the DOJ website.

Has anyone here attempted to book a cruise on Ponant, the French super-luxury line? Their PR person told me yesterday that the line doesn't allow service dogs, even though some of its cruises call at U.S. ports on the Eastern seaboard.

I recently read a post by a Cruise Critic member that an import permit and a 7001 had to be obtained for the Bahamas even though the member's service dog was not leaving the ship in Nassau. Is this paperwork necessary if the ship is moored off a Bahamian island and the dog is not leaving the ship? (I.e., HAL's Half Moon Cay)

Also I have encountered talk that 7001s (or national equivalents) plus import permits, if required, should be obtained for all ports where a cruise ship docks, even if the dog handler plans to keep the dog aboard ship and not go ashore at all. The reason givwn s that there might be a health emergency in which handler (and dog) must be evacuated to shore and then the U.S.

I think the chances of a health emergency happening are pretty slim. But what do other members think? Before I take a two-week HAL cruise next March, should I get the paperwork for the Bahamas, Panama and Nicaragua even though I do not plan to take my dog ashore in those countries? (I *am* planning to take Trooper ashore in Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, and maybe Guatemala, and will get the paperwork for those.)

You do not NEED anything more than proof of rabies immunization to enter Canada with a pet, let alone a service dog, but it is always a good idea to have the APHIS Form 7001 (international dog health certificate) signed by your vet . . . just in case some shirty jack-in-office in Customs/Immigration wants to be difficult. The chances are nobody in Vancouver or the U.S. will even glance your way. But it's best to be prepared.

Requesting "assistance dog documents" is illegal in the U.S. but sometimes is legal in Canada—depends on the province and venue. You won't see that in British Columbia. I had to prove that Trooper was a bona fide service dog in order to get a fare break for a sleeper room on VIA Rail's The Canadian for our trip next November from Toronto to Vancouver. Air Canada did not ask for proof for a ticket from Chicago to Montreal but we had to call the airline's medical department and answer a few questions in order to get an extra roomy coach seat for the standard fare.

Service dog laws in Canada are administered by the provinces, not the central government. This is slowly changing as Parliament in Ottawa takes up the issue of a national service dog law.

Thanks, Dianne, for your response. Form 7001, here we come . . .

I'm planning on a two-week HAL cruise through the Panama Canal next March. We won't be getting off ship at Half Moon Cay or Cartagena. Anyone taken their dog ashore in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico? Are feral dogs a problem in ports? I carry pepper spray on our walks in our Chicago suburb but don't know if that would be OK in those countries.

DfD brings the dogs to you. Two trainers brought Trooper from Oregon to my home in Evanston, Ill., and stayed five days training me as well as acclimating the dog to life in my house. The trainers stayed in a nearby hotel at DfD's expense. Trooper has worked out very well. He's not absolutely 100 percent perfect as some service dogs seem to be, but his terrierist idiosyncrasies are not at all problems for me. His small size is definitely a plus, especially while traveling. There's more room for him, and carrying his provender even for two weeks afloat is no problem at all. I was happy to turn back the good faith deposit at the end of the year.

Never mind . . . I looked it up. Dogs for the Deaf calls such dogs "career change" dogs. "Skilled companion dogs" are well trained, amiable, sweet animals perfect for families.

I haven't encountered the terminology "skilled companion service dog" before. What does Sutter do for his person? I know all about CCI—I applied to them but decided to go with Dogs for the Deaf because the latter trains small rescue dogs as well as Labs, and I felt a Lab was a bit much for me to handle at my age (and I live in a condo without a yard).

No idea why the photo doesn't appear in the previous message.

Here's Trooper last November at San Juan with the Nieuw Amsterdam waiting to pick us up.

Couple of days ago in a small town in Michigan, a guy left his dogs in his pickup with engine running and A/C on while he ran into the supermarket for an item. When he came out a passerby yelled at him in unpleasant language, and the guy reciprocated. Cooler heads prevailed and explanations were made. Sometimes things are not what they at first seem.