DisneyKidsDad

Boy what a shock to our systems this vacation is gonna be. We are leaving for Vancouver, BC on Saturday and it will be in the 90's with 90% humidity here. Temps in Vancouver and Alaska are in the 50's at night and 60's during the day. It's gonna be interesting. Orson is gonna love the cool temps.

Anyone been to Tortola recently and know the requirements?

Cindy,

I'm not 100% sure but I think Tortola is the island that we needed to get the Tider test for Orson. It was the special blood test that had to be sent out to Kansas State University. They are a British Virgin Island and very strict. The island was not wheelchair friendly at all. We went into a large souvenir store and were thrown out because of Orson.

Need advice. We will be flying from Florida to Seattle soon for our Alaska cruise, and I have not flown with Raylene before.

 

Our first flight to Dallas leaves at 11 a.m, and is three hours long (if all goes well). Two hour layover in Dallas when I would take her to a relief location (if all goes well.) The second flight Dallas/Seattle is five hours.

 

Ray's routine is to pee and eat her morning meal at 6 a.m. At about 7:15, I take her on a 30 minute walk to poop. Can I stick with that routine on our flight day? Or am I making a mistake to give her food the day of flying? There would be 5 hours between eating and take-off.

 

If I don't feed her in the morning, it will be 27 hours from her feeding the night before until she eats once we land in Seattle. I'm picturing that sad face and a lot of nudging to remind me she hasn't eaten.

 

I've heard I can give her some ice chips but not a full bowl of water.

 

I sent this question to her training organization, but meantime wanted to know what you have done. Coming home, I've already decided no a.m. food because it is an early flight.

I would stick with your routine. It sounds like you have plenty of time before the flight. But I would restrict the water a few hours before the flight. We flew on a 6 hour flight with Orson 3 years ago and he was fine. We are doing it again next week. Some ice chips during the flight is a good idea too. She will be fine.

Are you sure the Magical Express doesn't take you from the resort directly to Port Canaveral? Or are you not on a Disney cruise? We're Disney Vacation Club members and we've seen cruisers boarding the bus to go on the cruise and didn't have to go to the airport-----unless they've changed their policy recently.

I too have taken the Disney Cruise bus from a Disney resort to the cruise terminal. But I believe you have to have a land and sea package. That's what we had at the time.

Orson has been cleared to go to Alaska!! He even gained a pound since his last visit to the vet. The vet is giving us some meds to take for him just in case. Now I need everything else to fall into place.

Orson goes to the vet today to (hopefully) get cleared to go to Alaska with us. So far, other than the lump on his face, which hasn't gotten any bigger, you would never know he was sick. So I don't think there will be a problem. We did our phone interview with CCI last week and it looks like we may be in the February class.

Best thing to do is book as early as you can.

There are also wheelchair accessible taxis that can be called for you at the resorts. Just not sure if that would be too expensive.

Horton's at the groomers today. They like to keep him a bit longer than most because he's so nice to all the other dogs in the play area. Especially his little blind friend "Stevie Wonder!" She likes to walk underneath him as he guides her past the doorways and chairs. Talk about a tear jerker!!!

 

I have a question for you.......do you shave your dogs whiskers and their tummies? The groomer suggested that I try it because Horton has a huge gray whisker on his face [something that just showed up in the last few months.] And, it was so distracting to his handsome face. So, she shaved it off and he looks so much better. As he's aging [he's now 7], the hair on his tummy is really getting longer....she suggested that she shave that too, along with the pads of his paws. She said he'd have better gripping power on slick floors if he didn't have the hairy paws to deal with.

 

What do you do with your dogs? What's your grooming regimen like? And how often?

So wait... you want to make poor Horton whisker-less AND shave his tummy?? :eek: If he doesn't bite you, I will!! :mad: I'll go along with the hair between his paw pads. :D

Dear Orson,

I heard the news that you have something wrong with you. I'm sorry and I hope that it doesn't mean that you will be in bad pain or suffer in any way. We dogs live very different lives than our humans. We can have something really wrong and no one ever knows until we're so sick that there's nothing anyone can do except watch and worry about us.

 

You're very lucky because just like me and my sister Brenda, you get to go on cruises and other kinds of trips with your humans. We never get left behind.

 

I love when Roz tells me all about the great places that you go and on the really neat ships that you've been on.

 

I want you to know that I know what a great dog you are. How you've helped in training and raising some pretty amazing and wonderful dogs for other folks. Although, sometimes they're not perfect, they still put smiles on others faces. You've put up with a lot and with no complaints. Thank you Orson for all that you've done for your humans and for helping the puppies who have come into your home [even when they were such pests!!]

 

You've touched a lot of lives and will leave a legacy of patience, love and understanding behind you.

 

I want to wish you a restful and well deserved retirement my friend Orson.

 

Lots of Love & Licks,

Horton Jeffrey

Dear Horton,

Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm still feeling good and I get to go everywhere with my humans. I have to go back to

the doctor next week to make sure I will be OK to go to Alaska. It's going to be my retirement trip. I know my humans really want me to be able to go. I think they will be able to tell when I start to feel bad. Then I know they will do the right thing and not make me suffer. I think I will stop dictating to my human right now. He is starting to get very sad for some reason.

Your friend,

Orson º0º

Omg Den!!! I didn't know. I'm so sorry to hear about Orson. He's like 10? Slow growing is good.

We figure if they live to 12 that's good. At least that's what John and I hope for. Anything after that is a blessing.

Not sure if you know but Wexler is having his own issues. I think Roz is the only one that knows. But he was diagnosed with kidney disease about a year ago. Now after going for his free eye test, they think he has eye cancer. We will know more in August. It too is a slow growing cancer. We pray he makes it to 12. I don't know how much more we can take. 😭

Please tell Kim and Louise we are thinking about them. ❤

To be honest, I did hear a little about Wexler from Marianne.

I am truly sorry to hear this. We know when we take an animal into our house that we will be dealing with this at some point. But that doesn't make it any easier. Has John started the paperwork for a successor dog yet. Even though Orson hasn't shown any symptoms yet, we are hoping to get into the February 2017 class for Kim's new dog. Then Orson will officially retire.

Thank you all very much for your kind words and positive thoughts. It really means alot. Orson is being the same old Orson he always was right now. I forgot to mention, we are watching Davis for the week. For those who don't know, Davis was puppy number two for us. He decided that college was not for him. So now he is living the good life with people a few towns away from us. We get to watch him when they go away. Orson goes out in the yard and plays with him and Sutter. Orson hasn't "played" in a long time. So it is great to see. When Davis goes home on Sunday there is gonna be some depressed pups. But they are watching Sutter when we go away next month.

Again...than you all for the kind words and positive thoughts. :>)

This will not be easy for me to write, but here goes.

My daughter's service dog, Orson was just diagnosed with cancer. We noticed a lump on his face a few weeks ago and took him to the vet. After x-rays, blood-work and a biopsy, the diagnosis was made.

We were told that the type of cancer he has is slow growing. As of now, he is showing no symptoms at all. The vet said it could change a few weeks from now or three years from now. So as long as he wants to work, he will work. He will go back to the vet two weeks before we leave for Alaska to see if he is up for the trip. If not, we will bring him up to CCI on Long Island, NY and someone will take him home every night so he doesn't have to be in the kennel. This way if anything happens, they will know what to do. We are in the process of filling out the paperwork for a successor dog. With any luck we will be in the February-2017 class. In the mean time we still have our puppy in training Sutter. He is supposed to turn in this November but we may be able to keep him until February. We have alot of fundraisers and demonstrations coming up and it will be better if we had a dog in case Orson's health declines. If our daughter gets a successor dog in February then we can't puppy raise for six months to a year. This has not been an easy couple of weeks for us but I wanted to let everyone here know. Please keep Orson in your thoughts. I will keep everyone posted when I can.

Sorry for the sad news.

DisneyKidsDad,

We are new puppy raisers with CCI and I was wondering if any of the cruise lines allow service dogs in training on their ships. Forgive me if you answered this already in your thread but I couldn't find any info. Thanks!

I have never checked on this but off the top of my head, I would say they do not allow puppies in training on cruises. But I could be mistaken.

We just got back from spending a few days visiting our puppy raiser friends in South Carolina. Rangeley knows who I mean. Their daughter even drove up from Orlando and spent a few days with us. Orson and Sutter were great in the car. Sutter had a great time playing with their puppy in training, Higgins. He turns in in orlando in August. Now it's on to finalizing our Alaska trip in August.

So now that we think we may want to keep doing this puppy raising thing, we got rid of the wall to wall carpet in the living room and hallway and put in the vinyl equivalent of hardwood laminate. The 80's called and wanted their kitchen linoleum back so we put the same stuff in the kitchen. Much easier for those pups that aren't quite housebroken yet. Now we are just waiting for our Alaska cruise to get here. Not rushing that because we want some summer first.

another amazing story about the bond between a Service Dog and Owner...

 

https://blog.cci.org/2016/05/08/a-letter-from-a-mom/?msource=0516ENEWS&tr=y&auid=16702171

 

get the hankies out...

Now maybe more people will understand how we can raise a puppy for 16 to 18 months and give it back. And get another one as soon as we can. And maybe someone reading this will decide to become a puppy raiser!!

What dog isn't motivated by food? Wow!

 

Glad you are having a great cruise. Enjoy and may the weather gods shine upon you!

Our second puppy in training (Davis) was not food or toy motivated.

He had a mind of his own and was more Alfa than submissive. That's why he is now someones pet.

You know how you come home from a cruise and it seems WAY too long until your next one? I started daydreaming about Alaska last week, checked prices, and found that we could tap into a promo and save $1,000 by going in 2016 instead.

 

AND, the same stateroom location I like on the Lower Promenade deck was available, close to the dog's box. So we re-booked for this August and now I'm trying to figure out shore excursions that work for a 70-lb Lab.

The White Pass railway will work. We did it last time. This time we are doing a whale watch with Orca Enterprises. They said the dog will be fine. When in August are you going and what cruise line?

I just changed my upcoming cruise. Alaska has always been on my Bucket List.

 

Disney just released its summer 2017 dates a few days ago. I knew I couldn't afford it solo so had put it out there that I'd like to find someone to go with that was okay with a service dog in the cabin.

 

Well, one of my FB friends said she would go! Her husband has a hearing dog, so she's comfortable with service dogs. We've been friends on FB for a long time, and funnily enough had booked the same cruises several times. For various reasons we never did sail together.

 

With not being solo, it turns out I will be paying less for a 7 day, than I would have on the 4 day. Granted we are going inside, but it'll work. She also lives outside of Seattle so I could fly into there AND I have more than enough miles with Southwest to cover it. Win/win!

 

My friend Cari (who also comes on here occasionally) told me that really only needed the Rabies certificate. Did some research and that seems to be the case. Will think about getting a 7001 form just in case.

 

What paperwork have you gotten for those who have gone to Alaska? It sails out of Vancouver so Canada is in the mix.

 

Holly

You are going to love the Disney Alaska cruise. We did it 3 years ago and are doing it again in August. Last time we got the international health cert. We will this time too. Last time the guy at the border in the airport told us we needed to check the box for livestock. My wife did some checking and indeed it should be checked even for service dogs. That and the usual vaccination paperwork and your all set.

Sutter turned 1 year old yesterday! He's a real party animal!!

OK...I know it's been a while since I posted anything. But work and life has been keeping me pretty busy. So here is a picture I took last night of my "lap dog" Sutter. He will be a year old on Thursday. He is gonna be a hard one to see go in November.

Krypti, I called my Vets office and asked them why would another Vet tell their patient that heartworm med. was not necessary. He said that would be a Vet who has never seen a dog suffer in agony when they come down with the heartworm. The heartworm is so easily prevented with a tasty chew that the dog takes once a month.

 

Canine Companions for Independence [the org. I get my Service Dogs from] INSISTS that their dogs be on Heartguard.

 

Please ask another Vet about it. And, in answer to your question my Vet ALWAYS puts on the form that my dog is treated for Heartworm and takes a flea and tick abatement chew each and every month.

 

My Service Dog is invaluable to me [as would be my pet dog], it's my duty to make sure they get the very best care I can give them.

I'm with Roz. If my vet told me he didn't recommend heartworm preventative, I would find another vet. Just my humble opinion.

Is Orson from CCI? What happens when he retires? Do you keep him as a retired pet, or does he go back to the organization?

Yes, Orson is a CCI Service Dog. And he passed his re-cert with flying colors. The trainer that tested him said he looks great and tested great. She really didn't see the need to retire him yet. So now we are thinking we may wait a while and see how he does. Once he retires Krypti, we have the first option of keeping him as a pet (which we are doing) or his puppy raiser can take him back (which they would) or he could go to someone on a very long waiting list for retired dogs. But for now he is still very excited to go out with us. He's just slowing down a little (just like us).

Orson goes for his re-certification test tomorrow. Hopefully when he sees the instructors he decides it's a good time to be on the ball. He's been slacking off lately. Which is why we are going to put in his retirement papers. I think he will do fine. He usually does when the pressure is on.