Anonymous wrote:My husband once had to sit next to a ginormous, old, slobbering German shepherd on a cross country flight.

My husband isn’t a fan of dogs (was bitten as a child) and has dog allergies, yet he had to sit next to this dog for 5+ hours.

It wasn’t wearing a vest and the person traveling with the dog didn’t have any obvious issues. They basically ignored the dog the entire flight.

There should be a rule that you need to buy all 3 seats if you plan to put your big dog in the middle seat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it was a service dog of some kind.

Those have to clearly marked with a vest. And have paperwork.

Though I guess you could buy a fake one online.

Anonymous wrote:Yesterday on an Alaska Airlines cross country flight a woman got on with a pit mix. The dog was huge, it wasn't wearing a service vest and tugging at the leash and whining for the entire boarding process. She sat a few rows behind me but they made an announcement that it was an entirely full flight so I doubt the dog had its own seat. There is absolutely no way this was a service dog. How on earth was this allowed? If that dog was next to me on a six hour flight I would have flipped the eff out. People have lost their minds.

Anonymous wrote:Wait, I have to let the airline know in advance that I am very allergic to dogs on the off chance they seat one next to me? Seriously? And if I don’t, I will be forced to sit next to one for six hours while my sinuses explode and I have trouble breathing?

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Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it was an uneventful flight, in spite of the large dog in the cabin. Maybe the airline made an exception for some reason. Sounds like no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal until one bites you on the face.

But it didn’t.

Draw of the luck. You know what guarantees that they can't possibly bite anyone? Not having them in the cabin full of people.

I'm sorry you're so completely cranked up about something that didn't even happen. There are meds for that.

Touch grass, and then call a therapist. You deserve to be less spun out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it was an uneventful flight, in spite of the large dog in the cabin. Maybe the airline made an exception for some reason. Sounds like no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal until one bites you on the face.

But it didn’t.

Draw of the luck. You know what guarantees that they can't possibly bite anyone? Not having them in the cabin full of people.

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Anonymous wrote:I mean, we do remember the stories of people getting mauled by pit bulls and "lab mixes," right?

Being in a enclosed, noisy environment with lots of strangers is a difficult situation for not properly socialized dog (i.e., fake service dog). I love dogs and have owned many GSDs through the years, and I absolutely would not want to sit next to an agitated pit bull, GSD, etc. A little yappy/snarly chihuahua in a carrier? Annoying, but not worrisome.

Take your xanax and handle it. You have a phobia. That doesn't make a dog breed a credible threat.

Besides, this isn't even the reality being described. The dog was fine. Sorry you're not. Get help, if needed.

Sigh. That is such an inflammatory response. This dog was fine, nothing happened, the world moved on. However, I do think that airlines should crack down on fake "service" dogs... because every 3 or 4 years, an onboard dog does end up biting another passenger. So, yes, the OP should contact the airline to complain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it was an uneventful flight, in spite of the large dog in the cabin. Maybe the airline made an exception for some reason. Sounds like no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal until one bites you on the face.

But it didn’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it was an uneventful flight, in spite of the large dog in the cabin. Maybe the airline made an exception for some reason. Sounds like no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal until one bites you on the face.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it was an uneventful flight, in spite of the large dog in the cabin. Maybe the airline made an exception for some reason. Sounds like no big deal.

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Anonymous wrote:A dog on a plane wouldn't bother me but I was at the symphony the other night and a woman came in with a large dog who was wearing a service dog vest. She was seated down in front where the dog had plenty of floor space. I watched the cellist on the outside of his row cut his eyes at her big time. It was hilarious. At a quiet spot in the music the dog stood up and went to shake (you could sort of see the windup if you are a pet person). It was wearing a ton of jingly tags with no tag silencers. The woman leapt on to the dog to stop it. I could not for the life of me see what in what capacity it was a service dog. The vest did not look as "official" as some I've seen.

Service dogs perform all kinds of functions that you may not recognize - it's not just leading the blind. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10670951/

And there aren't any "official" service dog vests.

I flew two days ago and there were no dogs on my flight. I'd have loved to sit next t the dog on OP's plane.

I'm the poster of this anecdote. I forgot to mention that she brought ear mufflers for the dog so he wasn't bothered by the music but she didn't think about muffling the noise of the dog tags for her fellow audience members. I'm not sure how you overlook this kind of thing if he was a real service dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A dog on a plane wouldn't bother me but I was at the symphony the other night and a woman came in with a large dog who was wearing a service dog vest. She was seated down in front where the dog had plenty of floor space. I watched the cellist on the outside of his row cut his eyes at her big time. It was hilarious. At a quiet spot in the music the dog stood up and went to shake (you could sort of see the windup if you are a pet person). It was wearing a ton of jingly tags with no tag silencers. The woman leapt on to the dog to stop it. I could not for the life of me see what in what capacity it was a service dog. The vest did not look as "official" as some I've seen.

Service dogs perform all kinds of functions that you may not recognize - it's not just leading the blind. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10670951/

And there aren't any "official" service dog vests.

I flew two days ago and there were no dogs on my flight. I'd have loved to sit next t the dog on OP's plane.