I’m back from my annual trek to Pennsylvania for the Montgomery County weekend – this time by air.
Did I tell you I hate flying with dogs? No? Well, I hate flying with dogs. I really hate flying with dogs when nobody at Air Canada can give me a straight answer, the flight is delayed and we lose an hour to make our connection, and it culminates with a flight attendant bending over our seats to advise “you’re not going to like this but your dog is still at Customs” just as the doors of the plane are about to close; followed by a subsequent last moment deplaning and an all-nighter at Toronto Pearson trying to scrounge food for a hungry dog and some sleep for myself in the wretched torture chairs they acquired from East German government surplus.
We did some good winning. Not as much as we wanted, but enough.
I need some rest, but I should be back into some sort of blogging routine tomorrow.
In the meantime, here’s a picture of “Roadie” (CanCh.Minuteman Boardwalk) when he’s not lying in a crate being hand fed a egg and cheese breakfast biscuit from Tim Horton’s.
will send your doggos my phone number, so next time I can bring some bark food for them:-))))
Love those little dogs. They stand like Clydes.
Nice legs Kate but you should get more sun. And black socks are never a power colour in the Fall.
Just sayin’.
I thought of captioning that with “not my legs”.
just messin’ with ya. Welcome back.
Surely you have better taste in footwear than that …
Barely.
Damn fine calves, nonetheless…
Just sayin’.
As for the dog logistics in this time of cholera….well, if it’s worth the blue ribbon, then I guess so.
Flying with dogs. Do not ever recommend.
You’ve proven yourself time and time again — when do you finally say “Enough!” and become a consultant to a new generation of people who want to put up with the work and the horrific transportation schedule?
I do that as well. On Thursday afternoon I helped a friend out and trimmed her dog. Made him into a whole new animal.
On Sunday, they beat me. I went reserve (runner up).
No good deed goes unpunished.
No good deed goes unpunished
I declined to do a full body scan at Dulles in D.C. and they took forever to do an old fashioned search so I missed my direct flight to Calgary. I eventually ended up going home via San Fran. I had just sat down in an aisle seat when the woman sitting next to me asked if I could trade places with her 12 year old son further up front. OK, I said. I realized too late that he was sitting in a middle seat between two linebackers. He was much smaller than I, but OK, I had agreed. We sat on the tarmac waiting for an electrical storm to pass. It lasted just long enough that we had to return to the terminal to swap out the pilots. I think I sat between the two biggest-losers for seven hours… I thought twice about declining a scan after that.
“… and they took forever to do an old fashioned search so I missed my direct flight to Calgary.”
That was on purpose to teach you a lesson. They’re petty, vindictive thugs.
Colonialista – That was my thought process at the time… along with a few choice phrases.
Indeed. So now you know what kind of cut to give your competitors … whoops! Sorry.
Which brings me to my question. What kind of “price” do you pay for your blogosphere notoriety among the doggie Judges? Have you ever gotten the impression your dogs were being punished for your political viewpoints? Has the dog world succumbed to the same wokeist nonsense?
Flying with dogs. Do not ever recommend.
When I was flying to and from my house in B. C., I often encountered people who travelled with their critters. Most of the dogs were pleased to make my acquaintance.
Being friendly with dogs sometimes has its benefits, particularly nowadays. Last year, when all this malarkey began, I did a favour for one of my fellow passengers who, because our flight was delayed, was concerned that the small poodle she was travelling with might become thirsty.
I kept the beastie company while she went to a nearby store and bought some bottled water. It was a pleasure to do some dog-sitting for a few minutes.
Kate, been there done that Tim’s sandwich and the dog I fed it to did not fare well with her bowels the next day :). Hope you fared better.
Bill
My shocked face when I read that … 😮 … sheesh, Kate’s dogs almost eat as well as I do! Almost. My breakfast biscuit comes with a slab of ‘Canadian’ bacon
I have been missing your witty and on-point posts.
I have a Border Collie cross in agility training. Wife is the handler. If the dog ever competes, gotta be local!
Welcome back.
Air Canada treated us poorly once in Torturonto. We had arrived there with lots of time to meet our connection. Some one decided we were not going to. Would not allow us to get off claiming there was no one there to “meet” the plane!
Not then “connecting” they farmed us out. Loading us all on to busses and driving for an hour to several hotels.
Would not allow us to get off claiming there was no one there to “meet” the plane!
WorstJet pulled that stunt on me a few times coming into Calgary. It’s sure fun waiting for up to half an hour because they didn’t have a crew ready to put the ramp in place and, when they did find one, they acted like they didn’t know what they were doing.
Finally, when they did get their act together, I had to make a mad dash from one wing of the terminal to another with only a few minutes to spare before my connecting flight took off.
Then there was the time I was flying back to Edmonton from Montreal in the late 1980s.
We had to make a connection in Tronna, but air traffic controllers at Pearson decided to take “job action” that night. We left Montreal an hour late and, by the time we got into Ontario, our connecting flight had left.
The closest we could get was Calgary, so we overnighted there. Unfortunately, our luggage didn’t catch up with us, so we couldn’t even change clothes. Yeah, I got onto the plane for Edmonton the next morning looking a bit grubby. My suitcase arrived at home several hours after I got home.
A real fun flight…..
” . . . being hand fed a egg and cheese breakfast biscuit from Tim Horton’s. ”
Nobody ever does that for me.
Roadie is handsome boy.
Welcome back. We’ve been having a great time here as squatters, but look forward to being served as the fine guests we imagine ourselves to be.
there are no friendly skies anymore . haven’t been since the days of Mo. covid crazies have made them worse.
The last friendly Canadian airline I flew was the former Wardair in the late 1980s. I went from Edmonton to Winnipeg on either a 757 or 767.
Talk about class! I got a decent meal, with a linen table cloth and decent metal cutlery, followed by tea with a slice of lemon. The in-cabin crew was even friendly.
Before that, it was the old CP Air when they still flew those “bright orange birds”, as their ads from the late 1960s called their planes.
We have Sir Freddie Laker and Laker Airways to thank for the decline in airline service. That’s when flying became the aviation equivalent of taking a Greyhound bus.
Good old Max and Wardair. Flying used to be classy and an enjoyable part of your trip. Not anymore.
This is a great program, if you can find it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq8CtMyH8DU
Hahaha– a crotch feel! Quelle scandale!
Some of the check-in security agents at the Edmonton airport came close to doing that to me.
@11:45 B
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@11:45 B
I’ve never had problems at Airports.
But once, about 7 years ago, the “Guys” handcuffed me and I was bruised for 3 weeks for just jaywalking here in the City — and fined 150 smackers. Rough day it was. I tried to post about it here once and it was deleted. Let’s see if it goes through.
Beeder, I’m 5 feet— such a threat eh!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nance … you should have been carrying an Extinction Rebellion banner … then the police would have parted the traffic seas for you … and GIVEN you $150 for your troubles.
@1048 am Kenji–
Haha!
I never saw the show, but I assume it’s fiction. That trailer, however, could be part of a documentary about a number of airports I’ve been at in recent years.
BAD – As a former CP flight attendant said about Air Canada after she had to join them “We’re not happy until you’re not happy”.
Oh wow. Wardair!! Flew 747 with them to Hawaii back in 1985. Great people !
On the way home I got to go into the cockpit for about an hour.
Talked to the copilot and the engineer.
Couldn’t believe how noisy it was up there and cramped.
Porter flying off Moronto Island has bee very friendly to me. If I ever have to go back to flying I will always check them first.
Even odds that Kate came up in the system, flagged as a known troublemaker, and that Customs were advised to ensure she spent the night in Pearson airport just to mess with her, in a plausibly deniable way.
Flagging someone as a you-know-what disturber wouldn’t surprise me.
While I was still flying to and from my house in B. C., I could almost always count on at least one item of mine being pulled aside for further “inspection” at the Edmonton airport. Sometimes I got the deluxe treatment of the agent rooting through my backpack and not bothering to put things back properly.
One time, some soyboy “randomly selected” me for harassment before I got into the check-in security lineup. He insisted on going through everything, including removing my tablet computer from its case. He later admitted that I had been “chosen” because I fit the profile of a white male travelling alone with only one item. (Uh, no, sonny. I was alone because I don’t have a family and I learned to travel light.)
BAD, went to central america with a friend who is 17 years my junior, we were gone 6 days, Upon return , we got targeted for special scrutiny. She was pretty upset, so they kept grilling her, and then they sent me to another scrutineer. All the while one dickhead was listening to both conversations. Me , I am so travel savvy, I started to crack jokes with my guy, and then we got into some social chatting, needless to say that ended all grilling. I do understand their targeting us, olde goat with younger lady is often a good case for dope smuggling:-))))
Maybe next time try shipping live with Air Canada Cargo?
https://www.aircanada.com/cargo/en/shipping/shipping-solutions/ac-live/
Welcome home, Kate. Be it ever so humble…
Oh, the aviation stories I could tell, with and without animals. My younger brother did a short stint as a Canadian Airlines baggage handler at Pearson many moons ago. The doggie tales (tails?) were enough to convince me to NEVER travel by air with my dog. We made many road trips.
I have tried to avoid Air Canada flights like the plague, as I had bad experiences in the 1970s with children. CP was wonderful in it’s day. Westjet was good before, but is now unreliable. I also avoid Pearson like the plague as well even without a dog.
I travelled with my dog in cargo with Westjet, pre-Covid, very happily, about 4-6 times a year, to Palm Springs or Calgary. She is a bit too tall/heavy to be on board at 26 lbs. Being a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, she is usually pretty “chilled” about the plane trips, as we started when she was 2. My personal rule has been direct flights in reasonable weather only, as I was fearful about the transfer nightmares that you experienced, Kate, as if you had a choice this year getting to the big show for your breed (NOT).
My dog is, after all, my third child. What I like about Westjet is that they give you a “receipt” before take-off to let the owner know that the dog has boarded. Being greeted by a waggy tail in Palm Springs is the best, as it is a small airport with dog-friendly grass and palm trees outdoors. That said, last year was a nightmare, as Westjet cancelled 4 return-to-Canada flights at the last minute, so I was on the phone for HOURS re-booking and came home 2 months late. The rules are that if you travel with a dog, you have to book and re-book and re-book online. At least I had somewhere to stay. In the end, I hired a car to LAX and flew on a direct Air Canada flight, after US airlines (with transfers) became undependable as well.
I am expecting that airline services will not improve. They might as well put the passengers in cargo with the dogs.
Cargo, without an accompanying person works, as I did pick up my son’s bull mastiff in his giant crate once at YVR (time-consuming), but maybe for serious show dogs, it is a bit iffy.
Put a dog in a dark cargo compartment, it goes to sleep.
clipe, my friend and I sent her daughters 80 pound pooch out to vancouver, she used a specialty service. They took care of every thing, and had some one greet the dog in Edmonton, or maybe Calgary to walk the pooch, and they sent a video doing so to the daughter to show her that the pooch was taken care of. I sure liked the service. When we dropped the dog off, she (dog) took rite to the attendant who greeted us.
Shortly after my father died, my biggest concern was what to do with my canine stepbrother.
I couldn’t take him back with me on a plane for several reasons. One was that he, being a short-haired miniature dachshund, was too big to take into the cabin. (Dogs must be in a portable kennel and must be small enough that they can stand up when placed under a seat.) The other thing was that it was too cold to put him in a cargo hold. My father had died early in the year, so it was still winter.
Eventually, I decided to drive up to Fort St. John, bring the little guy to Edmonton and have someone foster him. Fortunately, a day or two before I planned on heading north, I received a phone call from the woman who was looking after him while I was back in Alberta. Her family wanted to adopt him and my problem was solved that night.
La plus ca change. Air Canada, a billion dollars of admin and still can’t communicate
When the Air France jet at Pearson some 15 years ago ran off the runway and grounded all things in and out for 18 hrs with me spending a night on the floor after getting the run around for my connector out and no hotel voucher, I woke up to throngs of backed up passengers asking a whack of AC staff specifically stationed among them to know what is going on and what to do……….it was the lowly Pearson security guard who had answers, knew more and did more than all the AC twits combined
Its why I absolutely try to avoid flying with AC: If you can’t tie your shoelaces………. don’t run an airline and please don’t vote either
WorstJet isn’t any better.
Several years ago, after my mother died, I visited my father for Christmas. Unfortunately, there was a severe storm on the day I was to return and it turned into one of the worst trips I ever had.
First, my flight to Calgary was delayed by about 2 hours. Air Canada’s flight had landed, discharged its passengers, took on new ones, and flown by the time that WJ pulled its finger out.
Because of WJ’s horsing around, my connecting flight to Edmonton left just as we landed. Things really went downhill after that. Once an hour, the WJ critter came out and chirped the latest news about the next flight being delayed yet again. (I found out that one should simply smile and joyously accept the incompetence, because expressing one’s displeasure was not appreciated. So much for “customer feedback”.)
I finally got into Edmonton 5 hours late. Had I known that I would wait in Calgary that long, I would have rented myself a car and driven back home as it’s only 3 hours away.
The more you fly, the greater likelihood you’ll recognize the value represented by Interstate 80, et al. Last year I did 3 round trips to North Carolina to visit family, in total 9,000 miles. Enjoyed every minute of each 750 mile day; and no one interrogated me, threatened me with a cattle prod, nor sorted my undergarments.
Personal autonomy is worth the price of admission.
Yup. I’ve found out about that ever since I started driving to and from my house in Fort St. John.
In addition to what you mentioned, I’ve got a nice roomy cab in my truck, complete with air conditioning and SiriusXM satellite radio. In addition, I can eat whenever I want and have a bit of tea (with lemon!) whenever I want. All I have to do is watch out for my fellow motorists.
The only drawbacks is that I have to deal with Edmonton traffic on Whitemud Freeway and Henday Drive on one end, and the Peace River valley (particularly the part that’s known as South Taylor Hill) on the other.
The worst part of the Wyoming-to-North Carolina commute is transiting St. Louis. They don’t give a damn, and it shows.
Air Canada…..we’re not happy until you’re not happy!
It was that way even when it was still a Crown corporation.
Yet, while I was a grad student 40 years ago, some of my foreign colleagues raved about AC, saying that it had great service, blah blah blah.
“Well, I hate flying with dogs.”
Amen to that, I flat out refuse to do it.
P.S. If you’re ever stuck at Pearson and need a place to crush or food for the pups, post a line on the blog and help will come, as long as I am around.
BAD – As a former CP flight attendant said about Air Canada after she had to joined them “We’re not happy until you’re not happy”.
My friend and I always drive, in a 2008 Ford E-350 extended van. We love the old beast. A couple of sleeping bags and we’re set for the trip. But it wasn’t an option this year, and the tickets were cheap. (Everything else was expensive).
Air Canada: “We’re not happy until you are unhappy.”
Funny how their motto and colours are the same as the LPC’s…
I did a fair amount of business flying in the last 15 years before I retired, mostly to Edmonton and Calgary, but also a dozen trips back east to Torturonna, Man-on-trial, and Queerback city, and yeah I did notice the decline in West Jet service over those years. I also tried as best I could to avoid flying with Air Canada when ever possible. Air Canada have always had a superiority complex, as if allowing passengers on Air Canada planes was, at least from their point of view, slumming with transients. I never once felt as if my business was appreciated by them.
Now, being an antivax leper, I guess my flying days are over, no real loss there.