Julie

We haven't gotten around to the Hugo blog lately, school, work, and doggie activities seem to fill my days.

I wanted to tell you about the trip Hugo and I took this week.  We had an overnighter to Atlanta.  This was my first trip with a puppy.  Hugo was fabulous as usual, and there were very nice people to help us out when we needed assistance or had questions.

We started with the TSA security check, Hugo laid down so I could take my shoes, backpack, and jacket off.  Security asked for me to remove his chain and leash and then walk with him through the metal detector, no problem.  Then he laid down again while I put myself back together. 
Security commented on how great we did.

Next, we went to the opposite end of the terminal because someone gave us the wrong gate number.  It worked out ok, because he had plenty of opportunities to try out elevators, escalators ( up only ), and about a dozen of the people movers ( conveyor belt for people ) which he thought were pretty cool.  He was excellent, despite having only experienced elevators before.  Everything else was new.

We had a bulk head seat on the plane and Hugo settled in nicely.  He actually fell asleep while we were circling around on the tarmak, but woke up abruptly when the plane began to ascend...poor thing was sliding backwards !  He wasn't afraid, just couldn't figure out what was going on.  He never stood up or anything and settled back in once the plane leveled out.  The rest of the trip was a bit bumpy, but he remained relaxed.  When the plane landed in Atlanta, it hit the runway hard and Hugo looked up, but all was fine.

A taxi took us to our hotel about 30 minutes North of the airport.  We checked into our hotel and then walked over to the nearby grocery store to buy Hugo some fresh chicken.  The Indian cashier said quite angrily "you can't have your dog in the store !".  I said "he's my service dog and he has every right to be here.  Federal law says he can go anywhere I go !".  Before I knew it, the guy in line behind me started yelling at the cashier.  He said "you better let service dogs in this store, they have a lot of power....you have no right to deny them and you're better just accept it !".  Wow !  I didn't say a thing more, I figured that guy said it all.
    Hugo is not used to sleeping on my bed ( my older shepherd has that privilege ), so he was constantly waking me up and just plain fidgety.  I think he was really excited to be on the bed for the first time.

The next day, we walked over to the pharmacy next door and then hopped into a taxi to my doctor appointment a few miles away.  The medical staff and my doctor fell in love with him instantly, he has that effect on people.  Afterwards we had a bit of time, so we took another taxi to the mall.  This was where we would also pick up the subway system, much cheaper than taking the taxi back to the airport.   Many people stared at us like this was very unfamiliar to them.  We got that response all over Atlanta, but the people in Michigan are so used to service dogs that they even know the rules about not petting them.  At least most people know that.

So, we got on the subway called the Marta.  It was extremely fast and shook allot.  Hugo tucked under the seat as best as he could ( he's getting big ! ), and occasionally peeked out to see if it was our stop.  Quite a few people got on and off.  We even had 2 people sit right next to us.  Hugo had excellent manners.  When we arrived at the airport, we went to security and the line was humungous.  A TSA security guard directed Hugo and I to the front of the line.  I felt awkward jumping ahead of a few hundred people, but what was I going to do ?

Anytime I stopped, Hugo relaxed and laid down or sat down.  We boarded the plane and Hugo found his spot again.  He must have been really tired because he was already asleep before the plane taxied down the runway.  This time he didn't bother to look up as we ascended.  He slept the entire flight, and I slept most of it too.  Thud !  We hit the runway quite hard and Hugo didn't even pick his head up.  We took a van back to the parking area and drove home exhausted.  It was a long 24 hours, but I was so proud of my boy.  For only being 7 months old he had done things that some of my older pup's hadn't even attempted.  I also knew that he was prepared through are many outings and daily school trips over the past several months.  We had a great trip together.  I hope we have many more to come.