It has been about two months since Hobie's last haircut. Though he looks annoyed at having short hair again...
gladys: September 2007 Archives
We're in Singapore! But first, a quick update about Hobie:
We were stressed about traveling with a dog, but Hobie did well on the 17 hour journey to Norway, and it went relatively smooth. I say relatively because as soon as he was put onto a luggage cart to wheel him out of the car and into the SFO international terminal, the yelping began. I suppose it was the bumpiness of the ride that caused the
yelping but it didn't subside once we reached the check-in line. We received a lot of sympathetic smiles as we waited our turn at the counter and I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for subjecting him to such a long flight. Hobie subsided but the worst was yet to come.
The United counter was great. They provided additional 'live animal' stickers and included a perforated name ticket for the crate. These tickets are provided to help reassure owners that their pet did indeed make it - a portion is torn off by the ground crew, who then passes off to the cabin crew, and they make the final drop to the owner waiting anxiously in their seat. With boarding passes in hand, the last thing was to have Hobie's crate inspected for explosives.
It was the longest 100 yards we've ever walked. Hobie began this top-of-the-lungs yelping that we had never heard before. People stopped and pointed toward us, shop keepers stepped out of their stores to stare, all the while we tried to comfort Hobie to quiet down. But he didn't. He repeated this again following the inspection, and until the wheeled him away in a side corridor near security. After reading about pets that had the misfortune of being placed on different flights from their owners, I was pretty stressed.
When we boarded the plane, we informed the flight attendants about Hobie. They were friendly, reassuring and offered several times to check on his status. It was until I looked out the window that I noticed we were able to see baggage being loaded onto the plane. After all bags were in, a cart drove up carrying Hobie and another crate. We watched in relief as was loaded on. A few minutes after, a flight attendant handed us the perforated name card that we had filled out earlier. All was well.
We had a one hour plane change in Germany, and as we were bussed to the plane, again we saw Hobie sitting on the tarmac. We were reunited in Oslo and though whimpering profusely, he was ok. He only peed a little in his crate, and the towel care took of that. Nothing else was in his crate, thank goodness. We had quite a happy pup on our hands once we got outside of the terminal, and he was back to himself within five minutes, busting circles as we walked to find some bushes. He was even happier playing fetch again in Oslo. Hobie will be staying in Norway, as the quarantine period in Singapore is 4 months.
