FIRST FLIGHT By Deborah LoGerfo

Zarah my service dog and I recently completed our first plane ride ever when we flew on an INTERNATIONAL flight from JFK in New York to Nova Scotia, Canada.




We left JFK airport over Labor Day weekend. Something I'd consider differently if we did this again! When we entered the airport through the revolving doors, the lines of people which began at the ticket counters block our way. I've never seen the airport more crowded!

They say emotions travel down the leash, so I tried to be as casual as possible, but it was quite a scene to get through.

After navigating our way through the sea of people, we found airport agents to help us, and from that point on we had someone assigned to us to help us through security and walk us to our gate.



Even with all the training that Zarah went through, I still didn't know exactly how she would actually behave when the plane was taking off!

I worried about the noise and vibrations, the liftoff, her ears, etc. etc., but this too turned out to be a more of a test for me than for her!

Once we boarded and got to our seats, Zarah simply assumed her position at my feet, and that was it. The takeoff caused her to slide down under my seat a little bit, but she readjusted herself and actually slept on and off the rest of the way. It was difficult to imagine that this was her first flight!


One flight attendant confided to me that Zarah was better than some of their passengers!




The airline personnel in the U.S. and Canada were all wonderful to us, and I really can’t say enough about the people who went out of their way to help us.

Nova Scotia welcomed Zarah and I everywhere we went. Our gracious host, Don Bates of Doindogs Kennels, the breeder I got Zarah from, was quite impressed with all of her training- and recently sent another pup to the United States just last year. This other pup, like Zarah, was also was trained at C&G K-9 School in Uniondale, New York, but this pup’s mission was to help a woman who has MS.



Anyway, as you can imagine, it was still a great deal of hard work walking a dog through two international airports, clearing customs, riding in elevators, going in and out of ladies rooms, jumping in and out of taxi cabs, AND taking pictures along the way. However, I could not have asked for a better traveling companion…and with no baggage!!!

While in Nova Scotia, we attended a CKC Dog Show as guests, and we had this picture below taken for a newsletter.




Canadian Kennel Club Dog Show (above)



We spent six wonderful days sightseeing throughout a country that couldn’t have done more to make us feel at home everywhere we went. Even our hotel welcomed dogs. I can’t tell you how really great that makes you feel!


Zarah was remarkable. She was the most wonderful Ambassador for a Hearing Dog that anyone could ever hope for, and the two of us educated people about Hearing Dogs every step along the way of our journey together.






Zarah (above) in Nova Scotia!!!


And so that’s the story of our first trip. We’re only just beginning!

Deborah LoGerfo

Brook

Here is Brook and I on a little duck hunt in early October near St. John's.

Craig

Zoe

Hi guys,

It's been a long time. Hope all is well. Thought we would send pictures of our kids. Zoe is doing so well and is as beautiful as ever. She has turned out to be a wonderful dog. We welcomed our newest a yellow we named Dallas. Very different to Zoe...much less active and is not very fond yet of the water unlike Zoe. Now I just need to convince David of a chocolate!!!!!!!!!

Let's get together soon...
Say hi to Pierette.

Pam Reid

I took Jay and Tanya out.

I took Jay and Tanya out. We were hunting that blind on the Avon with not a single waterfowl in the air but roosters cackling up and down both sides of the river. I have never hear anything like it. Perhaps something to do with the pending storm. Anyhow – by half-hour after sunrise we couldn’t stand it any longer. We swapped camo for orange and steel for lead and hit the dykes for the long hunt. We put up two hens then finally a nice rooster that ran back past us through the ditch with Ruby hot on its tail. When it flushed it was behind some trees and Tanya and I both missed. This was her first shot at anything live and I think she found it quite exciting. By great good luck it circled right over Jay who was on the next hedgerow over and he took it with a clean shot (his first wingshot bird ever!). We then went to Grand Pre and worked very hard along cornfield edges to push out 3 more hens and three more roosters. We should have had two of the roosters but Jay’s Mossberg pump jammed on him again. I got one just as it popped out of one cornfield and flew across the swale into the next. A difficult but good blind retrieve of a wounded bird for Ruby. We packed up just as the first sheets of rain came down.

Hope you both had good weekends and got a few birds!

-Dave

She's Back

Hi Don,



Sable just spent 1 week at C&G. We left her with Joe, to fine tune her a bit. She is long & sleek looking. Sable is a dog now.



I am glad she is home...I missed her. I think she missed me too. Sable ran in to the house, like a freight train...hunting me down. Then lots of wagging!!!



Thanks for my great dog,

Janette

Opening Day

Hi Don,

I hope everything went smoothly with your trip to Maine to pick up Bella. We were at our spot at 5:30 this morning to stake our claim. Just as well – after our first pass we ran into a solo hunter and then a party of 4 with two dogs. Ruby flushed at least 13 individual roosters and 3 hens. Total flushes was over 25 – we stopped counting. We both got our limit early on, and then stopped on the way home and picked up a pair of woodcock as a bonus! What a great day! Ruby was very good once she settled down, but ran after the first rooster despite my commands. It was only by sheer luck that she did not flush any others when she did that. She also got after a runner and flushed him out of range, but other than those two incidents I was very happy with her. My proudest moment was as we were walking back towards the car with 3 roosters – we were following the four other guys hunting with a Brittany and some kind of pointer. They were working an alder hillside only about 20 feet wide and so we were sure it would be empty as we followed them along. Ruby found some scent and flushed a big rooster that they had somehow missed and we got it to finish our limit!

-Dave