Mississippi Bound for NASAR

Sirius and I had the honor of being sent to this years National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) annual conference representing the American Rescue Dog Association (ARDA), which is our organization  (VSRDA is the Virginia unit of ARDA).  The neat thing about these annual conferences (besides being held in various parts of the country) is that you get to spend several days with fantastic people AND dogs.  The days are filled with very interesting lectures.  I got to bring Sirius on this trip, which was his first big travel involving airplanes, shuttle buses, hotel rooms, and to his delight, room service.  Having him there was awesome...he was such a great travel companion.  He helped break the ice in meeting people, guarded my room against evil doers in the hallways of the hotel, and sat patiently next to me in each lecture I attended.  This entry will be mostly about his adventure.

Woofin' the friendly skies...

...well, actually not "woofin"...Sirius was quiet as a mouse the entire time traveling to Mississippi.  He was such a hit that even the pilots came out after landing to meet him and get their picture with him.  Above is a photo of me taking a picture of a pilot with his camera and Sirius.

The dog that was and wasn't there

Traveling with a dog is very interesting.  Walking through the airport with a dog like Sirius gets lots of attention.  But he was so well mannered that sometimes people didn't see him if he wasn't moving.  One lady came over and sat next to us while we were waiting to board the plane and we engaged in some light conversation.  Sirius then sat up after a few minutes and she was startled and asked where did he come from.  I explained that he was always there right at my feet.  She was amazed she missed him and stated that if she had known he was there, she wouldn't have sat near me!  And after getting off the plane on one of the legs, people saw Sirius after debarking (no pun intended) and were amazed that there was a dog on the flight the whole time and that they never knew it.  They said they knew of the loud kids and babies onboard, but never heard a single woof or whine from Sirius!

Above is a video of Sirius during boarding

Other times Sirius drew LOTS of attention.  You can easily separate the dog people from the non-dog people by their reactions.  Those that loved Sirius would stop in their tracks and watch him go by.  I'd hear out of the side of my ear "Look at that beautiful dog!".  Some would go out of their way to come over and meet him.  Even the pilots would learn he was on board and rush out of the cabin after landing to meet him.  Flight attendants made sure to offer him ice or water before they offered anyone anything else.  Sirius was just bummed they didn't serve Milk-bones on the flight!  One Air Force service member came over and sat near us waiting for one flight.  We were talking for a bit about dogs and Sirius' training.  She was on her way leaving home for duty somewhere far.  What amazed me was she thanked ME for what I was doing with volunteer search and rescue.  I was floored and taken aback that a military soldier would thank ME because I'm usually the first to thank THEM for all that they do.  The last bit of attention we got was going through one of the security check points.  Here is where obedience training comes in very handy.  I couldn't go through the metal detector with Sirius, nor could I let him go through with his collar and leash.  So I had to put him in a "down" and go through alone...then I would call to him to "come" and have him go through the detector.  One time he was simply frisked by hand, but the last time was very interesting.  Even though neither of us beeped going through, they decided they wanted a closer look.  They had Sirius and I go into a glass room and wait to be escorted to the side for further examination.  They frisked him again, but also myself.  They used the wand on both of us even.  They also checked my boots and camera for explosive residue by swabbing them and putting the swabs in an analyzer.  They looked through every single thing I was bringing on board, even thumbing through my book "K9 Heroes"!  It was a funny moment when they looked at Sirius' leather tug toy with strapping attached and they couldn't figure out what it was.  Sirius was looking at it like he was about to pounce on it for a nice bit of tugging, which would have been bad!  The screeners were very friendly asking all about Sirius and the volunteer work I do and also thanked me for what I did.  They said that us coming through that morning made their day which was nice to hear.  I was sure to thank THEM for helping keep all us travelers safe.

Sirius napping in class.

Sirius was great in the lectures.  The main part of the conference involved the entire group regardless of what track people were in.  When we were all together, if there was clapping involved, that would get Sirius excited...he knows what clapping is from his many demonstrations and when he hears it he thinks he's done something good and gets excited.  But any other time, he simply lay there and would take naps.  When we broke up into our specific tracks (we were obviously in the SAR Dog Track),  there would be about twenty people in the rooms along with about six or seven other dogs.  At first, Sirius couldn't understand why he couldn't meet every dog he saw from a distance and got upset that he was being asked to just stay there calmly.  But after a while, he learned the drill and settled in.  Soon he was napping away in each lecture.  Occasionally he'd let out his trademarked Grumble which he produces when he was bored or trying to get comfortable.  This always was good for getting lots of smiles from those that heard him.  He'd also at times wake up and see what was going on, or move to another end of his leash to meet someone sitting near me.  I wouldn't be able to rely on him for any answers or notes as he slept in class almost as much as I did through high school!

Sirius at the Tunica Hotel

I had brought Hero to five NASAR conferences in the past.  It was nice to see people from those years remember and ask about him, and it was also nice to be able to introduce them now to Sirius.