It was a sunny morning at the airport. The TSA line zigzagged with tired faces, everyone hoping to catch their plane. My husband and I made eye contact over the small, mesh-sided bag he carried on his shoulder.
When it was almost our turn to be scrutinized, I took the mysterious bag from him, so he could focus on our other—less valuable—bags.
We’ve flown multiple times before, but this time was different… We were flying with an 8-week-old dachshund puppy!
All to surprise my unsuspecting mother in South Carolina…
How Our Flying Dachshund Endeavor Began
If you don’t know, my husband and I are dachshund handlers. My mom has always wanted one of our pups, but being 800 miles away makes adopting one of our puppies kind of hard.
Well, in mid February, our dachshund pair had a litter of four adorable, cuddly puppies. I talked about them and their achievements non-stop, per usual.
When they were ready to find their forever homes, I sent a message to my family’s group chat, saying how I was excited for them to find loving homes, yet sad to let them go. It was officially crunch time though…
Since we already had a trip planned to visit my family and help them scoop hundreds of horse stalls (don’t ask), we needed to get these puppies good homes fast.
To my surprise, right after sending that message, my phone pinged with a private message from my dad. “If they’re not all taken, I want one for your mama. I’ll pay you when you get here… Only you and me know.”
And so began the adventure of keeping a secret from my mom, which is the hardest task anyone has ever had to conquer. Who has ever succeeded at such a foolish quest?
Of course, my dad lovingly gave me the job of figuring out which puppy she wanted without giving the surprise away. *sighs* I tried and tried to pry something—anything!—out of her, but it didn’t work. My dad tried and nada. Even my older sister got involved and nobody could figure out if she had a favorite.
Like any tight-knit family would do, we didn’t choose at all. Yep. We let everyone else pick their puppies first and gave her the last one. Thankfully, it was the puppy we hoped would be left!
With that sorted out, it was time to take our sweet baby girl to the vet. One thermometer in places they should never go and a clear bill of health, we set off on our grand adventure to South Carolina with an 8-week-old dachshund puppy.
The Most Inconvenient Airport Delay
We arrived at our plane’s gate with about two hours before our plane was to land, wiping figurative sweat off our foreheads, relieved to be in the airport with enough time to check-in the puppy.
Before getting there, we gave the pup a calming medicine/herbal anxiety reducer (NOT sedative), but it stood no chance against the excitement and smells of the airport.
Apparently, the airport can kick you out if your dog barks too much though. Not good news for our 8-week-old dachshund puppy that had only been on two car rides in its short entirety.
To our dismay, a wait of 30 minutes for our flight quickly became a SEVEN HOUR DELAY… with an energetic puppy.
My poor husband STRESSED the whole time.
When the doom set in, I called my mom to tell her that we wouldn’t make our connecting flight, so they would have to drive further to pick us up from a different airport… And of course, the puppy took that moment to be the rowdiest she could be, so Connor had to take her across the airport seating area. My mom hearing a puppy with us would definitely ruin the surprise.
Our sweet girl actually ended up doing amazing, but of course, that was the one time she let out a big girl bark.
After barely making it off the phone without ruining the surprise, we grabbed some coffees, played games on our phones, and waited… And waited some more.
The worst part of the whole delay was that this airport had no dog relief area. The only place was back through security and outside, so we had to go through TSA twice.
There were two little girls outside who were so excited to see a tiny puppy, so that made it worth the extra effort.
The girls ran back and forth with her until they had to leave, which seemed to be the saddest life event they had to endure.
By the time we finally got on the plane, the girls had exhausted our pup so much that she slept the whole flight without making a peep. A blessing!
When we arrived, my parents had been waiting for us for a couple of hours, so we quickly made our way through the crowds with knotted stomachs. Finally, I spotted my dad standing just around a corner.
Dog bag slung over my shoulder, I tucked our pup behind my back as much as possible and then rounded the corner to hug my parents at long last.
It took my mom a solid few minutes to notice the puppy. “You notice anything different?” I asked, trying not to smile too much. “You’re pregnant??”
She nearly cried when she saw the puppy! Considering Connor and I have only been married a year, I think a puppy is a much better surprise than a grandchild. 😅
Welcome home, Maple!
Ah, before I close, here’s a photo of Connor and I scooping horse poop. 🙃
Have you ever taken a pet on a flight? How did it turn out? Were they as good as our sweet Maple or a little terror?
Right before boarding, we had a guy tell us they brought a dog in a crate just like ours one time and the dog ate through it. Not really comforting words as your nervously boarding your flight….
Keep praying & hoping,
Autumn Rebecca
Sunshine in the Haze 
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