Last Sunday, the first of Faith’s pups were heading home. I was planning on meeting both families at the Spokane airport; one was driving in, the second flying.

So all went well with the first delivery. They met me on time at our planned meeting spot at 11:30 as planned. A very sweet family (mom was home awaiting the new family member) who already have an older Cavapoo puppy and were waiting to add little Hunnicutt (now named Oliver aka Ollie). 🙂

The next person was flying in at 12:30 and then heading out on a departing flight at 2:30; plenty of time to do our puppy hand-off. But that morning she sent me a text that her connecting flight was delayed and “was there any way I could meet her at her gate?” Normally, I meet people when they are coming down into the terminal by the luggage carousel or next to the ticket counter so they can check back in. Wow, at the gate?! I didn’t know I could get back to the waiting area without a ticket. My adopter thought I could get some type of pass to get to the gate. I reminded her that the puppy would probably have to be checked in too. Oh yeah! She asked if I could possible check and see if all that was possible and she would pay me the fee as soon as she saw me.

Like I mentioned her departing flight was at 2:30, but she needed to check in by 2:00. With her delayed flight she didn’t think she’d arrive until 1:45. That didn’t give us a lot of leeway.

I was at the airport already because of the other family, but had to kill a little time because the parking near to the terminal was only one hour maximum. :/ I really didn’t want to park far away and have to carry the puppy that much further (not that he weighed a lot or anything). I finally parked and let puppy Pierce out in the back of my truck to use the litter box and stretch his legs. Then I headed inside to the Southwest ticket counter to explain the situation and see if they could help us out. The lady was super helpful and nice. We got Pierce paid for, and she printed a courtesy pass for me to go through security.

Then off we went through the security check. I am not an experienced traveler and haven’t flown in many, many years, so this was all a new experience for me. Thankfully, everyone was really nice and helpful. And one of the officers really thought Pierce was adorable. <3

So we made it into the terminal! Thankfully, Spokane is a small airport and we only had two terminals to deal with; A and B. My puppy person was arriving on B and departing on A, but they were two wings just right next to each other. She would have to hustle down one, go a few strides and then back up the other.

In the meantime we had been texting back and forth. Time was passing. Thankfully, Pierce napped peacefully in his little soft carrier that I had slung over my shoulder. I sat for a while by her departure gate, then got up and headed to the entrance of the terminal to check the board to see if there was any change on her incoming flight. It was getting close to 2:00. People were leaving the terminal from recently landed flights and some were walking in, in preparation for their departing flights. I was sitting near the entrance when all of a sudden I saw a lady with hair flying, running by me carrying a dog carrier! I yelled out, “Natalie!” and she screeched to a halt and headed my way. She was so relieved to see me and know we had pulled this thing off.

We walked and talked to her gate and just had time to transfer Pierce from my carrier to hers (with a quick kiss in between) and she was called to board! We were able to chat leisurely the next day and go over his puppy packet.

It was for sure, the fastest puppy hand off I’ve ever done!