Dogs on the plane

[MooneyBob]

At some point I'd like to take my dogs for a ride in my Mooney. Does anybody have any experience and advice? Are they scared of the noise? Should I use some kind of ear protection?

Thank you

Bob

[Z W]

My 90lb black lab jumps onto the wing, climbs into the back seat, and slobbers on the back windows for a while, until he falls asleep. Acts just like he is riding in the jeep. No ear protection necessary.

I did tie his leash to the rear seatbelt on the first flight. Wasn't sure how he would do. He seemed to be laughing at me.

Your experience may vary, he is a pretty good dog.

[yvesg]

If your dog is OK in a car, there should be no problems... I have two beagles and they follow their master wherever he goes... just lots of dog's hair on the seats. I'll post a picture when I manage to rotate it from upside down.

Yves

[Hank]

My poodle doesn't mind. He's too small to tie down, so he's either in his crate on the back seat or in my wife's lap. His first lap ride in the plane, everything was fine taxiing out and running up, he was looking out the window as we went down the runway [his favorite word is "ride" which means in the car with us, whether across town or across the country], but he was visibly surprised and stretched upwards watching the ground fall away. Then he was fine, didn't even complain when the trip ended 9 miles away on a grass runway, and was too tired to notice the return flight later that day.

 

If you dog likes the car, he will like the plane.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Be careful, sometimes the pooch will knock your headset off.

 

[Ned Gravel]

If your dog is OK in a car, there should be no problems... I have two beagles and they follow their master wherever he goes... just lots of dog's hair on the seats. I'll post a picture when I manage to rotate it from upside down.

Yves

Well Yves:  

 

Looks more like your beagle is following his mistress, not his master.....

[orionflt]

I have a german shepherd who loves to go flying, he will sit up and look around for takeoff, landings, and when we are flying low, as we go higher up he lays down in the back seat and naps. the big problem now is that i just re did the interior and I want to keep it looking nice so I haven't let fly with me lately. I did bring my daughters dog down from maine the other week, we covered the back seats and put a crate in. her dog is half the size of my shepherd and i was flying alone so i didn't want to let him free (that and the new interior). he was a little rammy until i started the engine then he settled down and slept for the 2.5 hr flight. after i shut down he made it clear he was ready to disembark but all in all her did great. now i guess i will reevaluate putting blankets down so buddy can still go flying with me. he is too big for a crate but has always been well behaved so i should only need to clean the nose prints off the windows and maybe wipe down the side panels. 

[tomn]

I done a number of PNP flights and the behavior is always the same for the most part. Your dog will be curious at first then will sit very still or fall asleep. I believe the loud noise subdues them quite a bit. They will sit up and take notice when you begin your decent and land.

I have not put hearing protection on the dogs I've transported and they have done fine but I would definitely get some ear muffs for my dogs if they flew with me from time to time. Dogs have incredible hearing and the engine noise must be very loud to them. Sportys has the muffs I think.

Tom

[benpilot]

 

Good discussion. If I end up with a Mooney, I've thought of taking out the back seats to make room for pet transport. I signed up with Pilots N Paws to do some animal charity flights. I love animals and its a great way to build time and save on taxes while giving back. 

[Mike A]

We use Mutt Muffs for our 70lb chocolate lab.  She enjoys sticking her head out the window in the car and gets frustrated that she can't in the plane, then curls up and goes to sleep.  My copilot does the same.

 

I would not recommend bringing a dog in a plane without some sort of hearing protection for them.  

 

 

 

 

[smitty9006]

Mike Baraz graciously picked up my puppy in Michigan and flew her to Schaumburg, IL. I'm just an aspiring Mooney owner and never flown in one so my dog's got one up on me.

Btw, Mike said she was fine.

[jlunseth]

Works fine, just remember they have the same O2 requirements we do so you can't go high.  I had a male and a female German Shorthaired Pointer.  Both would ride with me.  The female rode around with me in my truck and developed the habit of suddenly launching herself into my lap (while I was driving).  This is not an option in an aircraft, so I got the type of harness that you can string a seatbelt through, which would hold her safely in the back seat.  I got ear muffs, but the muffs would not really stay in place very well.

 

The only rule is to match the dog to the color of your seats and carpet so the hair does not show as much.  My dogs were white and the carpet was black, but the seats were white, so mixed results.

[1964-M20E]

I’ve not had any problems with my dogs.  My prior dog, Cookie, got a little nervous the first time I advanced the throttle but after that flight she settled down and was fine.  My current dog, Julet, my son and I flew to Houston to get her.  She did fine on the return flight.  Genuine lovable mutts both of them.  I do miss Cookie.

 

On the first flight with Cookie I was by myself and went for a short flight about 345 minutes to get her used to the idea.  I took her leash and passed it through the co-pilot seat to limit her movement just in case she panicked.

 

I bought mutt muffs for Cookie but she did not like them too much and only wore them a few times.  However, they are too small for Julet.

 

Photo of them in the plane.

[Marauder]

Mine turns into a zombie when he goes

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[Guest]

I've taken my minature dachshund Stevie for a few rides with a friend with her sitting in the right seat.  She wears Mutt-Muffs and hates them.  I do not want her to lose her hearing as she ignores my commands enough already.  I have a harness to clip her into the right seat if and when I take her up by myself.  As you can see in the profile picture this would be her normal postion if I didn't strap her in.  That is fine for the truck on the open highway but not a good place in a plane.  (Especially on short final!)

[Mooneymite]

I used to do a lot of Angel Flights where I carried young kids.  I noticed that even if they started out screaming, after the prop had turned over about four blades, they were sound asleep.  When we carry our dogs, the same thing happens....four blades and the dogs are asleep.

 

 

 

(Do you think I should stop hitting my passengers with the prop?)

[flyboy]

My 50 pound boxer does just fine. Falls asleep.

[aviatoreb]

Here's a picture I posted on a parallel thread of me, my son, and 8 chihuahua on my Mooney rocket on Monday for a pilots and paws mission.  10 souls on board!

[MooneyBob]

Be careful, sometimes the pooch will knock your headset off.

 

Super funny. I watched it 100 times today and showed it to everybody.

[JohnB]

I fly dogs all of the time, mine, and rescues for pilots & paws. When possible, I will put ear protection on them (I use Mutt Muffs), and its clear that the dogs prefer them on. I put them on them right before I start the engine, and almost all dogs will take them off ONCE, usually on taxi, and when you put them back on, they quickly realize it is much more comfortable with them on and they leave them alone. Dogs' hearing is much more sensitive than ours and can be damaged just the same if they are repeatedly exposed to engine noise for long periods of time. A good harness is necessary to keep them safe in the seat. Other than that, they seem to think its just another car ride and either nap or just lie down.

 

And Daver, as for the barkers, ive transported a few of those, and yes they bark when the engine is off, but once you start your engine, they are totally quiet (likely because they realize that no one will hear them) and they mellow quite nicely until you stop again, then they bark away..

[wiguy]

 I plan to try to get her on some time. Our German Shepherd pup, 13 weeks or so. Right now she doesn't care for anything with an engine.

[scottfromiowa]

I bought a soft sided collapsible kennel that when down fits through baggage door. It has Velcro so sticks to seat. Reduces hair and any issue with single pilot freak out. Works great. He is down with eyes closed before rotation. I load him through baggage into open zipper and mesh crate door. Cost about $30 bucks at Tyson's.