Flying with pet dog

[231LV]

I havent tried this yet but my daughter and son-in-law are heading to Ft Rucker, AL for my son-in-law's Army flight training. My wife and I plan to visit with the plane but wondered what some have done about flying their pets? Noise? O2? crates?

[anthonydesmet]

One 100lb German Shepard and one 50lb chow. Usually fly 12k-14kft.....sleepy sleepy for the dogs but anything over 14 we will put their doggy O2 masks which are avail at airox. Average flight is about 4.5

My rear seats are pulled and I have the baggage compartment sectioned off.

Put a yoga mat down with one or two large dog beds and they will live it

In the summer at lower altitude they might get a little curious so always try and find smooth air usually in the teens.

I expect a LOT of fun greetings when you park at the FBO.

[Oldguy]

Some of the folks on here regularly fly with different rescue groups and report no problem with the animals being crated and flying. I would think if you are in the 10-12k altitude, there should not be a problem, but it might do well to check with their vet to see if they have any medical conditions to prevent them from having a successful trip.

Just a thought.

 

[GeeBee]

We recently started flying with my wife's 15 pound mutt daschund. He would not keep his mutt muff's on so we added a "dog hoodie" which keeps them on him. We put a dog bed in the back seat and while not exuberant he does not seem to mind either.

 

[gsxrpilot]

We regularly fly with our 50 lb labradoodle. She has the floppy ears so we just stuff some cotton balls down her ears for the noise. She's been as high as 15K without O2 and to FL180 with the Airox doggie mask. 

[Hank]

I load luggage in the back, put the doggie crate on the back seat, Bailey walks in and my wife's purse goes in front of the door. Being a short body, there isoften something on top of his crate, too. We sit up front and off we go. He is generally very quiet, and can see us from inside the crate. He often yelps at touchdown, sometimes when the gear thump down on downwind. No problems . . . .

Hope everytbing goes well at Rucker. That's a short flight from here.

[steingar]

Whether or not dogs will fly can be petty accurately gauged by how well they drive.  If they just go to sleep in the back seat in the car, they'll likely to so in the airplane.  You might want to stay out of the stroke-inducing altitudes, if you need oxygen it's a good bet your dog does too.  I haven't worried about hearing  protection for my dogs, though I only take them flying occasionally.  If you fly all the time you probably should think about it.  Airplanes drove lots of early pilots deaf.

Any oxygen or ear protection will require training for the dog.  They don't naturally wear stuff.

[GeeBee]

They say take the hearing protection off once and they will always want it in the future.

 

 

[MrRodgers]

They say take the hearing protection off once and they will always want it in the future.
 
 

We fly regularly with our dog. I got her used to wearing Mutt Muffs and a flying harness that attaches to a seat belt. Had her get used to the Mutt Muffs while in the house at home. A few minutes at a time until she learned to keep them on. Next took her to the plane and let her hang out inside to get used to the smells and surroundings. Then I clipped her in and put the Muffs on and just taxi’d around the airport. On her first flight she was as calm as can be. Just make sure they go to the bathroom before departure. It’s great fun flying with your pets. ALWAYS have them buckled in though. Safety first.


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[neilpilot]

I estimate that I've flown at least 250 dogs on rescue flights in the past 25 years.  Many were puppies, but about 20% were larger dogs using a harness attached to the rear seat belts.  Except for my own dog, virtually none of these dogs had previously flown except on a relay flight the same day they flew with me.  Most of the dogs were calm, and none were provided with hearing protection or O2.

I rarely have flown above 12k, and on dog rescue flights typically max out at 7-8k.  Breeds with a flat face, such as pugs and shih tzu, are particularly susceptible to breathing distress at altitude.

[PMcClure]

Moonshine helps me look for bogeys and slow Cessnas. She hates the gyro noise but doesn’t seem to kind the rest. 

[carusoam]

We have an MSer that liked his dog so much... he selected a plane based on the dog’s needs...

Of course he bought it a parachute...  

his screen name was the type of dog he had.... (?)

Best regards,

-a-

[Skates97]

14 minutes ago, carusoam said:

We have an MSer that liked his dog so much... he selected a plane based on the dog’s needs...

Of course he bought it a parachute...  

his screen name was the type of dog he had.... (?)

Best regards,

-a-

 

Ah, @Samurai Husky, he and I were going through our PPL about the same time and each had a thread going with our adventures. He bought a SR22 Turbo and flies with his dogs, hasn't been around for awhile here.

[Greg Ellis]

I fly with my 3 dogs pretty regularly.  They do just fine and are usually asleep pretty soon after we depart.  I talked to my vet about flying with the dogs and the noise, etc...  He stated that the noise usually is not an issue for dogs because their hearing is more attuned to higher pitch sounds and not the low rumbling of the engine.  He stated that they may startle with noise but as far as hurting their ears, it should not.  I have never flown with mutt muffs or any other dog hearing protection and they seem to do just fine.

I also do the occasional animal rescue flight and I have never had an issue with the dogs.

[Jeff_S]

I have flown many Pet Rescue missions and since those weren't my dogs, I didn't (really, couldn't) provide any sort of ear protection.  What I've been told is that if they have floppy ears, this by itself does a pretty good job of blocking noise and so for one or two flights it wouldn't be a problem.  For my own dogs, we had a yorkie that I used to take up for occasional fun flights and the odd trip, and by the end of his life he was deafer than a doornail.  This could be totally unrelated to flying of course, but I decided when his replacement arrived I would invest in a pair of Mutt Muffs to help.

I don't know if it makes HIM feel any better, but I sure do. And since he's so small, I found that a short width of panty hose placed around the outside of the muffs helps keep them on during the flight.  He's pretty good about leaving them on for the whole duration, but senses when we've landed and then pulls them off himself. Perhaps he doesn't mind them so much! Here's our little Rocket in full flying glory:

[steingar]

My Kurzon was never within a mile of an airplane, and he went totally deaf in his curmudgeonhood.  I doubt very strongly that occasional flights deafened your pooch.

[CharlesHuddleston]

Lady LuLu just rides in the bag in a lap. Easy peasy. Had a great trip to the beach with her this summer.