Flying Dogs

[mulro767]

Anyone have any experience with bringing a dog in a Mooney?  I know it's loud and can be quite stressful.  My Brother has a very well behaved German Shepard that he'd like to bring along on an hour long flight to our cabin.  

[jlunseth]

I have taken both of the German Shorthaired Pointers with no problem other than hair in the backseat, which is not a problem to me but then I am a dog guy.  I got a pair of the Mutt Muffs that go over their ears, but they do not seem to want to stay in place.

The only issue I could think of is having the dog become anxious enough to want to jump in the pilot's lap.  Don't laugh, they can be very insistent about it if their anxiety level gets high enough.  There would be two ways of insuring that would not happen.  One would be to put a kennel box in luggage or the back seat and have them ride in that.  The problem is that the kennel boxes for medium to large dogs just won't go through the door and over the front seat, or in the luggage door.  So I bought a harness of the type you can use in a car, that has a strap through which you thread a seat belt.  That keeps the dog safely in place.

Just was not a problem.  I like to bird hunt and train dogs, so now with the Mooney I can run out to Bismarck ND from Mpls. and hunt or dog train for an afternoon, then come home.

[animalmover]

I have a Border Collie and he gets to go to the fly-in breakfasts we attend ( he loves sausage ).  I'd start with a trip around the pattern first ( with some help to control your dog if need be ) and work into longer trips. No problem with the noise.  The drone of the engine seems to put him to sleep after a while.

Good Luck

P.S Bring a towel ( You just never know )

[KSMooniac]

I've flown with a big (& dumb) lab once and he did just fine.  We drugged, him, though, since we was too big for a crate that would fit in the plane.  A harness that can be attached to/with the seat belts is a great idea, but this dog had flown before and did fine while lightly drugged.  I bought a $5 sleeping bag from Goodwill and that worked great as a rear seat cover.  I think most dogs do just fine in a small plane from what I've read, and I've thought about joining Pilots and Paws to expand my charitable flying opportunities.

[gregwatts]

When I had my C model, I used to fly with my Doberman and a Maltese. They actually knew which plane was mine when we pulled into the airport. They had hundreds of hours in the backseat of the Mooney. You do have to decend a little more slowly, but I only ever had one "accident" in the plane, and that was because the Doberman got hold of some sour cream and chips before we took off.

It is not much different than having them ride in a car, but do pay attention to pressure on the dog's ears.

[Cruiser]

Our cocker spaniel has been flying since he was 2 yrs old. He still barks at the prop when I am starting the plane........ gives up and lays down in the back seat and goes to sleep. We started with a short lease tied into the seat belts to keep him from uncontrolled movements, but we don't even bother with that anymore.

See him in my photo gallery

[lahso]

I fly with my two Shih Tzu's quite a bit, and they get excited on take-off, but afterwards go to sleep. For Pilot-n-Paws trips, I have had the bigger dogs get scared and frantically attempt to get out of the crate. The first (and only) time I took a placid dog without a crate, he ran to the shelf area on rotation. Thankfully I was on a long runway, and landed. When the prop is started they can get upset.

[DrBill]

I fly dogs for Pilots N Paws and use a LARGE kennel in the back seat.  No problems.  Most of them just lay down on the blanket I put in the bottom and doze off.  We (my friend and I) slip milk bones every 20-30 mins thru the grate if they are awake.

Have fun !

POst some pics..

Dr. BILL

 

 

[AndyFromCB]

We fly with two dogs, little ones, boston and a rat terrier. They are bit active on the ground, looking out of the windows, etc but once in the their, I think the dogs are bored because for them there is nothing really to see, so they just fall asleep until landing...

[David Mazer]

I have flown with two small dogs.  The first really wanted to get out on final so I would use the harness and strap him in the back seat.  My current dog loves to fly in both my Mooney and my SeaRey.  I have a seat cover for the Mooney and he knows to jump in and get in the back.  I don't strap him in at all in the Mooney and he has never tried to get up front.  He just lays there and sleeps.  For hearing protection I tried the Mutt Muffs.  That didn't work so now I just use foam ear plugs and he leaves them be with no problem.

Louie (apricot) is my most common flying companion and everyone at the airport knows him.  Unfortunately, Jack (black) isn't with us any more and we miss him terribly.

[Becca]

Any thoughts on socializing a puppy to an airplane since we've reopened this subject?  Our old dog Apache was afraid of vacuum cleaners, so I never brought her around the Mooney.  I am worried I might do something wrong to make our new puppy afraid of planes.  We just adopted a golden retreiver mutt, and I want to get her adjusted to the plane ASAP... she's 11 weeks old right now.  My first though was to bring her out when I want to wash the plane this weekend just so she can used to airport noise. 

In terms of keeping the plane apholstry safe, based on an old thread posted here, I planned on using this hammock style cover for the backseat: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4097854

While we're on the subject, Jetdriven and I are taking advice on dog names.  Our current list:  Pancho, Starbuck, Laika, Muttnik, Bernoulli, Starbuck, Petra, Spoiler, Flap, and Lucy...

[alex]

Quote: Becca

Any thoughts on socializing a puppy to an airplane since we've reopened this subject?  Our old dog Apache was afraid of vacuum cleaners, so I never brought her around the Mooney.  I am worried I might do something wrong to make our new puppy afraid of planes.  We just adopted a golden retreiver mutt, and I want to get her adjusted to the plane ASAP... she's 11 weeks old right now.  My first though was to bring her out when I want to wash the plane this weekend just so she can used to airport noise. 

In terms of keeping the plane apholstry safe, based on an old thread posted here, I planned on using this hammock style cover for the backseat: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4097854

While we're on the subject, Jetdriven and I are taking advice on dog names.  Our current list:  Pancho, Starbuck, Laika, Muttnik, Bernoulli, Starbuck, Petra, Spoiler, Flap, and Lucy...

[M016576]

Quote: Mulro767

Anyone have any experience with bringing a dog in a Mooney?

[jrwilson]

I vote for Starbuck for the name

 

[David Mazer]

With respect to socialization, I recommend bringing the dog to the airport often, make it pleasant to be there (we always play fetch using a Chuckit (http://www.chuckit.com/) for a little while), and make sure the dog is aware of props before you let it loose around other planes.  The exercise is very important because dogs are more easily trained after excess energy is used up and the dog is calmer to begin with.

My black dog always needed to be on a leash so he wouldn't wonder off but the apricot dog won't leave my side for anything so he is always loose and never even reacts to passing planes.  It is definitely worth the effort if you spend a lot of time at the airport or you like your dog to be with you.

[Hank]

I thought 'Retract' would be a good name [doesn't everybody want one?], but got that covered already. Slats and Flaps are good aeronautical names; how about Radar? It would be nice to have one of those in the plane . . .

[b65cuda]

I have two very large dogs, Izzy (Great Dane/English Mastiff) and Hurley (Black Lab/Shepherd). I want to take them flying, but I don't have a clue how I'm going to get them into the plane. I have the split/reclining back seats, but I haven't looked close enough to see how they fold down or get removed. I'll have to take them to the hangar and prcatice getting them in and hopefully train them to get in without me having to pick them up. They are both very heavy. I'll have to block off part of the baggage compartment so they both don't cram themselves all the way back there. That would definitely mess up my W&B. Any suggestions for really big dogs?

[David Mazer]

For dogs like that I recommend a bigger plane!  I'm sure a 737 would do just fine.

[jetdriven]

We rent out the 747 if you have dogs or elephants. The captain might even let you take the stick for a few minutes.   5,500$ plus gas.  Per hour.   4,700 gallons the first hour.  3,500 gallons an hour after that.  5% discount for block time. 

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: jetdriven

We rent out the 747 if you have dogs or elephants. The captain might even let you take the stick for a few minutes.   5,500$ plus gas.  Per hour.   4,700 gallons the first hour.  3,500 gallons an hour after that.  5% discount for block time. 

[Vref]

My kids and wife desperatly wanted a dog.....I said yes, only if it meets the flying spec:

low maintenance cost

low weight

not much hair loss.....we got a mix between a chiwawa and a  maltezer...........no impact on performance... took him with me to Hungary on a 3 Hr+ flight..he survived..;-)...and is now dog IFR rated

[jetdriven]

I am shopping for a prius to replace the big block chevelle.  After all, we need to conserve oil and help the environment. I figure a hybrid will do that.  I feel better just thinking about it.

Quote: Parker_Woodruff

There's nothing like what...700 feet to the gallon?

7.5 gallons to the mile?

[Cris]

In the past I had a couple of Sibirian Husky's ,a male & a female who flew with me at differant times. The female was very well trained & would lay in the front seat of the J model if the wife was not on board. The wife hated to fly so the dog got the front seat. The wife would take the car to wherever & meet me & the kids which gave us no cost auto transportation. The two kids would be in the back in their car seats & occasionally the dog would sit between them rather scrunched up but Ok if the wife deemed to come along. That worked fine until the female finally passed on & we eventually got a new male Sibirian Husky puppy. For a long time that dog did not fly as it would go with the wife & the kids would fly with me. It also was no where near being trained to the level that the female had been. Husky's take a long time to train & act like puppies for four or five years. After about a year I introduced the dog to the plane & he was fine in the back seat but one day the kids & dog went with me from Caldwell NJ near NYC to Atlantic City by way of Maguire Airforce base's airspace. This dog looked like the other one & my head did a disconnect & so I let him lay in the front seat but now he was bigger & did not fit that well. His paws lay over the seat edge. After we got airborne he jumped into the back causing me to trim the A/C down & the kids to holler since he sat on them. By now I was in Maguire's airspace & so I grabbed the dog to move him upfront but he jumped into the front seat & slid to the floor with his nose stuck between the rudder pedals. The A/C immediatly headed down & I hit my head on the roof. It really hurt so I yelled at the dog who promptly jumbed into the back seat & these oscillations got repeated several times with my head in great pain & the controllers asking why I was deviating my altitude as  there was numerous jet traffic above & below me. I finally said to the kids who thought this was the funniest thing ever to hold on to the dog or I was going to toss him out the door. They did hold him & I did recover but I learned that not all dogs are equal. And... the wife was not happy.       

[Jeff_S]

I have done several dog missions through Pilots n' Paws, including a fun one where a big, boisterous chocolate lab chewed right through his harness leash and decided to crawl up toward the cockpit to see what was going on. I was in-flight at the time so the safest thing was to just keep flying the airplane and adjust for his occasional movements around the cabin. He was sweet and friendly, just wanted to be involved!

Lately we've been taking our little Yorkie on trips, and he has become quite the hangar dog. As much as I was always a Lab (big dog!) guy, my Labs have all died off and we're left with my wife's little Yorkie and he has grown on me. He has plenty of personality, and he's a lot easier to get in and out of the plane.  He just sleeps on the back seat. I think the drone of the engine puts them to sleep, unless they get really excitable.

[Carl S]

I had my doberman up in my Long EZ once.  It was a short flight but he seemed fine. The only real problem was that that he left scratches in the strake paint when he got out. 

I think Magneto might be a good name for the dog Becca.