Adi Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Hi folks, My girlfriend has been talking about getting a dog for a while now and naturally I am excited to think about the flying adventures we could go on in my 1983 M20J. It will be a small to mid sized dog, a mini Australian Shepherd, around 30 lbs fully grown. What are your experiences in flying with dogs? Do they like it, are they ok with it? Did you do anything special in the puppy stage? I know there are special puppy earmuffs but I have heard they don't like to keep them on. How did you get them acclimated to the loud environment in the cockpit? What RPM/power setting do you use to fly with dogs? All advice welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Step 1: take them for a few longer car rides...put them in the back seat. Do they try to jump forward, do they get sick, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 My little dog prefers riding in our laps in the car, so in the plane I load his crate into the backseat then put him in it. Fly my regular flight, all same-same as without the dog. He rides along well, usually awake and looking around when we check on him. He's made many 2-1/2 to 3 hour flights, and some shorter ones as well. He is usually quiet, but alerts me that the gear have gone down, and he always comments on my landings with an excited Yip or two. Be sure to have a long lead avaikabke when you land, because just like you, he'll be reqdy for a pit stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Our little dog really doesn't like it - she doesn't like the sound. I tried ear muffs and not good enough. She makes a nervous shake shake scared shake the whole time. So now I only fly with her if I need to her to come with me to where I am going - eg to see family and no one will be home to look after her otherwise. So best I can do for her I found is to put a towel down for her to sleep on and then cover her with about two towels which dampens the noise and she likes nesting like that even at home. And I do it so her nose peaks out. With that she just sleeps the whole way and is not so much shaking so she falls asleep and doesn't shake at all. Too bad I wish she did like to fly with me - I got her the cutest little doggie bomber flight jacket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Ellis Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 I fly with my dogs quite a lot. 3 Chihuahuas. They do much better in the airplane than they do in a car. In the airplane they are usually bedded down before I even take off. They get the back seat with their pillow and blankets and are comfortable. No mutt muffs, no harnesses, etc... I have flown quite a bit for Pilots N Paws. I don't do too much with them anymore but when I did I never had a problem with any of the dogs that I flew. I would recommend taking your dog up for a flight with someone else with you and just see how the dog does. If the dog has issues you will have someone else in the airplane to help out. Don't go too far. You just want to see how they handle the sounds, etc.... If they freak out for some reason on the ground then you may just want to stop there. I have flown with dogs for 14 years and I have never had an issue. The lineman at the FBO's love it. Our dogs would walk out to the end of the wing and great them. They loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steingar Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 You can tell how a dog will fly by how it rides in the car. My Moogie dog rode great in the car, and she flew wonderfully. Phizzbyn is so-so, and did OK in the cockpit. I thought I was going to have a deal to swing the bar to land, but she jumped out the way. My boy dog did nothing but howl and puke in the car, he never got to go flying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxrpilot Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 As other's have said, how does the dog do in the car. We have a 50 lb Labradoodle who is great in the car and great in the plane. She doesn't wear ear muffs but we do stick some cotton balls in her ears. She's not super excited to go in the plane, but she gets in when told to and does fine. No crate, no harness. We have removable back seats so they are out and her blanket is on the floor. She's been all over the US and Canada in our Mooney. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Ellis Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 1 hour ago, steingar said: You can tell how a dog will fly by how it rides in the car. My Moogie dog rode great in the car, and she flew wonderfully. Phizzbyn is so-so, and did OK in the cockpit. I thought I was going to have a deal to swing the bar to land, but she jumped out the way. My boy dog did nothing but howl and puke in the car, he never got to go flying. I guess my dogs are the exception to this. As I posted earlier, my dogs hate to ride in the car. They won't settle down and are constantly moving around from lap to lap to seat back to lap, etc.... In the airplane, they are almost asleep before I take off, they sleep the entire flight from a short 1 hour hop to a 4 hour cross country. When we arrive, they are ready to great the lineman. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 I guess my dogs are the exception to this. As I posted earlier, my dogs hate to ride in the car. They won't settle down and are constantly moving around from lap to lap to seat back to lap, etc.... In the airplane, they are almost asleep before I take off, they sleep the entire flight from a short 1 hour hop to a 4 hour cross country. When we arrive, they are ready to great the lineman. Go figure. Maybe they associate a car ride with bad experiences (taking them to the vet for example)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Ellis Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Just now, ArtVandelay said: Maybe they associate a car ride with bad experiences (taking them to the vet for example)? That is always a possibility and makes good sense as well. They don't really travel that much by car other than to go to the vet because I always travel by Mooney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlunseth Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 4 hours ago, aviatoreb said: Our little dog really doesn't like it - she doesn't like the sound. I tried ear muffs and not good enough. She makes a nervous shake shake scared shake the whole time. So now I only fly with her if I need to her to come with me to where I am going - eg to see family and no one will be home to look after her otherwise. So best I can do for her I found is to put a towel down for her to sleep on and then cover her with about two towels which dampens the noise and she likes nesting like that even at home. And I do it so her nose peaks out. With that she just sleeps the whole way and is not so much shaking so she falls asleep and doesn't shake at all. Too bad I wish she did like to fly with me - I got her the cutest little doggie bomber flight jacket. Dogs are weird, as in good weird of course. The behaviour you describe can be a couple of things. One, if the dog is restrained in some way, say is used to getting in your lap but you have a restraint belt in the aircraft to prevent that, the restraint can cause that shaking. Two, they have much better hearing than we do and there can be an ultra high pitched sound that we do not hear but they do, that is frightening. The first thing can be fixed by giving them a place they are used to, a crate, or their sleeping bed from home, etc., that is theirs for the trip. I don't know how you fix the second one, probably can't. I have had a number of hunting dogs, brave, strong, used to much gunfire and they get animated when they hear it, and yet they will go cower under a bed if fireworks start going off. There is a high frequency component... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 Just now, jlunseth said: Dogs are weird, as in good weird of course. The behaviour you describe can be a couple of things. One, if the dog is restrained in some way, say is used to getting in your lap but you have a restraint belt in the aircraft to prevent that, the restraint can cause that shaking. Two, they have much better hearing than we do and there can be an ultra high pitched sound that we do not hear but they do, that is frightening. The first thing can be fixed by giving them a place they are used to, a crate, or their sleeping bed from home, etc., that is theirs for the trip. I don't know how you fix the second one, probably can't. I have had a number of hunting dogs, brave, strong, used to much gunfire and they get animated when they hear it, and yet they will go cower under a bed if fireworks start going off. There is a high frequency component... I think the restraint has something to do with it. She rides sitting in my lap in the car (which is not a good idea in case of crash (knock on wood) but I feel it is more interfering with safety of flight operations as well during flying to let her sit in my lap. I bet she would be fine if she could sit in my lap otherwise, despite the noise. Picture in the flight jacket and ear muffs and unhappy dog is Nov 2018. And in the FBO with the flight jack where she was the darling of the show. Picture under the towel where she is asleep so sort of happier, is Nov 2019. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missile=Awesome Posted September 9, 2020 Report Share Posted September 9, 2020 I bought a soft sided crate that folded fits through baggage door. Unfolded fills back seat. Young 50lb Pointer is loaded through baggage into crate and zipped in. He sleeps through flights. Older brother (5 year old 55lbs) is loaded on top of baggage in rear and lies there for flight. Big dog is loaded right before people loading. Zero issues with dogs. They are crated in vehicles. It is safer for everyone, including other motorists if dogs are restrained in vehicles. I would like to see statistics on pet related accidents while operating motor vehicles...I know little muffy would never cause me to be distracted...Whatever floats your boat. You hit me and have an unrestrained dog in your vehicle and “it” will get real... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 We had an MSer that selected his plane specifically to match his favorite dog... He spent many a post discussing everything from volume to O2 requirements... And hearing protection... Doggy health is important to somebody... For starters... buy yourself some Mutt Muffs for your preferred aviation poodle.... Save the parachuted plane for the Really serious doggy owners... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 7 hours ago, carusoam said: We had an MSer that selected his plane specifically to match his favorite dog... He spent many a post discussing everything from volume to O2 requirements... And hearing protection... Doggy health is important to somebody... For starters... buy yourself some Mutt Muffs for your preferred aviation poodle.... Save the parachuted plane for the Really serious doggy owners... Best regards, -a- OMG, that's @Samurai Husky! Haven't heard anything from / about him in a while! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 Seeing if SH is still connected... I bet he isn’t that far away... Once an MSer, always an MSer... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lloyd Posted September 10, 2020 Report Share Posted September 10, 2020 Don't have much advice, my 15 pound mixed Italian Greyhound/terrier is scared of fireworks, gunfire, thunderstorms and loud noise including riding in the front seat of an airplane. Load the wifey and dog in the back seat, he settles down and stops shaking (never stops in the front seat). Mutt Muffs just did not fit his head. We now have a 55 pound lab mix also, haven't tried her out in the plane. She is still a puppy and gives less than a two minute warning before spraying aluminum corrosive liquid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Husky Posted September 11, 2020 Report Share Posted September 11, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, Hank said: OMG, that's @Samurai Husky! Haven't heard anything from / about him in a while! Im still here; Actually the cirrus is up for sale; need to scale back on expenses and the dogs are getting to old to fly That and covid really puts a damper on things. in 5 years i might circle back and look at Mooney again; Maybe down size a little bit to save on costs. Its a shame they dont make the M22 anymore; if they had a more modern version of that i would be all over it because of the pressurization. Hmm. thought i posted this hours ago, dont know why it didnt Edited September 11, 2020 by Samurai Husky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted September 11, 2020 Report Share Posted September 11, 2020 Sam, Great to see you are still connected to MS! Best regards, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Husky Posted September 11, 2020 Report Share Posted September 11, 2020 Thanks, Im shocked people still remember me! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missile=Awesome Posted September 15, 2020 Report Share Posted September 15, 2020 Hmmm, probably only need one kennel in back seat. It’s O.K. They’re English... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air pirate Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 When I lived in Chicago (KDPA) sometimes I would take my lab to a friends farm in Iowa pheasant hunting, She always loved riding in the truck with me, the airplane not so much. First time she kept trying to get into the front seat, not a good thing. The flight home she was so exhausted she would sleep all the way home. Best to put them in a kennel with a comfy blanket for a safe space. One of my friends would take his dog Roscoe in his Lanceair, always in a kennel behind the seats. One flight he forgot the kennel and placed Roscoe behind the seats and on top of his aircraft cover. He lined up an hammered the throttle and took off, during climb out Roscoe jumped from behind the seats and landed on the canopy latch popping the canopy at 130 kts, he said at that point everything was leaving the aircraft, charts, headsets, his glasses the aircraft cover (which caught the vertical stab and was dragging behind the aircraft. He lowered the nose and kept everything forward trying to stay in the air with all the drag., (The Lanceair doesn't like to be slow). He expected to end up in the Pacific ocean but realized that the aircraft was holding altitude but very mushy, he was able to make a very shallow turn and noticed he was on a downwind and thought he may be able to pull it off. At that point Roscoe decided he had enough and went to jump from the airplane, my friend grabbed him by the neck as we tried exciting the plane and jammed him under his legs screaming at him, while this happened he lost a few hundred feet in altitude. He somehow was able to stay in teh air and continued a shallow turn to final, he was at 170 kts and barley holding altitude. On final he pulled power back a bit and was in a decent rate of decent, just before the numbers he lowered the gear and all hell broke lose, said he came down like a broken elevator, landed fast and hard enough to drove the gear through the wings and slide down the runway to a stop, he ran out of the airplane with Roscoe and some pilots on the field shut down and secured the airplane. Both he an Roscoe survived with a mild case of shock, airplane total loss. Your flying dog story for today. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted September 18, 2020 Report Share Posted September 18, 2020 I’ll take scary doggy stories for 100... Alex. Sound similar to the Mooney that bent the baggage door over the horizontal stabilizer... Very fast landing... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted September 19, 2020 Report Share Posted September 19, 2020 Ive done a few (not enough) Pilots n Paws flights with larger dogs. Pretty uniformly, they treat it like a car, hop right in, watch takeoff and landing, but otherwise curl up and go to sleep. Since the dogs are strangers, one thing I have is a tether which buckles into a seatbelt so they don't wander up front and get in the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cujet Posted September 29, 2020 Report Share Posted September 29, 2020 I picked up my Norwegian Elkhound at 8 weeks old, in Ohio. She's been flying with me ever since. As a young pup, she needed to be in a crate. As she aged, she calmed down and can be free in the plane. She knows to look for the runway, once we are in the pattern, and gets excited when she sees it. That's kind of cool. However, it's good to know that some dogs can't handle the same high altitudes that people do. I've been flying with dogs for many years and none of my dogs have ever been alert over about 10,000 feet. Even my super fit and healthy Siberian Husky was out like a light at 10K. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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