How To Transport Puppy In Aircraft

[GeneralT001]

Hi All,

Getting a puppy which I will be flying to go and get. Its an 8 week old English Springer Spaniel. Suggestions on the best way to transport it? Is there a cage/crate that will fit inside the Mooney or some sort of collapsible cage? Maybe just a cardboard box?

Obviously this is new to me   thanks.

[201Steve]

Although I haven’t tried opening it in the plane, I bought one of these for travel. Takes up little space, light, loads in the plane easily (folded up). Since it collapses you could feed it through the door and past the chairs, and pop it open in the backseat. May not be ideal to get the small one just for the pickup flight, though. I think the easiest thing, would be take a passenger that can just hold them in a towel on their lap in case it throws up. 
 

 

[Dialed In]

Flew 2.5 hours south to pickup my new Border Collie in November 2020. I just laid a blanket over the seat and borrowed a small carrier.  When I got her in the plane and took off she was out cold.  I opened the carrier door and she  slowly made her way out and slept on the blanket.  I was a little worried she would be hyper but I think leaving her pack coupled with the hum of the engine just wiped her out. 

[carusoam]

The key word for this… pilots n paws…

Many pups have been in many Mooneys….

topics include… favorite altitudes, O2 systems, WnB…

https://mooneyspace.com/search/?q=Pilots paws&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and

 

Just know… a dog can go from the front seat to the hat shelf in about three seconds… try to tether them to their favorite seat for WnB reasons…

We have one MSer that bought a plane so he could fly his dog around… if the interest is high enough… we can always find that MSer… last seen piloting an SR22 I think…   

Best regards,

-a-

 

[Hank]

15 minutes ago, carusoam said:

The key word for this… pilots n paws…

Many pups have been in many Mooneys….

topics include… favorite altitudes, O2 systems, WnB…

https://mooneyspace.com/search/?q=Pilots paws&quick=1&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and

 

Just know… a dog can go from the front seat to the hat shelf in about three seconds… try to tether them to their favorite seat for WnB reasons…

We have one MSer that bought a plane so he could fly his dog around… if the interest is high enough… we can always find that MSer… last seen piloting an SR22 I think…   

Best regards,

-a-

 

I've not heard from @Samurai Husky since before having to wear a mask everywhere . . . . But I do believe he ended up with a Cirrus of some type. 

We carry our toy poodle in a crate on the back seat as pictured above by @Dialed In, looks like the same crate. He's been sleeping in it since he was 2 lb, and travels in the car and Mooney in it, except we let him out a lot in the car.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Hank

[GeneralT001]

Thanks. That gives me enough to go with.

 

Cheers

[carusoam]

Nobody doesn’t like pup pics in Mooneys…. Post early and often!

-a-

[Jeff_S]

I've done quite a few Pilots n Paws missions.  I think the most important thing is what Anthony mentioned above...make sure they are contained in their spot, with a crate or tie down or whatever you choose.  I learned this the hard way when on my first mission, a strapping young-adult chocolate lab chewed right through his leash and joined me in the front seat while on climb out...it happened fast!  (But was otherwise uneventful...he proved a worthy co-pilot.)

Most puppies will simply fall asleep as soon as the drone of the engine and the altitude take effect. My biggest concern now, having flown around with a couple of dogs, is ear protection.  Dogs' ears are way more sensitive than humans', so I got a a set of Mutt Muffs for our last dog to help protect his hearing.  That worked...he heard perfectly right up until the cancer got him.  But he was a stalwart trooper in the air.  I think for one flight it's not a big worry, but if you're going to fly regularly with your dog you should look into some hearing protection.

Have fun!  Here's our newest addition.  He hasn't been in the plane yet but it's only a matter of time.

[1964-M20E]

use a harness and attach to a short rope tied to tow bar behind the back seats.  this gives enough to move around and be comfortable and make sure the dog stays in the back seat.  it also helps if someone can sit in the back with the pup.

[Greg Ellis]

I have flown a lot of animal rescue flights.  Not so much anymore.  There is a cage that will fit in the back seat as well as one that fits nicely in the baggage area.  You put it in then open it up.  I cannot for the life of me remember its size and have since given it to someone who flies a lot more flights than I do.  However,  I flew a lot of flights with the dog just in the back seat.  They usually do fine.  But if you are by yourself, I would suggest either a tether to the rear seatbelts (they make one just for this) or a crate of some sort.  No need for mutt muffs or anything like that.

A friend of mine who flies a lot of dog flights recently had a dog that seemed to be doing well end up in the hat rack in about a half a second.

[A64Pilot]

Thing I’ll add is slow descents, Just a feeling, but I don’t think they know to clear their ears, if they even can, so I descend at 300FPM or less, once I had ATC ask for faster so I told them I had a two year old on board and needed if possible a slow descent, he gave me a turn to allow that.

I didn’t lie, our dog is two.

[carusoam]

Souls on board all count equally…

Somebody posted a pic of 9 (?) Chihuahuas in their Mooney…

-a-

[Danb]

3 hours ago, Jeff_S said:

I've done quite a few Pilots n Paws missions.  I think the most important thing is what Anthony mentioned above...make sure they are contained in their spot, with a crate or tie down or whatever you choose.  I learned this the hard way when on my first mission, a strapping young-adult chocolate lab chewed right through his leash and joined me in the front seat while on climb out...it happened fast!  (But was otherwise uneventful...he proved a worthy co-pilot.)

Most puppies will simply fall asleep as soon as the drone of the engine and the altitude take effect. My biggest concern now, having flown around with a couple of dogs, is ear protection.  Dogs' ears are way more sensitive than humans', so I got a a set of Mutt Muffs for our last dog to help protect his hearing.  That worked...he heard perfectly right up until the cancer got him.  But he was a stalwart trooper in the air.  I think for one flight it's not a big worry, but if you're going to fly regularly with your dog you should look into some hearing protection.

Have fun!  Here's our newest addition.  He hasn't been in the plane yet but it's only a matter of time.

Awesome I have three Yorkies..cool.

[Heidiho]

Hey there GeneralT001,

 Accomplished the same task just one week ago.  Flew to Kentucky and picked up two, six-week old English bulldogs.  We didn’t have a carrier large enough for two dogs, nor did we have two small carriers; so we put down a large contractor garbage bag then a moving blanket in the back of the Mooney.  (Obviously we took out the seats.) Our flight was an hour long.  The puppies  pottied before we boarded and slept all the way home. Nothing like the hum of an M20K, and smooth air at 9,000 feet to put a baby to sleep.  (We had a nice tail wind on the flight home—that was sweet.). You can see from the picture that the breeder sent some toys and blankets that the puppies were familiar with.  I liked the fact that I could touch and pet them during the flight.  They were born to fly!  This may not work for you, but it is an option that worked for our situation. 
Heidiho

[ZuluZulu]

23 hours ago, 201Steve said:

Although I haven’t tried opening it in the plane, I bought one of these for travel. Takes up little space, light, loads in the plane easily (folded up). Since it collapses you could feed it through the door and past the chairs, and pop it open in the backseat. May not be ideal to get the small one just for the pickup flight, though. I think the easiest thing, would be take a passenger that can just hold them in a towel on their lap in case it throws up. 
 

 

Did you buy the small size?  If so, how much larger than that do you think would fit?

[ZuluZulu]

14 hours ago, Jeff_S said:

I've done quite a few Pilots n Paws missions.  I think the most important thing is what Anthony mentioned above...make sure they are contained in their spot, with a crate or tie down or whatever you choose.  I learned this the hard way when on my first mission, a strapping young-adult chocolate lab chewed right through his leash and joined me in the front seat while on climb out...it happened fast!  (But was otherwise uneventful...he proved a worthy co-pilot.)

Most puppies will simply fall asleep as soon as the drone of the engine and the altitude take effect. My biggest concern now, having flown around with a couple of dogs, is ear protection.  Dogs' ears are way more sensitive than humans', so I got a a set of Mutt Muffs for our last dog to help protect his hearing.  That worked...he heard perfectly right up until the cancer got him.  But he was a stalwart trooper in the air.  I think for one flight it's not a big worry, but if you're going to fly regularly with your dog you should look into some hearing protection.

Have fun!  Here's our newest addition.  He hasn't been in the plane yet but it's only a matter of time.

Are Mutt Muffs one-size-fits-all?  (Do they work for small dogs and puppies?)

[GeneralT001]

3 hours ago, Heidiho said:

Hey there GeneralT001,

 Accomplished the same task just one week ago.  Flew to Kentucky and picked up two, six-week old English bulldogs.  We didn’t have a carrier large enough for two dogs, nor did we have two small carriers; so we put down a large contractor garbage bag then a moving blanket in the back of the Mooney.  (Obviously we took out the seats.) Our flight was an hour long.  The puppies  pottied before we boarded and slept all the way home. Nothing like the hum of an M20K, and smooth air at 9,000 feet to put a baby to sleep.  (We had a nice tail wind on the flight home—that was sweet.). You can see from the picture that the breeder sent some toys and blankets that the puppies were familiar with.  I liked the fact that I could touch and pet them during the flight.  They were born to fly!  This may not work for you, but it is an option that worked for our situation. 
Heidiho

Thanks. Lovely looking animals. I imagine I'll have the same sort of flight (fingers crossed). I also plan on assimilating her into the aviation world

[carusoam]

2 hours ago, ZuluZulu said:

Are Mutt Muffs one-size-fits-all?  (Do they work for small dogs and puppies?)

Small medium large as usual…

Size chart here…

https://www.safeandsoundpets.com/page/page/3771096.htm

Their site is an interesting read…

See where people are taking their pets…

 

-a-

[Amelia]

On 4/4/2022 at 9:26 PM, GeneralT001 said:

Hi All,

Getting a puppy which I will be flying to go and get. Its an 8 week old English Springer Spaniel. Suggestions on the best way to transport it? Is there a cage/crate that will fit inside the Mooney or some sort of collapsible cage? Maybe just a cardboard box?

Obviously this is new to me   thanks.

I’m assuming your puppy will be crate-trained, and will think of it as “home,” his own den. It will make travel much less stressful, in the airplane, in hotels, in other people’s homes, in cars. I’d thread a seatbelt through the carry handle, to add security in turbulence. When he is full-sized, and the size xl crate won’t fit through the door, fit him with a good, comfortable harness, and secure it with a seatbelt through the chest strap. He will have room to sit up and look out the window, but in rough air he won’t be thrown around. Nor will he feel free to join you in the front left seat on short final.

[aviatoreb]

My favorite topics 

-puppies

-airplanes

!!

[ilovecornfields]

I second the carrier. And a towel to cover it. And an assistant. And snacks. And an extra $20 bill to give to the FBO when your new puppy pees all over the carpet.

[Jeff_S]

On 4/5/2022 at 9:28 PM, ZuluZulu said:

Are Mutt Muffs one-size-fits-all?  (Do they work for small dogs and puppies?)

As to the Mutt Muffs, they are definitely sized for the dog in question, from X-S to X-L.  You can find out more on their website.  Good luck!

[mhrivnak]

I've done a few pilots-n-paws flights with puppies. Here's what I've had success with:

No food for 6 hours before flight. No water for 2 hours before flight.

I have a small plastic carrier that fits easily through the baggage door even fully assembled, and I've used other small carriers of various designs. Just check the carrier's dimensions with the door dimensions. I put down a tarp just in case anything spills out the front, and it saved the day once when the foster family violated the above rule about food but didn't tell me.

I've also had success putting small puppies in a large rubbermaid bin placed in the back seat. No lid required; they can't climb out.

I tried a small-sized wire cage once. It fit (tightlly) through the passenger door of someone's M20F, which gave me confidence it would fit in my plane when we did a hand-off. Maybe due to differences in upholstery or seat shape, it was much more difficult to get in and out of my plane without scratching anything, and I would not use it again. Unfortunately that one couldn't be disassembled.

If possible, bring an assistant in case any in-flight attention is needed. I probably wouldn't do the open rubbermaid bin without an assistant. On the flight pictured, my wife was certain that this pup NEEDED LOTS of attention for the entire flight.  The pup started in the rubbermaid bin, but when we level off in cruise was promptly scooped up and spent the duration sleeping in the co-pilot's lap.

[ilovecornfields]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:28 PM, ZuluZulu said:

Are Mutt Muffs one-size-fits-all?  (Do they work for small dogs and puppies?)

My vet just said to put cotton in his ears and stay below 8000’. She also mentioned keeping the climbs and descents shallow so I stuck to 500’ on the descent.

I think it might be challenging to get mutt muffs on a puppy. My little guy just fell asleep as soon as we put the towel over his crate and woke up when we were landing.

I don’t think it has negatively affected his hearing in any way because if you drop one piece of kibble from the opposite end of the house he’ll be on top of it before you can even pick it up.

[GeneralT001]

On 4/10/2022 at 10:35 AM, ilovecornfields said:

My vet just said to put cotton in his ears and stay below 8000’. She also mentioned keeping the climbs and descents shallow so I stuck to 500’ on the descent.

I think it might be challenging to get mutt muffs on a puppy. My little guy just fell asleep as soon as we put the towel over his crate and woke up when we were landing.

I don’t think it has negatively affected his hearing in any way because if you drop one piece of kibble from the opposite end of the house he’ll be on top of it before you can even pick it up.

I have the cotton balls ready to go!!