Travelling with your Dog in your Mooney

[NewHeights]

I'm in the market to purchase a Mooney,   from either a Mooney 201,   and considering up to a used Rocket (there are a couple on Controller I inquired about).    One thing I do want to maybe take into account is that my girlfriend and I plan to do a lot of our travelling with our boston terrier ,  if she (our dog) manages ok on a few smaller trips. I've tried looking on Google but didn't come up with much information on flying in a small non pressurized plane with a dog.   What I did find,  was owners accounts of taking their dogs to high altitude (not in the air),   up to 7000 or 8000 feet with no problems.   Others stated they had their dogs at 10k elevation,  and the dog had trouble adjusting.   

Does anyone have any input on this situation?  

If in fact I would only be able to fly 5000 feet or something,   I may be less likely to purchase something like a Rocket,  where you absolutely need some elevation to have any respectable range. 

I don't suppose any company makes a doggy oxygen mask....  (just kidding with that..)

 

Chris

 

 

 

[N9937c]

My dog has travelled with mr in the mooney enough she is thinking about her ATP rating. Chinese Crested so there is no hair to clean out of the plane. Never a problem with her flying and she is ALLWAYS ready to go. Most trips are ~ 1 hour long and highest alt is 13k.

larry

[Magnum]

There is a oxygen mask available: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/347e08e3#/347e08e3/20

http://www.aeromedix.com/category-exec/parent_id/22/category_id/142/nm/Pet_Travel_Gear

[LFOD]

No problems getting two basset hounds up to 12,500.  The best part is turbulence when their ears are floating when the plane drops out from underneath them.  They usually just fall asleep. 

[231Pilot]

I've taken my dog up to 8500, thought the noise and pressure change might bother him, but he just went to sleep....better traveler than either of my adult children.

[skyking]

I have 2 VERY large German Shepards that have been travelling with me since they were pups.

Never had a problem and the vet assures me there is no problem with the noise on their ears etc.

I prefer to travel with them as opposed to the grandkids some days. I tell the dogs to sit down and be quiet and they actually do it. Try that with 3 wound up kids!

[Earl]

Can I send my beloved Rhodesian Ridgeback along for a ride in your plane as a test?  

[Amelia]

I've carried crated cats with mixed results- (two got airsick, one hardly twitched a whisker) but all the dogs I've carried have done just fine. One wee dog was crated, no problems at all.  One, a large goofy lab, our Guide Dog puppy, always slept with his head in my daughter's lap. He seemed to look forward to the ride, and would jump on the wing and go to his seat without even being asked. The latest one, a Pilots'n'Paws rescue, was adorable. A German Wirehaired Pointer-- pretty good-sized dog, hopped in the back seat, calmly let me buckle the seatbelt through his harness, peered out the window with great interest in his warm-gold eyes as I started up and taxied, then curled up and went to sleep for most of the rest of the ride at 11,000. He woke up as we started down, and once again, watched our progress over the ground with quiet interest. When we landed, he strained against his harness, and gave my right-seater huge slurps on the back of his neck. I had to interpret to my startled passenger: "Dogs don't DO applause. That's just sincere canine appreciation right there."

So, I suspect your critter will be just fine. And yep, if you bring him up to NE NC, we can give him a ride. (YOU're in charge of any cleanup of my gorgeous new interior, of course....)

[Hank]

I've not had a problem with my poodle, over the Appalachians and across NC and back. Altitudes varied from 1000 AGL on the first test hop around the pattern up to 9500 over the hills. I've talked to people whose dogs don't like IFR, though. Mine never made a sound, which is better than he travels in the car. In the plane, he's always in his crate, belted into the back seat; it usually rides loose in the car, but there's lots less turbulence on the highway. His longest flight so far was a bit over 2 hours. Day and night are both fine. I've looked into getting some mutt muffs [ear muffs for dogs & cats] but have not yet.

                    --Hank

[jlunseth]

I have two dogs, the current German Shorthaired Pointer All Age Field Trial National Champion, and his sister.  The NC does not mind the plane at all, but he has been an itinerant most of his life and has flown commercial enough he should have frequent flier miles.  His sister is my home dog and she rides in the car with me all the time.  I have just started to take her up in the plane, she curls up on the seat and does fine, although she is still wondering what the heck is going on.  I have a seat belt harness I put on her, it is a standard chest harness but with a loop that the seat belt goes through so she is belted in the plane.  I do this partly so she is belted, but also partly because in the car she has on occasion decided she wants to be in my lap.  It is not a big deal in the car, but would be in a plane I think. 

I get asked all the time about shedding, whether long haired dogs shed more or less than shorthaired dogs.  Here is my standard advice.  Long haired dogs shed less than shorthaired dogs, but the hairs are longer so it comes out the same.  What is really important is to match the dog to the couch and the suit you wear to work - and now I suppose to the upholstery in the plane. 

I am a little concerned about the noise issue though.  Dogs' hearing can be damaged by excess noise just like ours.  I have had hunting dogs in the past that get to around 10 or 12 and they just don't hear much anymore, probably from a lifetime of being shot over.  So I bought the muffs, don't know if they work, but the dogs tolerate them and they at least don't hurt.

[Amelia]

None of the dogs I've carried objected to IFR- at least that they told me about. We found that there was simply no way to get the guide dog pup's size Large crate in the Mooney, even after we disassembled it into two halves, pulled the seat all the way up, removed the headrest, etc. We were sure that he would take things in stride, so didn't restrain him. Not knowing the GWP rescue pup, I asked that the rescue organization make sure he had a comfortable harness on. That worked just fine. I left him enough slack to shift his position a little, but not enough that he'd get twisted or slung around. When we entered the clouds with a thump, he lifted his head and looked at me inquiringly, as if to say, "Everything OK up there?" I reached back and scritched his ears, and he resumed his nap. I really do think any critter that is a decent car passenger will be fine in the backseat of a Mooney.

[hansel]

Obviously my dog loves the Mooney. We just put her on a dog bed in the back seat and she falls asleep somewhere around 5000 feet. Never had a problem with elevation, BUT she does need to where her Mutt Muffs (dog ear muffs). They once fell off her head and the noise started to bother her (lots of nervous shaking). We fitted them again and all was well.

[skyking]

Escott: Sure send them along.

As for the shedding issue i just toss a big blanket in the back seat.

I have more of an issue with dog-slobber all over the windows as they tend to sit there taking in all the scenery with their truck sized noses pressed up against the window. They do indeed think of the car and the plane the same way. They love both and get right into the back and into their assigned seats.

JLUNSETH: I had the same concern but my vet assures me it is not an issue.

I tried the dog ear muffs but they want no part of them. They had them off in seconds and refused to wear them.

[airkraft]

I've been to 15,500' for over an hour with my two German Shepherd Dogs.  They were fine.  I agree that if your dog rides well in a car a Mooney will probably be little different.  I've tried Mutt-Muffs as well.  I've been told that the low frequency engine noise probably bothers canines little anyway.

[Cruiser]

Our cocker spaniel will jump in and sit on the back seat until I start the engine. He barks at the propeller a couple of times till I start taxi, then lays down and goes to sleep. Never had a problem except on long trips he wants to climb onto my wife's lap.

[skyking]

cruiser: Thats funny. my female shep. hates the prop too and the windshield wipers on the car.

She barks like hell at the prop when it is starting up.

then settles right down.

[N6784N]

i flew with my jack russell and he never showed any signs of discomfort but i tried to climb and descend as slow as possible so not to hurt his ears