Ear protection for dogs?

[nels]

Our dog of 16 yrs had to be put down about two years ago and now my wife is bugging me to get another. We plan on doing a fair amount of flying between Cincinnati and Denver and also Phoenix. I am concerned about destroying the dog's hearing if it travels with us.. I know my instructor some 35 yrs ago used to take his dog up all the time and that dog could not hear at all back then.

So, has anybody fitted their dog with any sort of hearing protection??

[M016576]

I use "mutt muffs" for my dog. You can find them on sportys or skygeek. I think you could probably make something just as good for a quarter of the price with some foam, plastic shells and velcro, though.....

[Hector]

I've been meaning to post something along these lines for some time. I have a black lab that likes to go everywhere with me and I like having her with me. I just recently purchased my mooney and have been thinking of a way to taker her flying. She has never flown before. I too was concerned about hearing protection. Saw the stuff in sportys but was not sure how well it worked. Unless anyone has a better idea I guess I can get those and take her on a short hop and see how it goes.

[nels]

I haven't seen what Sporty's has to offer but I would think a concern would be, can the dog pull it off with his pawl? It would be best if it was comfortable and secure. Kind of hard to judge the effectiveness but almost anything pressing on their ears has to be better than nothing at all.

[David Mazer]

My little dog loves to fly. He jumps up on the wing and into the backseat before I can even tell him we're going but he won't wear Mutt Muffs at all. Eventually, I just started using standard ear plugs (the kind you roll between your fingers to insert) and use the largest ones I can find. He is fine with it. Weird, I know, but I'm sure it works and he is more comfortable then the muffs.

[nels]

1. Good thought, Dave. I would have expected a dog to put up a fuss with ear plugs.
   

[M016576]

The first time my Dog (cowboy) went flying he pulled the "Muttmuffs" off. Ever since, he's left them on. Overpriced but effective. I also have a harness which I d-ring into the cargo bay. But cowboy weighs over 70lbs. Quite a shift in CG when he was jumping around!

[dcrogers11]

Max, my constant co-pilot, wears Mutt Muffs, a ThunderShirt, and a body harness. Takes me longer to get him suited up than it does me, but he's worth it to have him with me.

[kris_adams]

Another vote for mutt muffs here. Our little dog doesn't really mind them.