Flying with your Dog?

[Skyhawk]

Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

"Skyhawk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?
>


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2978884470072026171&q=flying+dog


--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.

[[email protected]]

"Skyhawk" > wrote:
> Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?

Yes. She has 10 hours in her logbook. She sleeps nearly the entire time,
just like on car rides.

I was concerned about her hearing, too. My vet said many people take
their dogs in airplanes w/no ill effects to their hearing. Her advice
was to try it, and observe closely to see if the dog showed any
discomfort. None whatsoever.

There is a picture floating around of a yellow lab with a "headset" made
from two skateboarder's kneepads, some 1"-thick cloth straps and Velcro.

[Student]

On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 17:08:13 -0500, "Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" <The Sea
Hawk at wow way d0t com> wrote:

>"Skyhawk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>> Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?
>>
>
>
>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2978884470072026171&q=flying+dog

Has the pilot still got his license?

[Newps]

Student wrote:


>
> Has the pilot still got his license?

Sure, why not?

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

"Newps" > wrote in message
. ..
>
>
> Student wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Has the pilot still got his license?
>
> Sure, why not?

Indeed.

But on a serious note, the noise probably isn't any better for a dog than it
is for us, but it shouldn't be hard to rig up something using the ear cups
from hearing protectors and some elastic. Just spend a few days getting the
dog to enjoy wearing them before you try it in the airplane. Remember, dogs
are easy to con - they will do anything for attention. My wife got our
collie to wear a "big bad wolf in granny's clothes" costume complete with a
hat and glasses in addition to the nightgown. Just make a big deal out of it
and include a couple treats. After a few days they actually look forward to
it.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.

[Skyhawk]

Hold the phone... I found it. www.muttmuffs.com. Too funny, but I'm
gonna order

[Jay Honeck]

Just don't do this:

http://alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/2006_Dog_float.wmv

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Peter Duniho]

"Skyhawk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?

Google Groups is your friend. This comes up frequently.

Quick summary of my own experiences:

* Acclimate the dog to the airplane. Stress of flying may be a more
significant problem than hearing damage. Make sure that the dog is
comfortable either in a secured crate or a harness that is clipped to the
airframe somehow (I used a seatbelt adapter). You don't want your dog
flying around the cockpit, for your own safety and your dog's.

* Except at extremely high levels (not generally found in airplanes),
hearing damage is progressive. It takes time, and at the usual airplane
noise levels, it's pretty gradual. Dogs don't live as long as humans, and
they aren't usually in the airplane every single time the human is, so their
total exposure is less, and so the damage is proportionately less as well.

You can certainly rig up hearing protection, and perhaps for a dog who flies
frequently it would be worthwhile to do so. But except for that scenario,
it's probably not going to make a significant difference, and you may wind
up exacerbating the whole stress issue as you try to address the hearing
damage issue.

Pete

[Jay Masino]

Skyhawk > wrote:
> Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?

Here's my Zena checking out Ocean City from above...

http://www.jaymasino.com/recent_pics/Zena_in_the_plane.JPG

If she hasn't flown in a while, she tends to get nervous. If we take her
flying regularly, she doesn't seem to mind. She's even barked at other
plane and birds that she sees.

When there's no one in the right seat, I bungee the seat to preven it from
flopping forward against the controls.

--- Jay



--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www.JayMasino.com ! ! !
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com

[Jose]

> Here's my Zena checking out Ocean City from above...

What do you use for seat belts?

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Jay Masino]

Jose > wrote:
>> Here's my Zena checking out Ocean City from above...
> What do you use for seat belts?
> Jose

I'll admit... I've been bad. She's just sitting there, un-belted. I've been
re-thinking that, lately. What I plan to do in the future is get one of those
body harnesses, and a short lead (like 15-18"). I'll run one of the rear
belts through the handle short lead and pull the belt tight. That should give
her room to move around and change positions, but hold her from going through
the windshield in an accident. Of course, I'll bet she WON'T be thrilled
about being belted.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www.JayMasino.com ! ! !
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com

[Skyhawk]

I ordered a set and will let everyone know how they work as soon as I
get them!

http://www.safeandsoundpets.com

[Chris Ehlbeck]

Jay Masino wrote:

> Jose > wrote:
>
>>>Here's my Zena checking out Ocean City from above...
>>
>>What do you use for seat belts?
>>Jose
>
>
> I'll admit... I've been bad. She's just sitting there, un-belted. I've been
> re-thinking that, lately. What I plan to do in the future is get one of those
> body harnesses, and a short lead (like 15-18"). I'll run one of the rear
> belts through the handle short lead and pull the belt tight. That should give
> her room to move around and change positions, but hold her from going through
> the windshield in an accident. Of course, I'll bet she WON'T be thrilled
> about being belted.
>
> --- Jay
>
>

I've already seen a "doggie seatbelt" in pet stores. It does look like
a harness collar and attaches to the seatbelt. It says it give the dog
some freedom to move but not all over the car.

Chris

[Jim Macklin]

A story I heard not too long ago about a pilot who was test
flying a Cessna off a west-central Kansas airport which
shall remain unnamed to protect the guilty.

The airport cat did a very good job of keeping the mouse and
rat population down in the hangers. But when it went to
sleep behind the rear seat it lead to a lot of trouble. It
awoke at about 2,000 AGL and sprang at the pilot, perhaps
asking to be returned the Earth ASAP. To place emphasis on
this demand, claws were used to grasp the pilot's head and
face.
The pilot was able to snatch the angry cat and hold it by
the scruff of the neck away from his face, but this took two
hands [big cat].

To make a shorter version, the pilot opened the side window
and returned the cat to the Earth. No report whether it
landed on it's feet.

In any case, I won't fly any animal that isn't able to read
and speak, unless it is in a secure cage.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
See http://www.fija.org/ more about your rights and duties.


"Skyhawk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
|I ordered a set and will let everyone know how they work as
soon as I
| get them!
|
| http://www.safeandsoundpets.com
|

[Jose]

> but hold her from going through
> the windshield in an accident.

How will she release the seatbelt after an accident?

Not to hound you, and one has the same problem in a car, but perhaps
it's just one of the risks one must accept if we are going to fly a pooch.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Peter Duniho]

"Jose" > wrote in message
om...
> Not to hound you, and one has the same problem in a car, but perhaps it's
> just one of the risks one must accept if we are going to fly a pooch.

Which is? Going through the windshield? Or releasing the seatbelt after an
accident?

Pete

[Jose]

> Which is? Going through the windshield? Or releasing the seatbelt after an
> accident?
Take your pick.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Peter Duniho]

"Jose" > wrote in message
om...
>> Which is? Going through the windshield? Or releasing the seatbelt after
>> an accident?
> Take your pick.

Okay, I pick "releasing the seatbelt after an accident". In which case, the
scenario is no different than a child in a car seat (whether in an airplane
or a car). Given that pretty much everywhere in the US, children are
required *by law* to be transported in that matter, I don't find treating
one's dog to be any different, nor for it to be a significant concern.

Our dependents, whether children or animal, are dependent on us (duh). In
many scenarios, including life-threatening ones. To refrain from taking
simple precautions to prevent injury or death in a relatively common
scenario, just for the purpose of avoiding the dependent being restrained in
a much less common scenario just doesn't make any sense.

I have no idea why you even brought it up. It's a complete non-issue. It's
about as big of a concern as the question of your own seatbelt restraining
you against your will (faulty mechanism, or perhaps jammed in the crash,
whatever).

So, can you explain why you felt it was something that needed mentioning?

Pete

[Jose]

> So, can you explain why you felt it was something that needed mentioning?

I was curious as to how others percieved/processed that risk. It's part
of conversation. Nothing more.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

[Alan]

Been flying with my dogs for over 10 years. They are now 16 and 14
years old respectively and the 16 year old is almost completely deaf.
His hearing loss has only come on in the last year or so and was not
real apparent because he never listened to me anyway. The 14 year old
still has "razor sharp" hearing.

Check out pics at: http://www.flyingmutts.com



On 26 Feb 2006 13:10:49 -0800, "Skyhawk" >
wrote:

>Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?

[john smith]

In article >,
(Alan) wrote:

> http://www.flyingmutts.com

Alan, you have one of really neat, old C182's! Straight back with a
swept tail.

[alexy]

(Alan) wrote:

>
>Been flying with my dogs for over 10 years. They are now 16 and 14
>years old respectively and the 16 year old is almost completely deaf.
>His hearing loss has only come on in the last year or so and was not
>real apparent because he never listened to me anyway.

That sounds familiar<g> but your perception might not be right. I
commented to my vet about my dog's rather sudden hearing loss when she
got old, and he said it was likely much more gradual than I thought.
Their hearing started off so much better than human hearing, that we
just couldn't detect her hearing loss until the last little bit (for
her) of hearing, when it got even worse than ours.

But it was kinda like a teenager; I always wondered if she didn't hear
me, or did and was just ignoring me.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

[Alan]

On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 03:45:38 GMT, john smith > wrote:

>In article >,
> (Alan) wrote:
>
>> http://www.flyingmutts.com
>
>Alan, you have one of really neat, old C182's! Straight back with a
>swept tail.

Thanks for the kind word. Yeah, I really like her. It was the last
year for the straight back and manual flaps which is what I was
searching for.

I did my mountain flying training in a mid-70s 182 and on final to
Glenwood Springs when I touched the flap switch the entire electrical
system shut down! Exciting! It really wasn't too much of a problem
slipping the plane in for a landing - 182s are very forgiving. After
that, I decided that I would look for an airplane with as many
"mechanical" systems as possible.