Flying with your Dog?

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

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



http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1&q=flying+dog


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Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
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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
roups.com...
Anyone fly with their dog? What about the dog's hearing?



http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1&q=flying+dog

Has the pilot still got his license?

Student wrote:



Has the pilot still got his license?

Sure, why not?

"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.

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

"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.

Just don't do this:

http://alexisparkinn.com/photogaller..._Dog_float.wmv

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

"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

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..._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



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