Hey guys,

I know this has been posted before, but I thought I'd ask again to get the most current thoughts on this.

Recently I brought a new member into the family, a 2mo old Australian Shepherd, I'm picking him up in just under a week and I'm looking at ether a 7 hour drive or a 2 hour flight in my 185.

I was thinking of his hearing, the plane has the bare (but with plastic side panels and a normal headliner and carpet) interior, probably be flying around 24 squared, 5000 or 7000MSL on the leg back home, plenty of options to make a stop or two along the way.

I've heard that the mut muffs are really not worth anything, heard about some folks carefully putting cotton balls into the dogs ears, I've also heard about some folks not using any hearing protection at all and others who wrap their dogs head, around their ears, with a medical type wrap.

For his seat I have a collapsible metal and canvas kennel which I could put in the rear bench seat, I also was going to make a little blanket neast on the copilot seat, see which works better.

I've flown with my last dog before, wasn't really much of a event as she would just sleep through the flight, but she was an adult and with the little pup, thought I'd ask y'all.


Thanks




*gotta include the manadatory puppy pic!

Cutie!

We flew our border collie from Wasilla to Fairbanks in my friend's 206. We didn't know about mutt muffs then but she just slept the whole way. She's still doing great! Here's some pics:







Here she is forgetting how to couch at our friend's house a few months ago

Crazy how big they get, great looking dog too.

My natural instinct is to just let him fly without anything, which he would probably try to pull off anyways, just don't want to cause him any harm, I'd wager he'll probably fall asleep anyways though.

Thanks! Sorry for the picture hijack, she and her brother are like our children.

I wouldn't worry about it. He's very likely to pull muffs off of they even fit him. My pups have mutt muffs, but my wife is constantly having to turn around and put them back on both of them in flight. And my plane is loud.

Good luck with the flight and congrats on your new puppy! Keep us updated with pics as he gets bigger!

I believe it's far more important to have the puppy sitting on someone's lap or in their arms, to calm it and make it feel secure, than most anything else.

If you want to "pull out all the stops" to make it the best possible experience for the pup, then get or rig up some sort of a pouch that goes over the shoulder, and keeps the puppy comfortable and contained, right next to the person in charge of their comfort. Using this sort of a setup, both of the person's arms are free to cover the dog's ears on takeoff and initial climb, pet the dog, and keep it from squirming around.

I've seen people use baby pouches, modified shopping bags, large "bath sheet" size towels with two of the ends tied together, etc. to carry their dogs around. There are special pouches just designed for this, but that's pretty Beverly Hills fru-fru for my taste and budget. A simple open top school knapsack worn on the chest instead of the back, with a puppy pad or some diapers in it, would do pretty well.

From the pilot's perspective, keeping the airplane as quiet as possible is probably the best possible thing. This particular flight is probably not the one where you should run the prop tips sonic on takeoff and make that horrifying 185 screaming noise I'd unscrew both the prop and throttle knobs a few turns for the dog's sake.

The big gain is that any effort you put into making it so the dog enjoys the ride in the beginning will make a big difference over many years to come.

I've used Mutt Muffs on my last two dogs (same set). The people who sell a different brand claim that theirs is better. They've worked pretty well, and both dogs learned to tolerate them. My airplane is pretty noisy, and the difference is enough that the dog's experience is better with them on, so most of the time, they stay on.



But I don't think any would work on a tiny pup. I think a "stewardess" who puts her hands over the puppy's ears during the loudest part, take-off, would be the best thing. Ideally, the puppy should have a good first experience, so that he wants to go again, and being in someone's lap being cuddled is a good thing for a little guy like that.

Cary

Well all went well and found a cool little airport (Lincoln Park) with a nice cafe.

On taxi pup was a little restless but just after the downwind departure he laid down on my lap and more or less slept for the 2hr flight.

Airport



On takeoff I decided I had plenty of real estate at 2500' so I did dial the prop back a little, cruised at 7.5 2400/22, he didn't seem to mind one bit




Back at home

Cute pup! Glad he did well on the flight.

He's gonna make a fine co-pilot! Nice looking pup.

Cute little mate. The toy sheep is priceless!

Thanks!

Figured gotta start them young

A1Skinner wrote:Cute pup! Glad he did well on the flight.

x2!

Enjoy,

We lost out Aussie after a 12 wonderful years last Fall.
They are the best, smart and totally devoted to the family.


Tom

Great pics and good looking pup. I've known a few Aussie Shepherds and they are great dogs. Very smart.

Plus, they drink way less beer than the human Aussie's I've befriended over the years.