Introducing my dog to the plane

I have a 9 month old yellow lab. Very well trained - come, sit, stay, down,
fetch, drop, heel, crate, etc. Loves the car, jumps right in. Want to start
taking him on flights with me. Any comments on introducing him to the plane?

Thanks,

Michael

"Michael 182" wrote in message
news:3Bkjd.475142$mD.427669@attbi_s02...
I have a 9 month old yellow lab. Very well trained - come, sit, stay, down,
fetch, drop, heel, crate, etc. Loves the car, jumps right in. Want to start
taking him on flights with me. Any comments on introducing him to the
plane?

Step 1: Google this newsgroup for the many threads on this very topic.

Basically: some dogs love it, some hate it. Do not have an unrestrained dog
in the airplane. Introduce the dog to the airplane gradually, so that you
can avoid any serious problems, as well as avoid making the dog permanently
hate the airplane. Do not have an unrestrained dog in the airplane. Until
you are certain that the dog is well-adjusted to the airplane, always have
another person to deal with the dog while you fly the plane. Do not have an
unrestrained dog in the airplane.

To me, "gradually" means several visits to the plane:
1) View and smell the airplane
2) Sit in the airplane
3) Taxi around in the airplane
4) Fly in the airplane
At any point, if the dog appears anxious, go back to the previous step.
Don't start the engine until you're ready for step #3.

Did I mention? Do not have an unrestrained dog in the airplane. Crate or
belt the dog (using a harness and strap that connects to the lapbelt), and
preferably in the back seat.

Pete

Dog, this is plane,

Plane, this is Dog.


PJ

--
"Michael 182" wrote in message
news:3Bkjd.475142$mD.427669@attbi_s02...
I have a 9 month old yellow lab. Very well trained - come, sit, stay,
down,
fetch, drop, heel, crate, etc. Loves the car, jumps right in. Want to
start
taking him on flights with me. Any comments on introducing him to the
plane?

Thanks,

Michael

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Michael 182" wrote in message
news:3Bkjd.475142$mD.427669@attbi_s02...
I have a 9 month old yellow lab. Very well trained - come, sit, stay,
down,
fetch, drop, heel, crate, etc. Loves the car, jumps right in. Want to
start
taking him on flights with me. Any comments on introducing him to the
plane?

Step 1: Google this newsgroup for the many threads on this very topic.

Basically: some dogs love it, some hate it. Do not have an unrestrained
dog
in the airplane. Introduce the dog to the airplane gradually, so that you
can avoid any serious problems, as well as avoid making the dog
permanently
hate the airplane. Do not have an unrestrained dog in the airplane.
Until
you are certain that the dog is well-adjusted to the airplane, always have
another person to deal with the dog while you fly the plane. Do not have
an
unrestrained dog in the airplane.

To me, "gradually" means several visits to the plane:
1) View and smell the airplane
2) Sit in the airplane
3) Taxi around in the airplane
4) Fly in the airplane
At any point, if the dog appears anxious, go back to the previous step.
Don't start the engine until you're ready for step #3.

Did I mention? Do not have an unrestrained dog in the airplane. Crate or
belt the dog (using a harness and strap that connects to the lapbelt), and
preferably in the back seat.

Pete




Hey Pete...

How do you fell about having an unrestrained dog in the airplane?


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My wife and I took our 10 year old dog on a 34 hour cross-country in my
182. We did not have any hearing protection for her to use and I
believe that the noise caused her permanent hearing.

I've never found a product for protecting a dogs hearing. Does anyone
have a referral of a product that works well for them?

I *highly* recommend that you find a way to reduce the noise-levels for
your dog. I wish that I had not assumed that flying without hearing
protection for my dog would not cause her hearing damage.

In article ,
factor wrote:
My wife and I took our 10 year old dog on a 34 hour cross-country in my
182. We did not have any hearing protection for her to use and I
believe that the noise caused her permanent hearing.

I've never found a product for protecting a dogs hearing. Does anyone
have a referral of a product that works well for them?

I *highly* recommend that you find a way to reduce the noise-levels for
your dog. I wish that I had not assumed that flying without hearing
protection for my dog would not cause her hearing damage.

I asked about this a while back as I'd been told there was an outfit
that made a headset-type ear protector for dogs. I never found anything
other than simple ear plugs, and honestly, I think the odds of losing
one of those way down a dog's ear canal would be more dangerous to the
dog's ears than the noise! But someone posted a picture of a yellow lab
wearing a headset-type apparatus made from skateboard knee-pads
purchased from Kmart. The pads had 1-inch thick foam glued to the
underside for each ear with two 1-inch straps on top and bottom that
fasten around the dog's head with Velcro. The dog looked perfectly
comfortable wearing it, although I'm sure some would object, and of
course, those would only work on large dogs. For small dogs, it would
probably be easier to insulate a small crate from the noise for this
purpose rather than try to get the dog to WEAR ear protection, and as in
a car, safer for both you AND the dog to have the dog in a crate anyway.

I posted that, as the dog and his owner flew in to one of our events.
Actually, the dog's owner is the editor of Pilot Getaways, I believe. We do
not have the picture on our website any longer. The dog has more time in
planes than I do.

Ross

unicate wrote:

In article ,
factor wrote:
My wife and I took our 10 year old dog on a 34 hour cross-country in my
182. We did not have any hearing protection for her to use and I
believe that the noise caused her permanent hearing.

I've never found a product for protecting a dogs hearing. Does anyone
have a referral of a product that works well for them?

I *highly* recommend that you find a way to reduce the noise-levels for
your dog. I wish that I had not assumed that flying without hearing
protection for my dog would not cause her hearing damage.

I asked about this a while back as I'd been told there was an outfit
that made a headset-type ear protector for dogs. I never found anything
other than simple ear plugs, and honestly, I think the odds of losing
one of those way down a dog's ear canal would be more dangerous to the
dog's ears than the noise! But someone posted a picture of a yellow lab
wearing a headset-type apparatus made from skateboard knee-pads
purchased from Kmart. The pads had 1-inch thick foam glued to the
underside for each ear with two 1-inch straps on top and bottom that
fasten around the dog's head with Velcro. The dog looked perfectly
comfortable wearing it, although I'm sure some would object, and of
course, those would only work on large dogs. For small dogs, it would
probably be easier to insulate a small crate from the noise for this
purpose rather than try to get the dog to WEAR ear protection, and as in
a car, safer for both you AND the dog to have the dog in a crate anyway.