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Flying with a DIB (dog in the back)

Carl Froehlich

Well Known Member
I adopted a perfect six year old, ~40 pound Border Collie yesterday. She is a real “aim to please” dog that loves car rides and does not freak out with noise.

Those of you that have already figures out how to fly with a dog in the back, I would appreciate any tips on how introduce her to the experience and how to plan long cross country flying with her by herself in the back. I’m ordering Mutt-Muffs as the first step.

Thanks,
Carl
 
IMHO, either pull the seat cushions and control stick and crate her. Or, at least get one of those car-seat dog restraint harnesses, and put some padding down.

It'd be really inconvenient if she suddenly decided she needed to curl up in your lap while you're trying to land the plane.
 
Dogs in Planes

I adopted a perfect six year old, ~40 pound Border Collie yesterday. She is a real “aim to please” dog that loves car rides and does not freak out with noise.

Those of you that have already figures out how to fly with a dog in the back, I would appreciate any tips on how introduce her to the experience and how to plan long cross country flying with her by herself in the back. I’m ordering Mutt-Muffs as the first step.

Thanks,
Carl

I don't have any technical suggestions for securing a dog in the back of a tandem aircraft - but I have flown lots of different good sized dogs (40-70 lbs) in the baggage area of my -7. In my experience, they seem to take to it without much of a problem. Some will sit up most of the flight and seem curious to look outside. Most end up laying down and curling up for most of the flight. I have only had one that was any sort of a problem at all - and he mostly wanted my attention (poked me in the back of the head and tried to stick his nose under my armpit). They are ALL tethered so they cannot come up front with me - but not so tightly that they can't move around in the baggage area.

Edit: I have been asked before about hearing protection for the dogs I carry. Given that they are rescue dogs being transported to safety and the flight is likely to be the only one (or two) flights they will ever make, this is something that we just don't worry about. For a pet that will likely fly many times, introducing the mutt-muffs is a good idea. No idea how that will work out - good luck!
 
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Baby steps

I’ve yet to fly with my pup of a year, but take him to hangar since a few months old. He's use to airplane sounds, now, lays tethered by the bifold door and watching folks pull out climb in, crank, taxi away. Also ,I walk him around the area, let him mark some spots “wink” . Helicopter taxis by he looks, but doesn’t react to it. I think a tether behind seats are the way to go when he’s ready. We use one in car. We use a halter like this for all things, a collar is just to hold his bling 😀. Good luck, enjoy your new mate !
 

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We have an adopted german shepherd that has been just lovely from day one. She love car rides and we can take her on a 12 hour-day trip with a car and not a beep or issue. We use to take her with our 7A which she did not like the plane ride. We got her a ear muff but it would not stay one and it was more trouble than it was worth. Getting her in & out was not any issue at all, it just she hated the plane ride. She is at the point that any time we take her to the hanger, she prefers to go and sit in the car.
I believe part of the issue is noise, the other part is warm air in the cockpit. My suggestion, if she was not too excited to go, don't force the trips on her.
 
I would take the stick and seat out and lay a nice blanket there for her to lie on while tethered in the back. A crate may fit with the seat back removed so it could extend into the baggage compartment. Unless your dog is used to a crate and is comfortable in it, I would not crate her. BTW I also have a 40# Border Collie but have not tried flying with her yet.
 
I would not put any animal in a cockpit especially a tandem cockpit, just too dangerous as they are too unpredictable especially dogs!
 
I have flown rescue dogs as well as our poodle numerous times. I have a 9 with a slider canopy. I added Super Tracks to make things easier. Big big help. I put Mutt Muffs on our poodle and tether her in the baggage area. I have two tethers, really just a leash,that I’ve attached, one to each of the pax seat belt attachment points.
For rescue dogs I also add a plastic sheet on the baggage floor area and then a foam mat that I bought specifically for this purpose. I think I paid $5 for the closed cell foam mat.
Never had any issues.
Now when I fly solo, my poodleAmelia, loves to fly and gets excited when she sees the Mutt Muffs. She just lyes down on the pax seat.
 
Thanks for the replies. I’m landing on a soft sided kennel and muffs as the initial setup. If all goes well, then perhaps a harness inside the kennel with the top of the kennel open. Eventually I’d like to get her to settle down on mat, but she will need to graduate to that.

Carl
 
I have flown rescue dogs using this instead of mutt muffs. Way easier to keep on the dog, way cheaper too.

https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Hoodie...supplies&sprefix=happy+hoodie,pets,174&sr=1-3

I'll second Mutt Muffs. They have all kinds of hearing protection that was designed just for dogs. Also they have cool accessories and "fashion" for your flying dog. I met the two ladies behind mutt muffs at Sun n Fun. They will be at Oshkosh. They offer discounts I am sure.
 
I bought some steel rings at the hardware store, and combined with Adel clamps, makes a really good tie down point for my friends dog we transported from OKC to Corpus.

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In addition, the CBD doggy snacks seemed to help too, normally this dog is a puker, but didn't have any trouble the entire trip (and it was bumpy).

Supertracks are a must if you are going to be hauling a dog in the back on a regular basis. For tip ups, I suppose you could train the dog to hop on the correct spot on the wing, and then into the seat, then into the back, but use a friends plane for the training :p

The other thing to watch out for (but gets better with training) is the dog wants to flail around while being picked up and loaded, so trim the nails if you don't want you or your canopy scratched up.

Edit: Sorry, realized this was in the RV-8 thread. For that, I would remove the rear stick, and probably go the crate route, at least initially. There is just no way to see what's going on back there, nor fix it if something get's hung up or the dog freaks out. I have seen some fearful animals do things you wouldn't think was possible. A harness instead of a collar is also a requirement, and cinched _very_ snug, at least until you are confident the dog won't try to kill you when it realizes it's up in the air inside a giant metal bird.
 
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Sharing my experience with my beagle. I trained her early on to be around aircraft and fire works, but I think the noise inside the plane while flying is detrimental to her earring and probably somewhat painful for her. As she got to be a year old, she would fly but was in distress during the flight.
Mutt muffs didn’t work as I couldn’t keep them on her.

I decided to try Rex Specs for her hearing protection. It slips on over her head and doesn’t come off. With those she doesn’t mind flying and is not stressed anymore. Thought I would pass this on.
 
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