First time flying with puppies

A

Alexb2000

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Alexb2000
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Well today was the first time flying with our two 8 month old lab puppies. They made it all the way from Dallas to Taos without stopping. They did great other than a little air sickness. I was really turbulent so I didn't blame them. They also did great with altitudes up to 12K. Anyone taken dogs higher?

I was worried about their ears and the noise. I bought those dog ear muffs, but they didn't fit their heads. They improvised by wedging their heads between the seats and using them for sound deadening. Smart.

Anyway I know Ted has thousands of hours with dogs on board. For us it was a first.

Here they are disembarking. They are known collectively as "Dos Criminales", an alias they have earned.
 

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Cute pooches. How could they possibly get in trouble?
 
Jeanie said:
Cute! Are their names Butch and Sundance?
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Those are some great names. Had I known the future, those would have been perfect.

Norman said:
Snitch cooking burgers off the grille do they? I know one that does; fire be damned.:lol:
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wabower said:
Cute pooches. How could they possibly get in trouble?
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Criminal activities have cost about as much as a new car.

Abbreviated rap sheet:

Escaped from two professional training facilities. Including scaling a 7' chain link fence and learning to open a kennel latch.

Destroyed a complete set of very nice outdoor furniture

Ate very nice french door and all related trim

Got hungry for greens and ate $1000 worth of Mondo Grass in one sitting

Pulled up and shredded an entire drip irrigation system

Ate the back seat of my crew cab Silverado and finished off with a light snack of all of my power seat wiring.

Ripped up $200 in collars in one month

$500 in dog beds in one month

While mock fighting in the front yard, convinced a passing woman that I was the next Michael Vick and deserved to be turned into the city.

Yes, MANY food theft violations

Otherwise, yes they are cute.
 
I've had a plane of dogs up to 15k. Wasn't planned, but needed to get above weather. They didn't care one bit, if anything it helped them sleep better. That said, I think as a rule I'd try to stay at or below 12.5k, which I base on nothing beyond the FAA regs on O2 and humans for Part 91. Being naturally aspirated, we stay in that range anyway.

I've also never bothered with the Mutt Muffs, and it seems most folks I talk to have reported they don't work well. I'm surprised that your dogs actually tried to bury their heads in the seats - I've never seen any dogs do that. I've also never had a dog complain that I thought was related to noise.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've had a plane of dogs up to 15k. Wasn't planned, but needed to get above weather. They didn't care one bit, if anything it helped them sleep better. That said, I think as a rule I'd try to stay at or below 12.5k, which I base on nothing beyond the FAA regs on O2 and humans for Part 91. Being naturally aspirated, we stay in that range anyway.

I've also never bothered with the Mutt Muffs, and it seems most folks I talk to have reported they don't work well. I'm surprised that your dogs actually tried to bury their heads in the seats - I've never seen any dogs do that. I've also never had a dog complain that I thought was related to noise.
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I need to pop up to 15K for 15 min. or so to clear a ridge I commonly cross. Of course I'll try and stay at non-O2 levels as much as possible. Judging by all the running around this morning at 8K I'd say they handle altitude pretty well though.

They might have buried their heads in part because they weren't use to the noise. I'll let them get a few more hours and see what they do. When I started my descent they got up and just looked out the window, so maybe it will pass.

Thanks for the info.
 
I wouldn't worry about that brief 15k jaunt. The one time I did it I was up there for several hours. More than anything they care about the climb and descent rate (mostly descent). 500 FPM is the rate of choice.

They could also have just found burying their heads to be comfortable, who knows. They will complain if they feel a need to, don't worry.
 
Holy cow!!:yikes: I complain about my Golden's vet bills, but the most she ever ate was the cloth ties on a sofa and one night she ate 3 racks of ribs, bones and all! My dogs have all flown with me, only had one that didn't like it and got sick, hopefully your's will outgrow the destroying phase while you've still got a house to live in and vehicle to drive.;)
As my wife says about our dogs and kids, if they weren't cute, we'd have killed them by now! :D
Alexb2000 said:
Those are some great names. Had I known the future, those would have been perfect.





Criminal activities have cost about as much as a new car.

Abbreviated rap sheet:

Escaped from two professional training facilities. Including scaling a 7' chain link fence and learning to open a kennel latch.

Destroyed a complete set of very nice outdoor furniture

Ate very nice french door and all related trim

Got hungry for greens and ate $1000 worth of Mondo Grass in one sitting

Pulled up and shredded an entire drip irrigation system

Ate the back seat of my crew cab Silverado and finished off with a light snack of all of my power seat wiring.

Ripped up $200 in collars in one month

$500 in dog beds in one month

While mock fighting in the front yard, convinced a passing woman that I was the next Michael Vick and deserved to be turned into the city.

Yes, MANY food theft violations

Otherwise, yes they are cute.
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<---- Note photo of the perp

Got him at 6 months from the shelter - abandoned, definitely abused. On the other hand, very well socialized, plays well with other dogs and little kids, who often come to the door and ask to play with him.

  • Just fine being crated during the day.
  • When I first brought him home and tried to crate him at night, he screamed. Not barking, not whining, doggie screaming. I ended up sleeping on the couch with him (many nights) until he calmed down. He now sleeps under the nightstand (no crate) in a bundle of towels.
  • Tore custom drapes off the rod in the living room, and tore the rod out of the sheet rock.
  • Tore custom drapes off the rod across the patio door, and tore the rod out of the sheet rock.
  • Tore upholstery off the arm of the sleeper sofa, then shredded the foam on the arm & distributed it all over the floor. I just stood there when I saw it and realized even if I took him, late at night, to Denver Dumb Friends League and placed him in one of the cages for those who need to give up an animal anonymously, they would find the chip and return him to me.
  • Tore strips of upholstery off the living room sofa.
  • Destroyed the grill on the patio.

  • He sees squirrels, he goes berserk. If I leave the house for more than 10 minutes he's got to be crated. Which means while at work, my neighbor comes over at lunch time to take him for walk and munchies or else he goes to doggie day care.
At least he doesn't pee or poop in the house.

Hm...comparing Murf to yours? Nah, you win.

Alexb2000 said:
Those are some great names. Had I known the future, those would have been perfect.

Criminal activities have cost about as much as a new car.

Abbreviated rap sheet:

Escaped from two professional training facilities. Including scaling a 7' chain link fence and learning to open a kennel latch.

Destroyed a complete set of very nice outdoor furniture

Ate very nice french door and all related trim

Got hungry for greens and ate $1000 worth of Mondo Grass in one sitting

Pulled up and shredded an entire drip irrigation system

Ate the back seat of my crew cab Silverado and finished off with a light snack of all of my power seat wiring.

Ripped up $200 in collars in one month

$500 in dog beds in one month

While mock fighting in the front yard, convinced a passing woman that I was the next Michael Vick and deserved to be turned into the city.

Yes, MANY food theft violations

Otherwise, yes they are cute.
Click to expand...
 
murphey said:
<---- Note photo of the perp

Got him at 6 months from the shelter - abandoned, definitely abused. On the other hand, very well socialized, plays well with other dogs and little kids, who often come to the door and ask to play with him.

  • Just fine being crated during the day.
  • When I first brought him home and tried to crate him at night, he screamed. Not barking, not whining, doggie screaming. I ended up sleeping on the couch with him (many nights) until he calmed down. He now sleeps under the nightstand (no crate) in a bundle of towels.
  • Tore custom drapes off the rod in the living room, and tore the rod out of the sheet rock.
  • Tore custom drapes off the rod across the patio door, and tore the rod out of the sheet rock.
  • Tore upholstery off the arm of the sleeper sofa, then shredded the foam on the arm & distributed it all over the floor. I just stood there when I saw it and realized even if I took him, late at night, to Denver Dumb Friends League and placed him in one of the cages for those who need to give up an animal anonymously, they would find the chip and return him to me.
  • Tore strips of upholstery off the living room sofa.
  • Destroyed the grill on the patio.

  • He sees squirrels, he goes berserk. If I leave the house for more than 10 minutes he's got to be crated. Which means while at work, my neighbor comes over at lunch time to take him for walk and munchies or else he goes to doggie day care.
At least he doesn't pee or poop in the house.

Hm...comparing Murf to yours? Nah, you win.
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Good post. Made me laugh, I guess we all go through it. Everyone says lab puppies take two years to mature. Seems like a very long time some days.

This is what I found many a morning:
 

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Alexb2000 said:
Good post. Made me laugh, I guess we all go through it. Everyone says lab puppies take two years to mature. Seems like a very long time some days.

This is what I found many a morning:
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That's an *awful* big crate for two little, adorable puppies...
 
You guys make me glad I adopted a Rottweiler and Akita from the shelter as adults. They haven't destroyed more than $1,000 worth of stuff as a pair. :)
 
Ours graduates from Basic Obedience this week, assuming we can teach him a trick before Saturday. Thinking hard about registering him and us to go to AKC Good Citizen classwork after that.

He's doing extremely well with a little structure.

Have been working for a month on boundary training at doorways with him. Neighbor came over and stood in the driveway the other night and couldn't believe a dog would stand there in the doorway, obviously wanting to visit him, with the screen door propped wide open, and not cross the threshold without a release command.

Ted has opened our eyes to how much stuff called "bad dog behavior" is just humans that don't know how dogs work... and learn... and unlearn... etc etc etc...

http://www.tedterrouxdogtraining.com
 
denverpilot said:
Ours graduates from Basic Obedience this week, assuming we can teach him a trick before Saturday. Thinking hard about registering him and us to go to AKC Good Citizen classwork after that.

He's doing extremely well with a little structure.

Have been working for a month on boundary training at doorways with him. Neighbor came over and stood in the driveway the other night and couldn't believe a dog would stand there in the doorway, obviously wanting to visit him, with the screen door propped wide open, and not cross the threshold without a release command.

Ted has opened our eyes to how much stuff called "bad dog behavior" is just humans that don't know how dogs work... and learn... and unlearn... etc etc etc...

http://www.tedterrouxdogtraining.com
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Having a really good dog trainer is a must. I believe we end up learning more than the dogs.

I saw a couple of things on your link that were really interesting. I am worried about them around Rattlesnakes, so that kind of training would be great. I also have a lot of coyotes around my place in NM, which your trainer also addresses.

Sounds like a good guy.
 
I had a yellow lab that lived to 15. They are notorious for chewing as puppies, but we got pretty lucky and didn't have too many issues. She grew into the most amazing animal I could ever hope for, and lived for nothing more than to make you happy.

Unfortunately she died before I took up flying, so I don't have much advice to offer there. But I think you'll find your two labs will grow into fantastic members of the family.

They're prone to hip dysplasia, so keep an eye on that.
 
We have a yellow lab and she is not going anywhere I my plane. It would take a week to get all the hair cleaned up.
 
asechrest said:
I had a yellow lab that lived to 15. They are notorious for chewing as puppies, but we got pretty lucky and didn't have too many issues. She grew into the most amazing animal I could ever hope for, and lived for nothing more than to make you happy.

Unfortunately she died before I took up flying, so I don't have much advice to offer there. But I think you'll find your two labs will grow into fantastic members of the family.

They're prone to hip dysplasia, so keep an eye on that.
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They are already A LOT better than they were as younger pups. They sleep in our bed every night now, so they're not going anywhere and they really make us happy also.

Amongst the PILE of vet bills, we are having them monitored for dysplasia.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.
 
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