Taking The Dog Cross-Country??

sourdough44

sourdough44

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Feb 20, 2011
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Wisconsin
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WI Flyer
I had an idea this morning, while out with the dog. She’s a German Shepherd, 10 years old, her main goal is to always be near me.

I have some time off coming up, feel like flying somewhere West. I don’t have an easy option right now for a sitter, she hates being boarded. Right now I have the ‘station wagon mod’, rear seats out, plywood floor, lots of room. I’m thinking about putting my travel pen in the back, bring her along?

She’s a great traveler in the truck. My biggest concern is with the stops, then transitioning to the ground mode, fuel stop or to the hotel. Has anyone done much of this? I know, yes, cuz I’ve seen it. OBTW, just did the vet checkup, 68 pounds. I would stop at lighter use airports.

I may do a test flight this evening with her, penned up and all. Yes, she does shed like crazy. I don’t mind a challenge or 2, another factor.
 

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Can you take her on a test flight to a nearby airport, short pee stop, and back?

Maybe borrow the courtesy car (bring a blanket and hand vac for hair). That will probably be your biggest issue - shed hair cleaning.

Our biggest challenge was getting our Rottweiler OUT of the plane! No crate. Just open the baggage door (182) and he naturally knew to jump in. He just as easily jumped out at our fuel stop. For whatever reason at our final destination we had to bribe him with a leftover Subway sandwich to get out.


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My dog enjoyed flying (see my profile pic) until my club established a crate rule. He absolutely hates the crate as it's the only time he's in it. I started w/ a really short trip. He howled the whole way. I took him for a longer trip. Same result. I took him for an even longer trip figuring he would eventually tire out. Nope. Good thing for noise cancelling headsets! :-) Seriously, it's good advice to start small/conservative and build up to know where your issues might be.
 
My dog use used to a crate, most travel, at home times at night or during storms. I actually picked her up as a puppy with the plane, she was only 8 weeks old, held her.

I could position my crate so I could maybe get her out the cargo door. She is used to the crate & travel, I think her hearing is diminished, should help with airplane noise.

Yes, for sure a test flight, planning that tonight. Another option is just fly to visit relatives, I’ll get a pickup & a place to stay. I know people do it, if I could get it worked out, would open new possibilities. There have been times I wanted to fly, but drove to take her.
 
Look at my profile picture. That smiling dog on the backseat has 321 flight hours so far. He goes everywhere with me so it’s definitely possible. I usually try to stop at airports with nice FBOs as they help if you have a dog. They meet you at the plane, fuel up for you, bring in your bags, etc. so you can tend to the dog. Once inside it’s nice and cool and they usually put us up in a room so the dog can drink, eat and do whatever dogs want to do. You can usually get a rental car right at the FBO for ground transportation or get an Uber - most are dog friendly.
 
I fly with my 2 pups frequently, they both lay down and sleep during the flight and one of them gets up to look out the window whenever I throttle back. Works out pretty well. Pretty much all FBO’s are welcoming and friendly towards dogs with treats or goodies for them, a couple of them asked to walk the dogs too.
 
I completed my test flight, went splendidly. I may have to update her dating app, ‘loves to travel’.

I used a smaller pen I had available, I like her contained, at least now. The temp was almost 80, I didn’t put her in until I was ready to crank. She was just a tad anxious during ground ops, a whine or 3. She settled down in the air fairly quickly. I’m sure she would sleep on a longer flight.

I left the smaller pen in the plane, I think this may be routine.
 

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I have one friend who had a lab that was so eager to fly, that if anybody left their plane door open at the airport, the dog would be inside in a flash.
I have another friend who had a dog (named Jeppesen even) that was nicknamed "The Chicken Hound" as it was mortified of flying.
 
I've done a number of Pilots n Paws...I put the dog in a harness, and connect to a strap that goes entirely around the back seat (vertical). Gives the dog a bit of freedom to sit up, lay down (most do, and go to sleep) but can't get into the front. If required, crate in the back seat and dog in the crate but only did that once.
 
To acclimate my dog, I did it in several steps. Each step was one day apart.

1. Sit in the airplane for a few minutes, then get out.
2. Start engine for a few minutes.
3. Taxi for a few minutes.
4. Take off, evaluate, and land.
 
write-stuff said:
To acclimate my dog, I did it in several steps. Each step was one day apart.

1. Sit in the airplane for a few minutes, then get out.
2. Start engine for a few minutes.
3. Taxi for a few minutes.
4. Take off, evaluate, and land.
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Good approach if you want to be very conservative. We did steps 1-4 all at once closely watching for any sort of distress. Absent any distress, we just went to the next step. Once we were airborne, he was curious instead of afraid looking out of the window, possibly thinking "so it is possible to catch those birds". Granted, our dog was a puppy when we took him on his first flight to make sure he gets used to it early on.
 
Previous owner of my airplane said he put his dog in the baggage area behind the seats once. The dog chewed through one of the shoulder harnesses.
 
My 59# standard poodle has flown with me a lot. Probably at least 500 hrs in the past 6-7 years.
Like said above he just wants to be with us, he don't care if it is in a car, RV or aircraft.
I don't fly high with him.
I have done some X country flying with him and the airports were friendly toward him and let him come inside on a hot day.
He's in my signature picture. He stays by the plane so he don't get left behind.
He goes with me to the hangar 95% of the time.
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My plane partner of 23 years (hung up his wings last year) flew with his dog everywhere. He covered the Warrior's back seat with a packing quilt and the dog basically slept. It would jump in and jump out until it got too old. Then he lifted her onto the wingwalk. He never used ear muffs or a harness. If it had been my dog I would have used ear muffs and a harness. Turbulence can be a beetch.
 
flyingron said:
Are these the ones who caught the rabbit?
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No rabbit for these three... not even the fake rabbit. They might have shown some interest as I flew an approach to minimums and saw the "rabbit" :).
 
This poor girl…she always wants to jump in the plane, but then shakes and shivers once inside. She’s been on an initial familiarization flight, and then one long XC (6 legs round-trip) because we didn’t have anyone to stay with her.

I think she just doesn’t want to be left behind; that would be worse than whatever else could happen WITH me by her side.

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My pup turned 14 years old this past May. He is still healthy and active. His main health problem is cataracts. I'd say he is 75% blind?
He still gets around the house and yard fine and still uses his dog door at home to go in and out.
I have been taking him to the airport less because of his sight. He's still going with us next week to Oshkosh in our RV camper, not RV aircraft.
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Gary Ward said:
My pup turned 14 years old this past May. He is still healthy and active. His main health problem is cataracts. I'd say he is 75% blind?
He still gets around the house and yard fine and still uses his dog door at home to go in and out.
I have been taking him to the airport less because of his sight. He's still going with us next week to Oshkosh in our RV camper, not RV aircraft.
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Very elegant how he crosses his front legs :)
 
Gary Ward said:
Thanks, he is a poodle through and through. Very smart and clean dog. My first and my wife’s 3rd standard poodle.
Our next dog will be a poodle also.
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Our dog (Samoyed) gets along super well with poodles. I mean, he gets along with any dog (or animal or human) just because he's a big, friendly goof ball, but for some reason, he has the best play dates with poodles every time.
 
sourdough44 said:
My dog use used to a crate, most travel, at home times at night or during storms. I actually picked her up as a puppy with the plane, she was only 8 weeks old, held her.

I could position my crate so I could maybe get her out the cargo door. She is used to the crate & travel, I think her hearing is diminished, should help with airplane noise.

Yes, for sure a test flight, planning that tonight. Another option is just fly to visit relatives, I’ll get a pickup & a place to stay. I know people do it, if I could get it worked out, would open new possibilities. There have been times I wanted to fly, but drove to take her.
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Chrisgoesflying said:
Our dog (Samoyed) gets along super well with poodles. I mean, he gets along with any dog (or animal or human) just because he's a big, friendly goof ball, but for some reason, he has the best play dates with poodles every time.
Click to expand...
I always loved your picture of him smiling from the back seat!
 
I've shared this one a while ago in another thread - someone caught us and took a picture on approach about a year ago with the dog looking out of the window. That picture went kinda viral online and I keep getting emails from people who know me saying "isn't this your plane and dog?" lol.

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Chrisgoesflying said:
get an Uber - most are dog friendly.
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As a former Uber/Lyft driver you have been extremely lucky if any driver will accept a dog that's not a service animal (don't lie and say emotional support... ADA dogs have it hard enough without people lying about needed a support animal).

Why would a driver risk several low star review for one fare? cleaning up dog hair is a huge pita if you're not prepared for it and the next 5 rides 1 star you for having a dirty car.

I also drive past folks at Walmart with 20 bags for the same reason. stuff melts/smells and takes them 20 minutes to unload.
 
pfarber said:
As a former Uber/Lyft driver you have been extremely lucky if any driver will accept a dog that's not a service animal (don't lie and say emotional support... ADA dogs have it hard enough without people lying about needed a support animal).

Why would a driver risk several low star review for one fare? cleaning up dog hair is a huge pita if you're not prepared for it and the next 5 rides 1 star you for having a dirty car.

I also drive past folks at Walmart with 20 bags for the same reason. stuff melts/smells and takes them 20 minutes to unload.
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Everywhere i’ve been to has Uber Pet. It costs a few dollars more than the regular fare and takes a few minutes longer to arrive but explicitly allows dogs and other pets. Not sure how long ago you were an Uber driver but this service has existed for years.

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Chrisgoesflying said:
get an Uber - most are dog friendly.
Click to expand...
As a former Uber/Lyft driver I you have been extremely lucky if any driver will accept a dog that's not a service animal (don't lie and say emotional support... ADA dogs have it hard enough without people lying about needed a support animal).

Why would a driver risk several low star review for one fare? cleaning up dog hair is a huge pita if you're not prepared for it and the next 5 rides 1 star you for having a dirty car.

I also drive past folks at Walmart with 20 bags for the same reason. stuff melts/smells and takes them 20 minutes to unload.
Chrisgoesflying said:
Everywhere i’ve been to has Uber Pet. It costs a few dollars more than the regular fare and takes a few minutes longer to arrive but explicitly allows dogs and other pets. Not sure how long ago you were an Uber driver but this service has existed for years.

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What city is this?

Was the car clean when it arrived?

I live in not-really rural but not really suburban ATL and most days I can't even get an uber.

As with all things ride share your market is not the same as everyone else's
 
pfarber said:
What city is this?
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The screenshot earlier today was in Dallas where I live. But I have used Uber Pet almost everywhere I've been in the U.S. and Canada in the last few years including Atlanta (and New York, Wichita, KS, Orlando, San Antonio, Houston, Toronto, Indianapolis, I could go on forever). Just looking at Atlanta right now on Friday night at 10.30 PM, I could get an Uber Pet within 11 minutes.

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pfarber said:
Was the car clean when it arrived?
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It usually is. It's mostly UberX cars - rarely comfort or black or anything. Most drivers are thrilled to see the dog. Helps that he is super friendly and hands out kisses to everyone. In the past 6 months, I booked 15 Uber Pets. In the last 3 years, gosh I would say probably close to 50. I prefer getting a rental car but sometimes Uber is just more convenient or rental cars are unavailable.

They definitely don't seem to have an issue with the dog as a rider as evident by my 5 star rating.

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Not exactly out West, but back yesterday from a 2+ hour flight with the dog. We went from SE WI to Sawyer airport, near Marquette in da U.P. of MI.

The process went well, relative met me there. My travel pen is a little smaller than what she’s used to.
 

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We stayed over just one night, evening flight home. FYI, an air show at Sawyer this weekend. It was a little smoky on departure, hopefully that dissipates some before the weekend.
 
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