Dog ear protection?

Kenny Phillips

Kenny Phillips

Final Approach
Joined
Jul 29, 2018
Messages
5,634
Display Name
Display name:
Kenny Phillips
I didn't want to hijack the "Flying with a child" thread. I've flown with dogs before, on rare occasions, but if I fly with one a lot (say, travelling when I retire) should I worry about some sort of hearing protection? What the heck would one use (besides a nice quiet jet)?
 
We use ear protection for our Golden Retriever when he flies with us, which is pretty often. Wife always puts the mutt muffs on him...I sometimes forget. He doesn't seem to mind them but I'm not sure how much actual hearing protection they provide.
 
My dog goes with about 95% of the time and has always worn Mutt Muffs. There’s another popular brand of dog muffs, too. Tried them both, prefer the Mutt Muffs. Do a site search. Been talked about several times. Sunglasses are optional. :)71D10414-902B-4E04-AD0D-F0F49AEFBF97.jpeg91E37FFE-CA39-4C10-A650-365C9755894A.jpeg
 
Last edited:
The hearing protection is probably a good idea.

There's a thread here about DIY doggie ear protection.

A member of my former club said it took about 2-3 flights for his pups to realize they like it better with them on. His wife would sit in the rear seat of the 6 with them and they seemed to knock them off, go *huh?* and she would put them back on. Several cycles and the dogs acclimated.

Kind of like flying with a spouse or GF. If at first your don't succeed...
 
We have the mutt muffs. They usually need adjustment sometime during the flight depending on how active my dog is. They don't seem like they would block much noise to me, but we have them, so we use them.
 
I fly with the dogs in a kennel in the back. We put a blanket over the kennel to lower the noise. They sleep on most flights. We keep the vents open and don't take them if it will be too hot.
 
Depends on the plane, but I don’t use anything, think those are more for making the human feel better than the dog
 
For the millionth time here:

Mutt Muffs SUCK. They do nothing to deaden the noise...they simply make owners feel good. Don't believe me? Then put them on yourself if you have a large pair. I could still understand every word my wife spoke in a soft voice from 40' away in our great room. And they were completely sealed.

4paws aviation's muffs are far better and use materials that are actually used in headsets instead of open cell foam and other misc. crap that mutt muffs use.

http://4pawsaviation.com/

With that said, Buddy had over 400 hours with me. He went without protection as often as he went with. And he had no hearing issues at all when he died. I doubt that many, if any of you, will fly that many hours with your pooch.

Regardless, I still got a smaller set for my new pup until he grows into Buddy's large set.

7C5D91E0-E155-4AA0-A1BD-0252E8095B45.jpeg FACF77DC-04D1-4A70-8985-7F0C8D9C1475.jpegC8F3245F-F153-449E-ABE8-C87B955C07B9.jpeg
 
Last edited:
More dog pics!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
Eric Stoltz said:
More dog pics!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

55-C25-CBE-FBB1-4-F85-A31-F-0-F9922-C45-B40.jpg
 
Baxter joined me for most of the 1,000+ hours I logged in the last 11 years until his passing this past October. We bought mutt muffs and tried them once. He ate the strap. We tried to get a replacement strap but no dice. Honestly I agree with Tim above that they're not very effective. He went without hearing protection for the balance and never seemed to have declined hearing at age 13.
 
3FB4233A-25B9-435A-862F-0F0BFABDBFBB.jpeg
The FourPaws Aviation product in use.
....and to the question of “does it matter?” - who knows?....but if they’ll wear them why not give your best friend(s) the benefit of the doubt.
 
I tried mutt muffs on my dog when I first got the plane and she hated them so I stopped using them and she's flown with me without ear protection ever since. She is now 12 years old, probably has about 1500 hours in the back of a Cirrus and can still hear me open a bag of chips from across the house so it doesn't seem that her hearing has suffered much...

Her selective hearing on the other hand.... She's very good at ignoring things she doesn't want to hear...
 
We use this thing:

10x8sqd.png


Seems to both calm him and maybe block some of the noise. Easy to get on and off too.

Normal headset a little too big :)

2qiqntg.png
 
My dog has only been on three flights, and is completely deaf :eek: ... she is the oldest cocker spaniel my vet has ever seen at 16 years last month;). She still tries to act like a puppy, but I can tell this may be the last year ... best dog you could ever have ...
 
if u scream as loud as you can into your dogs ears for 4 hours before the flight, the engine noise will no longer bother them.
 
Both of my planes indicate just shy of 100dB in cruise. No app, but on a real noise meter. My dog isn't built for that. Muffs are simple. If you can't train a dog to wear muffs? Please don't have children. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top