Puppy Wilbur's first flight

mikea

mikea

Touchdown! Greaser!
Gone West
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I'm going to fly to Sparta/Grand Rapids MI to pick up my rescued puppy Wilbur next weekend. (Guess who he's named after?) He's an American Bulldog like his big sister, Dakota.

I got a good sized Kennel/carrier for him, with a warming mat and some puppy pads.
We just found out that it doesn't fit through the baggage door, but I can put it on the seat behind me. I'll bungee it to the seat belt strap. I could probably get it in the cargo bay by dropping it in over the back seat.

I'll give him a squeeky toy and maybe some treats as we go.

You guys who have the done the Pet Rescue flights:
I know you use carriers and crates, too.
How likely is he to tolerate the noise?

I'd appreciate any advice on puppy passengers!
 

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Prolly sleep through the whole thing and not want to leave the crate at the end of the flight.
 
waaaay too cute!

He'll sleep and barf. Not in any particular order. Make sure no food, limited water for 2-4 hours before the flight. I can't get most crate in thru the baggage door either. The larger ones I can't get thru the cherokee door, either! I take it apart, put in each half then put back together inside the airplane. Have water and a cookie waiting for him as soon as you land. And a grassy area to go. Just like people, first thing they want to do at the end of a PilotsNPaws trip is find the nearest place to pee.

bungee will work fine.
 
that cute lil doggie!.

yeah honestly I think a doggie toy for the flight is kind of a waste, like murph said he's gonna pass out right away most likely. even if he doesn't he prob won't be in a playful mood during the flight. of course, they never pass up treats. and yeah, he might get a lil pukey.
 
eman1200 said:
that cute lil doggie!.

yeah honestly I think a doggie toy for the flight is kind of a waste, like murph said he's gonna pass out right away most likely. even if he doesn't he prob won't be in a playful mood during the flight. of course, they never pass up treats. and yeah, he might get a lil pukey.
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Never put a toy in the crate when flying. If something happens, unless you've got someone with you, you won't be able to get to the dog.
 
Nice lookin pibble! Yeah I know, American Bulldog, but it's still one of the pibbles! :D

My pibble crawls in the back seat and goes to sleep.
 
murphey said:
Never put a toy in the crate when flying. If something happens, unless you've got someone with you, you won't be able to get to the dog.
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Oh. Yeah. I get it. Thanks for the warning.

My biggest fear is a dog pushing the seat back forward into the yoke. ...so I won't depend on doggie seat belts unless I have a passenger in the right seat.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
 
mikea said:
Oh. Yeah. I get it. Thanks for the warning.

My biggest fear is a dog pushing the seat back forward into the yoke. ...so I won't depend on doggie seat belts unless I have a passenger in the right seat.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
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I have webbing straps (half the width of seatbelts) that are vertical around the entire back seat, one on each side. I put the crate in the back seat, then use the webbing straps to strap the crate down, because the seatbelts don't always work well with the crate. I never have
a dog in the front seat.

BTW my dog hates flying. Not fond of long car rides, either. Prefers to sleep in his crate at home or go to doggie day care.
 
Man.... the doggie resort my mom used to take her dog to was nice enough to make me want to stay there...
 
Zeldman said:
Man.... the doggie resort my mom used to take her dog to was nice enough to make me want to stay there...
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I remember one of my Oshkosh trips where I stayed in the dorm. Shared bathroom, no A/C, had to go over to the cafeteria for meals (or somewhere else), not the most comfy of beds, etc.

The dog? Meals delivered to his room twice a day. A/C, comfy bed (from home), played all day with other furry friends, etc.
 
mikea said:
I'm going to fly to Sparta/Grand Rapids MI to pick up my rescued puppy Wilbur next weekend. (Guess who he's named after?)
Click to expand...
No doubt our Wilbur.

0906171835e.jpg
I got a good sized Kennel/carrier for him, with a warming mat and some puppy pads.
We just found out that it doesn't fit through the baggage door, but I can put it on the seat behind me. I'll bungee it to the seat belt strap. I could probably get it in the cargo bay by dropping it in over the back seat.

I'll give him a squeeky toy and maybe some treats as we go.

You guys who have the done the Pet Rescue flights:
I know you use carriers and crates, too.
How likely is he to tolerate the noise?

I'd appreciate any advice on puppy passengers!
Click to expand...

My limited experience with Pilots n Paws indicates, dogs treat a small airplane much as a car. The ones I've transported have typically paid attention on takeoff and landing and slept the rest of the time. That's been true of the little guys that have been crated and the bigger guys who have been tethered to the back seat.
 
JCranford said:
Nice lookin pibble! Yeah I know, American Bulldog, but it's still one of the pibbles! :D

My pibble crawls in the back seat and goes to sleep.
Click to expand...

Nah, Pibbles are also bulldogs. They're all descended from Chinese Mastiffs bred with terriers for the charming former sport of bull-baiting.
bull-baiting-historic-2.jpg


American Bulldogs were bred to be most like what the original bull dogs were.

Course, they all have the wunnerful bulldog love, loyalty, and tenacity.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
 
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The guys in the hangar across from me had what they called the "hillbilly Skyhawk". The engine has been reassembled by one and was spitting copious amounts of oil everywhere. It looked kinda cool since none of the rivets had any paint on them due to the hillbilly paint job. Only thing that poor airplane had going for it other than being a Skyhawk was the 430 in the panel.

They traded it for a Skyhawk XP from South Carolina (along with some cash I imagine, though I wasn't privy to the details). The reason I am mentioning it here is the pilot who was delivering the XP and taking the Hillbilly Skyhawk brought with him the nicest little bulldog that flew everywhere with him. Sorry, I didn't get any photos of the dog and the ones of the Hillbilly Skyhawk don't look like much. I think he made it just fine, haven't seen any reports of a Hillbilly Skyhawk crash. Still, the only way I could see them fixing a giant leak like that was epoxy. Caveat emptor.
 
mikea said:
I had a brain shower to put my very worn T-shirt in the crate so he gets his first heavy dose of Daddy-smell.
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Not needed at all. Dog's sense of smell is orders of magnitude more sensitive than ours. Some can smell cancer. I bet there are ones that can smell yellow. Your dog will learn your smell with or without old T-shirt.
 
Wilbur is home. He was a good flyer. He didn't barf or pee, but that was because I followed your advice and had his foster daddy hold off on giving him food and water.

Thanks to Ed Fred for the great ground support!

Flying wise, his was my first solo XC in years. I limped along with Foreflight, even though it was obvious how to follow the shoreline of Lake Michigan. I got many traffic warnings, and notice of TWO stadium TFRs way late where I had to fly several miles out over the the lake. Then my home airport was just a few miles out in the wrong direction. I need to learn a lot more about how to drive ForeFlight.

I had three devices ready to run Garmin Pilot, but gave up on configuring them so I could launch. I gotta invest more time setting up on the ground. I should just get a newer GPS for backup.

In the end I figure that I could have driven again and had less of a time sink.
 
mikea said:
Wilbur is home. He was a good flyer. He didn't barf or pee, but that was because I followed your advice and had his foster daddy hold off on giving him food and water.

Thanks to Ed Fred for the great ground support!

Flying wise, his was my first solo XC in years. I limped along with Foreflight, even though it was obvious how to follow the shoreline of Lake Michigan. I got many traffic warnings, and notice of TWO stadium TFRs way late where I had to fly several miles out over the the lake. Then my home airport was just a few miles out in the wrong direction. I need to learn a lot more about how to drive ForeFlight.

I had three devices ready to run Garmin Pilot, but gave up on configuring them so I could launch. I gotta invest more time setting up on the ground. I should just get a newer GPS for backup.

In the end I figure that I could have driven again and had less of a time sink.
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But....you got to fly. And Wilbur had his first of many anticipated flights with you, right? I just realized there are quite a few dog avatars on POA.
 
Look at that cute lil doggggggg
 
They are kissing each other and Sis is being great with him.

Wilbur did great as an airplane passenger. He had a 1 1/2 hour flight from Grand Rapids, MI.

Wilbur went right to the pile of toys and chew bones. He's still exploring his new forever home and back yard. He hasn't seen the lower level yet.

They look so much alike that Daddy is actually mixing them up once in a while.

He is being a lap dog and Dakota is being OK, if not enthusiastic with sharing Daddy again. At one point they both were on Daddy's lap. It helps that he's only 25 pounds.

Look at those blue/grey eyes!

I think he's going to keep us.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/y5LAnb27F6Fhi5lx1
 
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