Tethering

[sowens333]

Has anyone encountered any problems while tethering animals? I have not yet used a tether. I plan on covering the seat with a blanket. Has anyone tethered two dogs side by side, or one on the front seat? Any problems with chewing, or fighting? Anyone experience any tethered animals get loose? Thanks!

[admin]

Hi there,

I am not a pilot, but then most of you know that However, I have witnessed numerous rescue transport flights that have been done with dogs who have been tethered. It is totally up to the pilot and their comfort zone. If you go to our homepage, www.pilotsnpaws.org and click on Photo Gallery, you can view photos of the various transports other pilots have done.

Aside from a pilot making their own decisions about comfort zones I would suggest never transporting animals who are not familiar with each or used to sharing a confined space together. This is not the time or place to introduce them. I would also suggest that you use an approved auto safety harness and fit it snugly to the animal. These clasp directly into your back seatbelts and though the pup has some room to shift around, they will not end up in you lap, or at least they shouldn't!

Definitely ask the rescue volunteer to hold the feeding before flight and do cover your seats and flooring well. If by chance they do have an accident or experience a little air sickness, your plane will be covered. You can also ask a doggie wrangler to go along with you on the flight if you decide to tether the dog you are transporting. Some of the rescue volunteers have gone along and enjoyed the flight. Totally your call and choice on which transports to become involved with and how you would like the animal to be confined.

Hopefully some of the pilots will share their input with you as well.

Debi

[Jon]

I may be too cautious, but I would never tether two dogs side by side unless I knew they were able to get along, in other words have shared a crate or lived together. If they should ever decide to start fighting while you are airborne you can have serious problems.

A helper on the fight may be able to bring things under control, but if two animals are really going after one another even a helper may not be adequate to insure the safety of the flight.

This is just my opinion, and I am not in a position to tell anyone what to do, but I do like to see pilots make decisions with their safety and the safety of the flight foremost in their minds. I have flown a single dog tethered with no issues, but anytime I fly multiple dogs every one is in a crate, and only dogs that have shared crates share a crate in the plane, and only if I have solid gold assurance they get along.

Crates are great containers for any accidents our furry passengers may have. If they get ill or have to relieve themselves it is very easy to just hose the crate out. Not so easy to hose the plane out.

[Emil]

I did tie a doberman to the seat belt with a cheap leash. He did chew through it.

[spacer]

Our German Shorthair is rather proud of her teeth, and her ability to shear a cheap leash within seconds. Now we use much stouter stuff.

[richclover]

We carried 3 dogs in harneses on leashes yesterday, in addition to a mom and her 8 4-wk old pups.

Mom + 8 traveled well in a large wire collapsible kennel, 36"x27". We pulled a blanket most of the way up around the sides of the kennel, since mom was very protective of her pups and some growling went on until things settled down.

The leashed 3 were 2 female golden retrievers and a male boxer. All had been neutered, and the foster family who had the dogs together for only one night reported that they got along well, no problems. We confirmed this the next morning when we met them at the airport. All the dogs had come from different shelters, i.e., they hadn't previously been together. They traveled well in close quarters for an hour and a half. The older golden got tangled in her leash and did chew it off... No problem she was content to lie down and snooze. And Jill was able to get back to her and re-fasten the restraint. Good reason to not fly solo under these circumstances.

But... that's the second leash we've had chewed off, so we're going to chains for tethering. My wife and I have discussed "emergency" procedures and agree that any hostility between dogs prior to a tethered flight is reason to leave one behind or cancel altogether.

We have always covered our interior with blankets and towels, and recently began to place a plastic tarp under everything. Anything liquid will hopefully get soaked up by the old blankets, anything that get through will be stopped by the tarp. We've had to clean up all of the 3 "P"'s (not on the same transport), and as Jon says, hosing things off is easier than cleaning out the airplane Most flights have been very routine, but we've got to be ready for anything, anytime.

We turned our TC-310Q into a freight dog for this one, and, of course, did a revised wt and balance for no back seats. The leashes were secured to cargo rings on the floor and the kennel was secured with a cargo strap. As Debi and Jon have empasized, safety first.

[jlt240]

Hi I have flown about 600 hours with German Shepherd Transports.

My biggest concearns are having the large animals (one was 135#) come flying thru me in the front seat if I had a sudden stop.

The other concearn is Weight and Balance Aft.

I have a great C172 - 918 useful load (Now for sale as I want to fly longer flights with more large dogs - see plane at http://www.jerrileeaviation.com)

How I handle the two concearns are:

Remove rear seat 4 bolts.

Remove center two seat belts - 2 clips.

Get a harness per dog - Up to 4 - and a short leash (about 3 feet or less) per dog and loop the handle of the leash thru the seat belt retainers and slip the end of the leash thru the leash handle - then clip to each harness once the dog is loaded.

The dogs cannot quite get their mouths up to you incase something was to happen - important in ifr and a dog that is biting - (that never has happened;).

Here is how I maintain aft W&B - Go buy a large plastic tub with a locking lid - rubbermaid type that takes up the back 1 ft to 18 " of cargo space - the animals cannot get to where their weight messes you up.

Hope that helps - the dogs do soooo great in harnesses and it is sooo much safer for them...

jim

[Jon]

Having had a dog loose, and having heard stories of dogs chewing through their straps I have decided to only fly with dogs contained in a hard side crate. Of the over 300 pups I have flown only a few have exhibited any real panic, with almost all the others content to sleep most if not then entire transport.

I fly alone so that influences my choice. But even with a helper, one large German Shepherd that I carried and who tore the zipper out of one crate and was on her way to ripping a second would have been too much dog for a helper to control, especially since that much dog in such a confined space can create serious problems.

I will not tell other pilots what they have to do. But I would urge all pilots to err on the side of caution.