Dogs & flying: hearing loss?
Kyler Laird
ol...@DELETESPAM.odet.net (O. Det) writes:
>I'd like to take my dogs flying, but I'm concerned about hearing loss.
>Their hearing is much better than ours (even before I went 1/2 deaf from
>rock & roll and flying), and I think it'd really suck to give my dogs
>hearing loss.
This sounds like a post I made not long ago.
What I learned...
Dogs do fly - even without plugs. That
doesn't mean that they don't lose their
hearing, but it is done and it's apparently
not (too) painful.
Horses' ears are sometimes plugged, so *big*
plugs do exist. I even found a reference to
plugs for miniature horses, but I have not
yet found a supplier.
Be careful with making your own foam plugs.
Using a hot wire to cut some foam will
result in toxic fumes.
Some pilots use *wax* (not foam) plugs for
small children. It seems like a good way
to go for dogs. I recall getting soft wax
when I had braces (on my teeth). A bunch
of that stuff should plug a dog's ears.
BTW, I'm looking forward to flying with my
four dogs. I think that wax is going to
work for their ears and I've located
someone to make flight suits for them.
Now to figure out how to get them oxygen...
--kyler
Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin
Kyler - just in case you are serious about the ear plugs - what do you
think will happen to eardrums if the inside and outside air pressures in
the ear canals is not kept at the same level? There's a good reason why
ears 'pop' during flights.
Nancy
Kyler Laird <la...@millennium.ecn.purdue.edu> wrote in article
<6k2s2b$8...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>...
Peter Prescott
You can get special headphones for dogs; to my knowledge, the best make
(and the cheapest)is "Quiet-boi" brand. These employ active noise
reduction technology, although somewhat inferior than the human kind.
However, they are currently available in only a limited range of standard
fits, namely "Red Setter", "Pit Bull" and "Chihuahua". If your dog is a
mongrel you have to buy them custom-made and that costs much more.
Further details on http://www.quiet_boi.com.
BTW, a properly trained dog can materially reduce the workload in the
cockpit. This is not sufficiently appreciated in America, but we
captains often do this on Aeroflot. My own pooch (he's a Borzoi) is
trained to yip when he sees that old locator needle flip back. Note: It
is important to stop giving them any beer *at least* 8 hours before
pushback.
Peter Cowper
I guess we need to determine the humane method of protecting dogs' ears
in the cockpit. With the high technology "fly-by-wire'' systems, I
heard recently that aircraft will soon be flown by only one pilot and a
dog. The pilot is there to feed the dog . . . and the dog is there to
bite the pilot if he touches anything.
Tarver Engineering
On Fri, 22 May 1998 18:24:54 -0700, pco...@webtv.net (Peter Cowper)
wrote:
That is the slogan for the 757, you are running 20 years late.
John
Kyler Laird
"Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin" <fmka...@ix.netcom.com> writes:
>Kyler - just in case you are serious about the ear plugs - what do you
>think will happen to eardrums if the inside and outside air pressures in
>the ear canals is not kept at the same level? There's a good reason why
>ears 'pop' during flights.
Yup. I realized after I posted that I forgot to
menion one of the things I learned:
Be careful to maintain proper pressure balance
in the dogs' ears. Some pilots give babies
something to chew in order to assist in
"popping" their ears. Seems like it should
work for dogs.
Anyone want to suggest a procedure for equalization
when using wax plugs? Pull the plugs and hand out
the biscuits on ascents and descents?
--kyler
Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin
If your dog is in the cabin with you it won't need earplugs - if it is in
the hold it should not either - I have flown dogs from and to here for
pretty long flights - no problem at all for the dogs.
I do suggest not putting anything hard in the crate that might bounce and
hurt the dog if there is turbulence, freezing the water cup so the water
will not spill during loading, packing the dog with a bed plus lots of
shredded paper to absorb and surround any accidents and also to provide
padding in case of turbulence.
Nancy
Kyler Laird <la...@millennium.ecn.purdue.edu> wrote in article
<6k6mtm$5...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>...
O. Det
In article <6k6mtm$5...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>,
la...@millennium.ecn.purdue.edu (Kyler Laird) wrote:
> "Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin" <fmka...@ix.netcom.com> writes:
>
> >Kyler - just in case you are serious about the ear plugs - what do you
> >think will happen to eardrums if the inside and outside air pressures in
> >the ear canals is not kept at the same level? There's a good reason why
> >ears 'pop' during flights.
>
> Yup. I realized after I posted that I forgot to
> menion one of the things I learned:
>
> Be careful to maintain proper pressure balance
> in the dogs' ears. Some pilots give babies
> something to chew in order to assist in
> "popping" their ears. Seems like it should
> work for dogs.
>
> Anyone want to suggest a procedure for equalization
> when using wax plugs? Pull the plugs and hand out
> the biscuits on ascents and descents?
The eustatian tube which connects the ear with
the throat often plugs. It can be opened by
yawning, stretching the jaw, swallowing and
a number of other similar activities.
...I'd think that a dog, like an infant, would let
you know if you were climbing/descending too quickly.
I was surprized by the person who said that dogs in
the cabin won't sustain hearing loss. PEOPLE in the
cabin sustain hearing loss, and dogs' ears are much
more sensative. The first thing to go is higher
frequencies which (prior to flying all the time) only
the dog could hear, anyway...
"He can still hear me when I tell him to 'sit'" is
hardly medical science (which is why I was hoping to
hear from a vet or at least an MD, when I first
posted.)
...But thanks to all who have contributed. I will
pursue the various avenues you've suggested.
--
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Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin
O. Det <ol...@DELETESPAM.odet.net> wrote in article
<olie-23059...@209.157.114.60>...
>snip
> I was surprized by the person who said that dogs in
> the cabin won't sustain hearing loss. PEOPLE in the
> cabin sustain hearing loss, and dogs' ears are much
> more sensative. The first thing to go is higher
> frequencies which (prior to flying all the time) only
> the dog could hear, anyway...
>
> "He can still hear me when I tell him to 'sit'" is
> hardly medical science (which is why I was hoping to
> hear from a vet or at least an MD, when I first
> posted.)
>
> ...But thanks to all who have contributed. I will
> pursue the various avenues you've suggested.
>
> snip
Actually about dogs still hearing - in my breed things like howling BEFORE
a human can hear the fire engine coming or alarm barking because someone
coming up the hill from town has turned a directional on seems to continue
to occur in dogs who have flown somewhere. Sensitive little critters they
are and I have flown them both in cabins and in cargo without ear plugs.
Nancy
Bill Rychel
I've flown over 1500 hours with my Labrador retriever in the way-back of a
Baron. He never listens to a word I say...but he can hear the sound of food
going into his bowl a mile away.
Dave & MaryBeth
I would imagine, from my own experience, it depends on the size of the
plane. If it is a small personal plane it makes ALOT more noise in the cabin
than I've ever heard in a commercial airplane.
MaryBeth
Nancy E.Holmes or R. Nelson Ruffin wrote in message
<01bd870e$2ea37c80$48d8...@fmkaffen.ix.netcom.com>...
O. Det
In article <6k9cle$2...@dfw-ixnews5.ix.netcom.com>, "Dave & MaryBeth"
Agreed, MaryBeth, and I wasn't trying to deride Nancy's
comments, I was just surprized by them. But I guess since
I've been thinking about little planes all along, I didn't
think about "in the cabin" as "...in a cabin-class aircraft"
and I was trying to figure out how she got the little crates
into the cargo area of, say, a C-172... <g>
Again, thanks to all who have contributed to this thread,
I now have some good leads.
Stray thought: is there a need/interest in rec.aviation.medicine?