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New to Pilots and Paws...info request.

tkatc

Well Known Member
I just signed up and volunteered for the pilots and paws program. I had always had this sort of thing in the back of my mind before buying my RV. Now I can act but I want to be as prepared as possible.

Anybody have any pictures showing what sort of crates or harnesses that are suitable to a slider RV-7A? Basically what I need is info on how to configure the airplane for a safe and comforable transport. I do not know what size crate would fit the front seat and or rear baggage area. What type of crates are best? Are there "soft" crates vs hard crates? And where can these be obtained?
 
Their website is horrible, caps lock in rampant use, most of the transport requests are halfway across the country. They really need some modern logistics professionals and marketing/communication people in there to do that site justice
 
Last year I had two free crates sent to me by the Paws organizers.

As for crate size...get a tape measure. Originally I wanted to slide an intact crate under the cross bar behind the seat. That did not work so I had to put the crate together in the back.

I remove the passenger seat and place a crate there or one on top of another.

While soft crates are available that seem great, disinfecting them for parvo may be problematic.

Pictures here may help:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=63279
 
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Thanks Ron! I saw those posts and it kind of scared me. that beige crate looks like a MONSTER. :D

I think a large crate, that would fit in the baggage area, and also was split in 2 halves, upper and lower would be ideal. Just throw the lower half in, the pile on the pooches, then secure with the upper half. I didn't know if these organizers had solutions or not...I'm now guessing not. I also don't have a problem with a bit of foam padding and a blanket covering the baggage area and/or the passenger area with seat and stick removed so long as the "beast" was harnessed in some fashion to prevent disruption to a safe flight.

I was sort of hoping that someone would say..."Go to Petsmart and get ABC crate, it will fit easily in the baggage area in 2 halves, and perhaps get the DEF crate for the passanger area"

Any horror stories? vomitting? terrified pups? or worse, an in-flight death?
 
Suggestion: Whatever crate you use in the back...put it together before you start. Yes that may mean putting it together bottom first..then top at home. You face the door towards where you will load and insert the dog or dogs.

I will go measure mine soon so you have a starting point.

The beige one you see in one picture is gone.

I also bought several large white towels from Walmart to place under, in and around crates to contain accidents. They get a bleach solution wash after use to control possible parvo (see PnP discussion).

These white towels are also use to cover crates to help control heat (keep the sun off).

Lab Air has a perfect safety record.

I was vomited on once. Hint....if you carry a small pup on your lap (not recommending it)....have things protected by a towel or acceptable equivalent.

My largest crate is about 17" wide, 25" long (door on one end) and 16" high. Since I wanted to have it put together and slide under the cross bar behind the seats, that limited the height. Perhaps plan on putting one together in the cargo area and see if you can get a larger crate. To me...volume is essential.

It is a Pet Taxi (not sure what size but their website may show it).

Here is the PnP discussion on getting free crates, harnesses, leashes.

http://pilotsnpaws.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3847


Here is another discussion of how I transported eight pups.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=61026

I do not intend to be cruel to any pups but I will tolerate less than first class conditions (more than one pup in a crate) if it saves them. Three hours or so snuggled together like they probably do anyway is a small "discomfort."
 
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Ask Brutus

You better ask Brutus what he thinks. If he can walk kids he could tell you what harness or cage fits them :D. BTW did you fly with him in that new thingy?


Brutus1.jpg
 
Your local newspaper.

Our newspaper office gave me bundles of unsold newspapers to line the floor of my -10 and I then put plastic sheet over that...might have been the other way around.

You may also limit your rescue flights to smaller dogs, so you can have two crates in the front seat, on top of each other.

Best,
 
Vlad,
Brutus flies just fine with his harness!! I will want to get him MuttMuffs for extended or more frequent flights though.
 
Bonanza

When I do this in my Bonanza, I just secure the dog with a harness to one of the rear seat belts. Usually, they go right to sleep. It's too hard for me to get a crate into the plane.
 
Ok, this is happening quite quickly for me. I have been contacted about a flight this Sunday and will accomadate if I can. I prefer crates because you never know if the dogs will freak out or "leak" out. I could go with just a harness but the current mission would be 3 dogs, 2 in back and 1 in front. Of course this is dependent on if the dogs will play nice with each other since I cannot get a crate large enough for the 2 dogs in the rear. The dog in the front will be crated.

The crate sizes I think will work are rather small....seems like any dog(s) in the rear will have to be harnessed instead unless they are just pups.
 
Ive got an RV-8. I never thought about pulling the back seat back out and extending the dog space into the cargo are. I'll need to custom build the crates but it will be an interesting excurcise.
 
Ok, this is happening quite quickly for me. I have been contacted about a flight this Sunday and will accomadate if I can. I prefer crates because you never know if the dogs will freak out or "leak" out. I could go with just a harness but the current mission would be 3 dogs, 2 in back and 1 in front. Of course this is dependent on if the dogs will play nice with each other since I cannot get a crate large enough for the 2 dogs in the rear. The dog in the front will be crated.

The crate sizes I think will work are rather small....seems like any dog(s) in the rear will have to be harnessed instead unless they are just pups.

See if the sender has crates that will go with the dogs. White towels from Wal-mart as bedding.
 
I got the lady from Pilots and Paws sending me a couple crates as well as some harnesses. The problem seems to be the max crate width for my RV is 18" which limits the rest of the dimensions.

She says the crates might be here by Friday so we'll see. If not, we are checking with the senders to see if they have anything available. And worse case I just buy a couple harnesses and a small crate to complete the mission on Sunday.

Thanks for the advice Ron.
 
What are the weights and heights (ground to back) of the dogs? Do you have a cargo area cover that may help contain them along with a crate in the passenger side?
 
This is where my uncertainty on crates and dog sizes comes in. The third dog (40 pounds) may fit in my largest crate ok but I do not know if that crate would fit in the passenger area. I have a manual flap which impacts crate width.

Hopefully you can make it work.
 
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