Category: Flying

Taking a holiday with your loved one!

(That’s your loved pet in case you wondered where I was coming from 😉 )

I have only ever flown once with a pet. That was back in 2008 when I flew one-way from London to Los Angeles on a British Airways flight when coming to live with Jeannie. Yes, I was alone in the cabin but I was not alone in the aircraft. For in a special part of the hold devoted to carrying animals rode Pharaoh.

I will never forget that day when I had to travel to the unit at London Heathrow Airport where dogs, and other pets, were dropped off about an hour before I was due to check-in to the same flight.

For this reason.

Every other time that Pharaoh had been left by me at the kennels when I was going away on business, or some other journey, Pharaoh had always barked in sadness at being left. I always got back in my car feeling a traitor for having something to go to that didn’t involve dogs.

So in this instance I was fully expecting Pharaoh to really sound out how unhappy he was at being left. For it was a very unfamiliar place on an unfamiliar airfield and he was being ‘processed’ in a manner that he had never experienced before.

So the time came that the attendant had Pharaoh in the flight cage and I had to turn my back and walk out of the area where some thirty minutes before Pharaoh and I had entered. I was expecting terrible sad howls. But not a single sound came from Pharaoh. To this day I like to think that he knew that he and I were on our way to the greatest and most wonderful life-changing event of our whole lives. Going to live with Jeannie and all her animals!

OK! Got that off my chest!

I love guest posts for all sorts of reasons but most importantly of all because you dear readers also like guest posts.

I was approached by Brenda Leary with her offer of writing a guest post for Learning from Dogs. She gave me a choice from a number of essay titles and, as you might expect from my introduction, I chose an article from Brenda about flying with your pet.

Enjoy!

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Tips to Flying With your Dog

Flying With Your Pet Made Easier

Jetting out for a well-deserved vacation? If you plan to go with your furry friend, we have great news for you. While traveling with pets may evoke tension and constant hair pulling, find out how to travel with a dog on a plane with these excellent tips.

Select the airline

Not all airlines allow their passengers to travel with their pets. The first step is identifying pet-friendly airlines and their pet limit. Once you get an affirmative answer, make the reservations immediately before you lose the seat.

Obviously, you cannot have your dog sit a few rows behind or in front of you; make sure to book two seats adjacent to each other. Depending on the airlines you choose, you could fork up to $100 for a one-way trip.

Compare different rates from various carriers and select the most affordable one. Alternatively, leave your pet with a sitter or a family member while you vacation.

Health checks

Similar to humans, pets need a full medical check- up before boarding a flight. Make an appointment with your veterinarian at least ten days before the trip. Have your dog vaccinated and give him any extra shots that he needs.

Obtain a health certificate and be sure to bring it to the check-in counter. Your vet will suggest packing a first aid kit with gauze and pet medications in case of emergencies. If you are traveling overseas, investigate the health care requirements of your destination.

Buy a dog carrier

When traveling with your pet, you need to keep him as comfortable as you possibly can to calm his nerves long enough until you land. Find a carrier that is spacious enough, so your dog or cat has some wiggle room to stretch during the flight.

The recommended size of a pet carrier is sixteen to nineteen inches long, and ten inches tall. Test out your carrier days before the trip and observe how your puppy behaves when he is locked in. If he shows signs of anxiety, try a different carrier until you find one that pleases him. If your dog weighs more than fifteen pounds, the airline will advise that he travels in a hard-sided kennel in the plane’s stowaway.

Pack wisely

When traveling with your kids or alone, packing is a crucial step that can make all the difference between a smooth or long flight. Similarly, pets behave like children and we gladly oblige and treat them as so.

Bring your pet’s favorite toys to keep him entertained (read: distracted), during the flight. You cannot underestimate the power of a dog bone on a trans-Atlantic flight! Airlines do not provide in-flight menus for pets. Pack enough food and water to last the duration of the trip.

Remember, traveling with your puppy counts as a carry on which leaves you with one carry on. Put your creatures of comfort in your bag and utilize the space on the pet carrier such as side pockets.

Arrive early

If you are traveling alone, you can expedite the check-in process by using mobile boarding passes. This convenience is not possible when traveling with your furry animal.

Traveling with your pet means additional time spent at the security desk while checking in. Pets do not go through x-ray machines; you will need to carry the dog through the metal detector and have the dog cage inspected separately.

To avoid last minute rush and a near-miss of your flight, arrive the airport earlier by at least one hour so you can comfortably go through these procedures without frowning.

Leash your dog
As we mentioned earlier, pets do not go through x-ray scans so you will have to remove him from the carrier for a separate inspection through the metal detector. If your pet is already showing signs of anxiety, they may attempt to make a run for it upon release from the cage. Make sure to have a leash on their collar to prevent this from happening. Besides being a total nuisance to other travelers, running after a pet across the airport is hardly something you wish to do. Tag the leash and carrier with your dog’s name on it and your contact details. You can also insert a microchip in your puppy days leading up to the journey. When traveling with your dog, planning ahead gives you ample time to research on how to travel with a dog on a plane. Make a list of luggage items for your pet and other travel companions and counter-check before leaving the house. Buckle down and enjoy a smooth flight.

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I asked Brenda to let us know a little about herself. This is what she said:

I’m Brenda Leary. I have a passion for dogs. My ambition is to found a community for dogaholics that everyone could share useful knowledge about dogs.

I’m here to break down all the complex dog’s tips/advices and try my best to give you the stuff that is actually useful and works!

Follow my steps at Cuddle Your Dogs to discover dogs’ daily routines, tips and advices on caring for a dog/puppy and many, many things about this wonderful world.

I love this dog so much!

Dearest Pharaoh.

As I explained yesterday, I am distracted from all things blogging right through to the end of this week-end.

So I’m republishing a post from June, 2013 that, hopefully, will be a fresh read for many of you.

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More on Pharaoh’s life.

First published June 4th, 2013.

What a wonderful relationship it has been.

Years ago if I was ever to own a dog, it had to be one breed and one breed only: a German Shepherd Dog.

The reason for this was that back in 1955 my father and mother looked after a German Shepherd dog called Boy. Boy belonged to a lovely couple, Maurice and Marie Davies. They were in the process of taking over a new Public House (Pub); the Jack & Jill in Coulsdon, Surrey. My father had been the architect of the Jack & Jill.

Jack & Jill, Longlands Avenue, Coulsdon, Surrey

As publicans have a tough time taking holidays, it was agreed that the move from their old pub to the Jack & Jill represented a brilliant opportunity to have that vacation. My parents offered to look after Boy for the 6 weeks that Maurice and Marie were going to be away.

Boy was the most gentle loveable dog one could imagine and I quickly became devoted to him; I was 11 years old at the time. So when years later it seemed the right time to have a dog, there was no question about the breed. Boy’s memory lived on all those years, and, as this post reveals, still does!

Pharaoh was born June 3rd, 2003 at Jutone Kennels up at Bovey Tracy, Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor, South-West England. As the home page of the Jutone website pronounces,

The Kennel was established in 1964 and it has always been the aim to breed the best German Shepherd Dogs for type and temperament. To this end the very finest German bloodlines are used to continue a modern breeding programme.

and elsewhere on that website one learns:

Jutone was established by Tony Trant who was joined by Sandra Tucker in 1976. Sandra continues to run Jutone since Tony passed away in 2004. Both Tony and Sandra qualified as Championship Show judges and Sandra continues to judge regularly. Sandra is the Secretary and a Life Member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Devon.

Turning to Pharaoh, here are a few more pictures over the years.

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The next picture of Pharaoh requires a little background information.

For many years I was a private pilot and in later days had the pleasure, the huge pleasure, of flying a Piper Super Cub, a group-owned aircraft based at Watchford Farm in South Devon. The aircraft, a Piper PA-18-135 Super Cub, was originally supplied to the Dutch Air Force in 1954 and was permitted by the British CAA to carry her original military markings including her Dutch military registration, R-151, although there was a British registration, G-BIYR, ‘underneath’ the Dutch R-151. (I wrote more fully about the history of the aircraft on Learning from Dogs back in August 2009.)

Anyway, every time I went to the airfield with Pharaoh he always tried to climb into the cockpit. So one day I decided to see if he would sit in the rear seat and be strapped in. Absolutely no problem with that!

Come on Dad, let's get this thing off the ground! — Come on Dad, let’s get this thing off the ground!

My idea had been to fly a gentle circuit in the aircraft. First I did some taxying around the large grass airfield that is Watchford to see how Pharaoh reacted. He was perfectly behaved.

Then I thought long and hard about taking Pharaoh for a flight. In the Cub there is no autopilot so if Pharaoh struggled or worse it would have been almost impossible to fly the aircraft and cope with Pharaoh. So, in the end, I abandoned taking him for a flight. The chances are that it would have been fine. But if something had gone wrong, the outcome just didn’t bear thinking about.

So we ended up motoring for 30 minutes all around the airfield which, as the next picture shows, met with doggie approval. The date was July 2006.

What a dear dog he has been over all the years and, thankfully, still is!

As if to reinforce the fabulous dog he still is, yesterday it was almost as though he knew he had to show how youthful he still was.

Because, when I took his group of dogs out around 7.30am armed with my camera, Pharaoh was brimming over with energy.

First up was a swim in the pond.

Then in a way he has not done before, Pharaoh wanted to play ‘King of my Island’, which is in the middle of the pond.

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Then a while later, when back on dry land, so to speak, it was time to dry off in the morning sunshine.

Actually, this isn't a bad life! — Actually, this isn’t a bad life!

Long may he have an enjoyable and comfortable life.

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Long may we all have enjoyable and comfortable lives!

Celebrating old connections.

A great catch-up from many years ago.

A few weeks ago I had a comment left on a blogpost, “Hello Paul.. all the very best ex, 1234 lol“. The comment had been left by a Martin Lowe. That won’t mean anything to anyone until I explain that I have a pilot’s log book and the very first entry reads:

March 3rd, 1984/Cessna FA152/G-BGAF/Capt. M. Lowe/P u/t/IPSWICH – LOCAL/1325 Departure/1355 Arrival/ 0:30 mins dual/ Ex 4,5.

That was my very first flight in a powered aircraft and my instructor was Martin Lowe of the Suffolk Aero Club based at Ipswich Airport in Suffolk, England.

Yesterday, Martin and I had a great catch-up over the phone and I’m republishing an earlier post of mine as a way of saying how fabulous it was to remake contact with Martin once again.

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Keeping a balance on one’s state of mind.

Don’t know about you but I find that it is all too easy to get wound up by so much that is going on in this crazy world. That’s not to marginalise the threats to society that are all around us and there are some powerful writers out there who work so hard to inform the world as to the truth of those threats. (As an aside, one of my favourite authors is this context is Patrice Ayme, just see this recent Post of his as an example of his depth of analysis.)

But my dear friend of over 40 years, Dan Gomez, recently sent me a link to a video of the 10 most extreme airports in the world. That stirred some memories from my own flying days.

First settle back and enjoy 7 minutes of reasons why you don’t want to think about flying! 😉

The YouTube video has this information, which I republish below,

Pictures and videos of the top 10 most extreme airports in the world!

San Diego: Busy airspace lots of buildings on approach
Madeira: Difficult approach and did have a short runway
Eagle Vail: High altitude, short runway & mountainous approach & departure
Courchevel: Short runway, bumpy runway, high altitude
Kai Tak: Difficult approch, fly through tall buildings, short runway
Gibraltar: Short runway, building on approach, winds from the Gibraltar rock
St Maarten: Short runway, has to fly over the beach with alot of people on there, steep takeoff because of mountains
St Barts: Short runway, has to dive.
St Barts: To land, the low approach on that hill thingy
Toncontin: Difficult approach, short runway
Lukla, short runway, only was cemented a few years ago, no go around, if land too low you land into a cliff

First song: La Perla by Kobojsarna

Second song: Feel It – Explicit Album Version by Three 6 Mafia vs Tiesto with Sean Kingston and Flo Rida

Now to a personal recollection.

I was a private pilot for many years, first learning to fly at the Suffolk Aero Club at Ipswich Airport in Suffolk, England. My first lesson was on the 3rd March, 1984!

Some twenty years later, on the 13th August 2004 to be exact, I was checked out to land at Courchevel Airport in an aircraft type known as a TB20, a French-built aircraft. Here’s the page from my log book with the necessary authorisation stamp affixed.

The following year, 19th July, 2005, I added my wonderful Piper Super Cub to that authorisation. (See here for a part picture of the aircraft.)

So thanks to YouTube as someone has uploaded a film of a light aircraft operating into Courchevel. It really is rather thrilling!

Finally, back to Dan. Here’s his recollections included in the email that he sent with that first film.

Just found this. I’ve landed at two of these. Eagle Vail was a piece of cake compared to Toncontin as Marty and Bruce know. BAE146 and small Boeing jets. I flew in and out of Toncontin 5 times in the 90’s and had no idea it was as scary as it was. That is to say, I knew it was scary because my palms sweated and heartbeat was about 140 but when I look at it now I go “what was I thinking?”

Take offs were like Orange County, Full brake power straight up. The big difference was you were shuttling along the runway and then down the runway and finally, up the runway to get the wheels up.

One time, on a connecting flight from Medellin, we taxied in, were boarded by military police with drug dogs who sniffed their way through the aisle. Bags were searched while everyone waited in intense heat. It took about 2 hours, three time longer than necessary. Then the interior was fumigated with everyone aboard. All the big machine guns too. Nobody said a word!

There’s one thing about flying a light aircraft, especially into ‘interesting’ airfields, you don’t have a moment to worry about the state of the world!

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March 3rd, 1984 to August 2nd, 2016 – more than thirty-two years – just like that!

P.S. I had a 15-minute solo flight on April 25th, 1984.

A Romantic Proposal in mind?

Just had to share this with you!

I sat down in front of my PC a little after 3pm. I was knackered, not to put too polite a spin on it! For the reason that since 9am this morning young Justin and I had been working outside repairing the front, road-side, boundary fence because our lovely Brandy had discovered a hole in it. Jean and I only becoming aware of that break in the fence when neighbouring residents, Dordie and Pam, on setting out for a bike ride yesterday, found Brandy waiting outside our front gate, which is a quarter-of-a-mile from our house. Brandy, as with all the other dogs that we have, is far too precious to delay mending the fence.

Jean and Brandy at our local yard sale last weekend.

So, as I always do, when I can’t muster the creative juices is to see what’s sitting in my ‘blog’ mail folder.

Bingo.

The following recently was sent to me by neighbour Larry, his email simply saying, “Is this what they call “British Humor”??”

Enjoy!

(P.S. Best to watch a little after you have eaten!)

Follow that, as they say!

Saturday Smile

Using electronic devices on planes!

In gratitude to Roger Davis, long-time friend from my UK days, who forwarded me the link to the following. (Caution, the video does contain some coarse language probably unsuitable for those below the age of 16.)

Picture parade one hundred and forty-six

The third and final set of simply stunning photographs of the Grand Canyon.

These are from the website of Humbert & Shirley Fernandez and the first set was two weeks ago. The second set was last week.

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See what we can find for you for a week’s time.

You all take care out there!

Just something silly for today.

High-flying chickens!

This vidoe was posted on Roger Davis’ Facebook page in the last day.

By way of background, Roger and I were running companies from the same office base in Colchester, Essex, England back in the 1980s and it was Roger who introduced me to gliding, or sail-planing in American speak.. Here’s a short extract from a previous LfD post in 2014.

My first exposure to private flying was on the 7th June, 1981 when, at Rattlesden Gliding Club in Suffolk, I was taken up for two air-experience circuits in a two-seater glider known as a ‘K7’. I was immediately hooked! Those experience flights leading to a 4-minute flight (flight number 46) on the 6th September, 1981 that has the remark in my pilot’s log book: Solo! Now fast forward to October, 1984 and my log book shows me attending a gliding instructor’s course at Lasham, resulting in me being issued with a British Gliding Association (BGA) Assistant Instructor Rating on the 14th October. (105/84).

A K-7 two-seat glider.

Anyway, here’s the item that just had to be shared:

How on earth does one follow that up! 😉

In praise of Monarchs!

But not of the royal variety.

Last week, author and blogger (4am Writer) Kate Johnston published a post about getting 1 million supporters to help save the monarch butterfly. Kate was very happy for me to republish that here on Learning from Dogs. Please read it and sign up.

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Join the Monarch Squad

Kate Johnston / 4 days ago

World Wildlife Fund has set a goal – getting 1 million supporters to help save the monarch butterfly.

Threatened by illegal logging, global warming, herbicide use, and vanishing food source (milkweed) for caterpillars, monarchs are in serious danger.

“Now more than ever, Mexico, the United States, and Canada should increase their conservation efforts to protect and restore the habitat of this butterfly along its migratory route,” said Omar Vidal, Director General for WWF-Mexico.

Last year, I began planting my own butterfly garden in an effort to help provide a habitat for monarch butterflies, and any other form of wildlife that might seek food and shelter there.

BEFORE

AFTER

Not very organized and probably have too much in there, but I didn’t expect everything to take off the way it did!

Turtles come through my backyard every summer to lay their eggs in the same place. Each generation of turtle somehow knows the exact route, like they have their own inner GPS.

See the butterfly in the middle of the milkweed? This is not a monarch, as it has no white spots. I think it might be a fritillary, maybe the variegated species.

This is a harmless garter snake, and they love my garden!

Just a baby, though. Hubs still took off, so my son had to take the pics.

Hubs nearly ran over this guy with the mower. I had to come and get it ‘cuz it’s a snapping turtle!

Spring is just around the corner in the US, and the monarch butterflies will be heading along their migratory route, back to their northern homes. They will be in search of food and shelter. They will need milkweed, the only plant on which they lay their eggs and the one food source for their babies.

If you have a backyard, won’t you consider providing a home for some beautiful monarchs? Even if you’re sans yard, you can still fight for their survival.

Join the Monarch Squad

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So, please sign up and share this as widely as you can.

For everyone’s sake!