Hot Air Balloons

[Diane Denney]

Hello everyone!!!  I hope you are having a wonderful Spring :D  I haven't been around here for a while as I've been very busy with work.

For those of you who followed my posts about Lincoln..He is doing very well :D  He has earned the privilege now of the living room and the kitchen unsupervised :D  He still has a few issues here and there, but he has come so far, and we are so glad we stayed he course!!!

This morning was a fiasco though as we have hot air balloons here and Lincoln is terrified of them.  I really wish they wouldn't fly them over the neighborhoods.  This happened during his first potty of the day, and his feeding time, and he refused to go outside even after it went away...  I finally calmed him down and he was okay, but skiddish.  He kept looking up in the sky and circling around.  My dog Scott was not too fond of them either :D

 

 

[Leslie and Halas]

I wonder what hot air balloons must look like to them.  Halas isn't a big fan of regular balloons, so he probably wouldn't be crazy about hot air balloons either, but he's never seen one.  I'm glad Lincoln is doing well.  Thanks for the update.

[Diane Denney]

LOL...I can tell you it must be something like a UFO to them because he was scared stiff...

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I don't think my dogs have ever seen hot air balloons. I wonder what they would do? Glad to hear Lincoln is doing well!

[GBK]

My first dog was terrified of them.  One day one balloon was so close in our yard that if you jumped you could almost touch it.  That really freaked him out.  From that day forward, if we started on a walk and he saw a balloon in the distance, he would tuck his tail and turn around for home......  Where we live now I don't think either of my current dogs have really come into contact with them and I hope it stays that way.

 

Sorry I can't offer any help, my boy lived for 16 years and never did get over it :(  Once they went away, or he came in the house he was fine, just hated the site and the voices he could hear from them.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Poor guy, I can see how that would be confusing!

[GBK]

But what about the Garbage Truck?????  Mine go on alert the minute that truck turns the corner!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Mine are terrified of these too! The noise of the truckf reaks them out and I take them inside so they can bark it off!

[Diane Denney]

Thanks about the Lincoln well wishes :D  Yeah, Linky's not fond of the garbagemen either...LOL  Lincoln is definitely a guard dog, but the Hot Air Balloons turned him to mush.  I wasn't downstairs yet, and my husband let him out not knowing.  I could here it and knew because Lincoln was whining, but my husband walks around with his eyes and ears closed in the morning :D  I would have waited...poor guy :-(

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My DH is a Hot Air Balloon Pilot, but recently has not flown due to costs and the balloon has too many hours on it to fly passengers.   I asked him what you could do.............................  he said, not much.

Even  the most brazen of dogs fear either the size or the high pitched sounds from the burners or both.  The balloons have no instruments to direct the flight so they are not targeting your house, it is just the winds aloft.  

There are FAA rules as to how many feet they can fly over your home.  But I bet they are within the limits.  FAA is an organization most pilots of any craft, don't disobey.

I sympathize with you with a dog who is already skiddish. Myself, those burners are loud and are intimidating to me also.   As far as land ownership, they must ask permission to land on your property before they are permitted to land.  Do you have neighbors who are encouraging them to fly in your area to land?   Most balloonists will give the landowner a free ride in exchange for landing.  Possibly this could be happening and you could tell them your problem.

 

Our city is home to the Goodyear Blimps.   Immense in size, they often fly low over the house and the dogs stir some,  but they don't have those burner sounds.

 

So glad you gave  us an update on Lincoln.  Glad he is doing much better.

 

[Diane Denney]

Thanks Joanne.  No I don't think anyone is giving them permission to land.  There is some open space near by, and a cemetary not too far that they land in.  I think it's a Real Estate Company that flys them for promotion.  We get quite a few of them around here, and I've taken pictures of them.  I'll see if I can find one.  They get pretty close though, and have flown pretty low through the neighborhood.  I'll just keep Lincoln in when they are around.  He is petrified of the darn things...

[Adina P]

Our old dog Cass used to HATE hot air balloons.  She was frightened of them as a pup and ever since would BARK BARK BARK at them if they were ever around.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I can see how that could freak him out! Myla is scared of the shadow of birds flying through the yard, it's kinda funny because she keeps looking up and behind her! Hope he gets used to them a bit!