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Hot Air Balloons and Dogs: A Surprising Menace

Hot air balloons are more than a beautiful nuisance for some dogs

by Victoria Schade
Published January 22, 2013

Getty Images

The hot air balloons in this photograph are too far away to cause this dog any distress, but not all dogs can remain calm when faced with these noisy "monsters."

Spotting a hot air balloon on the horizon is a magical moment. It’s a charming scene, unless you happen to be in the flight path as one of these graceful giants ascends or descends. The serenity is interrupted by sudden loud bursts of sound as the balloon operator hits the propane “blast valve. ” I can speak from experience when I say that it’s an unexpected and scary noise, since balloons pass right over my house frequently in the warm months.

Last summer I was working in the yard with Millie and Olive nearby when a hot air balloon seemed to appear out of nowhere. The blast valve went off when the balloon was just above our tree line, and the sound was so startling that both of my dogs took off running to escape it. The sound continued, and because I couldn’t get to them quickly enough, Millie ran beneath the porch to hide from it and Olive cowered in a corner. It took hours for the two of them to want to go back outside, and for days afterwards they warily searched the sky for more “monsters."

I considered the hot air balloons that passed over a beautiful nuisance in my neighborhood until Jennifer Mertens walked into Life on the Leash over the weekend. She was looking for help getting the word out about a petition she started after her beloved Goldendoodle Teddy was struck by a car when he was frightened by a low-flying hot air balloon. Her scenario was similar to ours; Teddy was outside and the sound of the blast valve scared him so much that he ran through the electric fence and was hit by the passing car. (A neighbor’s dog also took off running but made it home safely.)

Jennifer hopes the petition will force the balloon operators to stop landing within our township, which would keep them from flying low over residential areas and scaring young children and dogs. The hot air balloon/dog issue isn’t a problem specific to our little area of the country, though. Many years ago I went for an early morning hot air balloon ride in Arizona, and as we gained altitude over a suburban neighborhood the back yard dogs we passed over barked at us like crazy. We were low enough that I could identify breed types. I cringed for the dogs, who were clearly frightened with nowhere to hide, and for their neighbors who were probably still asleep at 7 AM on a Saturday.

As much as I enjoy seeing the balloons on the horizon, I don’t appreciate them hovering around homes and putting animals in jeopardy. You can’t understand the impact one of these giants has on an animal unless you’ve seen it for yourself.

Have any of you ever had an encounter with your pet and a low flying hot air balloon? Tell us in a comment.

Author's profile photo
Victoria Schade Victoria Schade has been a dog trainer for over eleven years. During that time she has worked on…

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Comments (7)

Anonymous (Unverified)
Added 02-13-2013 09:14pm
In todays world everything flies over your house. Satelites take pictures of your house and yard every day. So do surveyors employed by public and private agencies. There were photos of me mowing my grass on google earth at one point in time. There is no such thing as privacy from the air and you do not own the air over your home. The U.S. Supreme court ruled that using infra red technology without a warrant is an invasion of privacy, and that aircraft are not allowed to violate FAA regulations during surveillance. As long as an aircraft is not doing either of those 2 things there is no invasion of privacy. A hot air balloon pilot has to fly at a specific altitude in order to safely land based on what altitude, direction and speed the wind is blowing at. Their purpose is not to invade privacy, it is to land safely.
Anonymous (Unverified)
Added 02-13-2013 09:11pm
In todays world everything flies over your house. Satelites take pictures of your house and yard every day. So do surveyors employed by public and private agencies. There were photos of me mowing my grass on google earth at one point in time. There is no such thing as privacy from the air and you do not own the air over your home. The U.S. Supreme court ruled that using infra red technology without a warrant is an invasion of privacy, and that aircraft are not allowed to violate FAA regulations during surveillance. As long as an aircraft is not doing either of those 2 things there is no invasion of privacy. A hot air balloon pilot has to fly at a specific altitude in order to safely land based on what altitude, direction and speed the wind is blowing at. Their purpose is not to invade privacy, it is to land safely.
PennJennM
Added 02-21-2013 10:53am
In my grieving and attempts to understand what happened and why, I have come across good, considerate pilots who are very aware of the potential harm they could cause by scaring an animal or child, and they do what they can to avoid flying low and landing in residential areas. These pilots and crew members, after checking out google earth/maps, recognized that my area is not an appropriate landing area, that flying over the roof tops of a dense, wooded, residential neighborhood for over a mile is not good for anyone. In addition, there are many balloon companies and associations across the country that publish maps for their pilots that show sensitive areas and prohibitive zones, which they then do their best to avoid flying low and landing in those areas. So, I am having a difficult time understanding why a balloonist would argue and defend, as you are, that they should be allowed to fly low over my neighborhood and land in a nearby office parking lot? Even the passengers must have thought it was strange, as did everyone in this community. They were not in any distress, otherwise we would have understood. There are lots of open spaces around here for landing, so why did they make this choice? This is what I have a problem with. They had a choice of where to drop in altitude and look for a landing spot and they chose poorly and the pilot still has not apologized or adequately explained his choice. Another pilot I spoke with who launched at the same time from the same area made a better choice that day. So, it’s because of bad pilots and bad decisions that rules unfortunately sometimes need to be put into place. I have no problem with hot air balloons, they are graceful and beautiful to look at up in the sky, I just don’t want them right on top of my house or my neighbor’s house where they have a potential to do harm. Small aircraft fly over here all the time – at 1,000 feet in altitude. Satellites orbit at 200 miles above the earth. There is no comparison here. A hot air balloon cruising slowly at 50-75 feet over your yard is just not the same. Pilots who defend this give me all the more reason to put this prohibitive zone in place.
PennJennM
Added 02-21-2013 10:50am
In my grieving and attempts to understand what happened and why, I have come across good, considerate pilots who are very aware of the potential harm they could cause by scaring an animal or child, and they do what they can to avoid flying low and landing in residential areas. These pilots and crew members, after checking out google earth/maps, recognized that my area is not an appropriate landing area, that flying over the roof tops of a dense, wooded, residential neighborhood for over a mile is not good for anyone. In addition, there are many balloon companies and associations across the country that publish maps for their pilots that show sensitive areas and prohibitive zones, which they then do their best to avoid flying low and landing in those areas. So, I am having a difficult time understanding why a balloonist would argue and defend, as you are, that they should be allowed to fly low over my neighborhood and land in a nearby office parking lot? Even the passengers must have thought it was strange, as did everyone in this community. They were not in any distress, otherwise we would have understood. There are lots of open spaces around here for landing, so why did they make this choice? This is what I have a problem with. They had a choice of where to drop in altitude and look for a landing spot and they chose poorly and the pilot still has not apologized or adequately explained his choice. Another pilot I spoke with who launched at the same time from the same area made a better choice that day. So, it’s because of bad pilots and bad decisions that rules unfortunately sometimes need to be put into place. I have no problem with hot air balloons, they are graceful and beautiful to look at up in the sky, I just don’t want them right on top of my house or my neighbor’s house where they have a potential to do harm. Small aircraft fly over here all the time – at 1,000 feet in altitude. Satellites orbit at 200 miles above the earth. There is no comparison here. A hot air balloon cruising slowly at 50-75 feet over your yard is just not the same. Pilots who defend this give me all the more reason to put this prohibitive zone in place.
Anonymous (Unverified)
Added 02-23-2013 02:02am
Good luck getting the FAA to change their regulations for your dog. Thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard in my life. Better hope it doesn't see a cat or a bird or get scared by a car horn or a delivery truck or a large bird of prey or pretty much anything in our modern world. Because since your solution is to address the problem with everyone else instead of the problem with YOURSELF which is that YOU cannot control YOUR dog, im sure it will happen again with something else. And it will serve you right. I pity the dog who has such a careless companion.
Anonymous (Unverified)
Added 01-23-2013 12:29pm
Wah wah wah....what a drama queen!
Anonymous (Unverified)
Added 01-24-2013 07:33am
This is no joke, my sister was thrown from her horse and broke her collar bone when a hot air balloon flew low over her heading to its landing in a nearby field. It's not only dogs that are freaked out!
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