Dogs and drones

[Montana John]

I am hoping to assist people in training their dogs in AKC Tracking by filming the dog from the front as it tracks to check its behaviors. To this point the only pov possible is from 40 feet behind the dog. Has anyone used a drone in this way? I know that Search and Rescue use drones to check areas searched, but I have not come across anything about training SAR dogs. (And please don't tell me that the AKC rules forbid videoing trials. I know that.) Comments about dog behavior in the vicinity of drones are welcome also.

 

[BD0G]

One could do a follow me view from the front , but then the drone would be flying backwards and if below the tree line then since the Mavic has no rearward facing obstacle avoidance sensors it would potentially fly into trees and branches. I competent drone flyer could maneuver it around obstructions though by flying manually.

If flying too close to the dog I would be concerned that the dog would become distracted.

 

[Montana John]

I would be doing this mostly in open fields, so I am not so much worried about flying backwards. And the follow me looks like it might work, but it might depend on the size of the dog. How close is "too close" is a very important question. That's why I am posting, looking for experiences that I might not have to learn from in person!

 

[JDawg]

I think if you got the dog accustomed to the drone as a pup you would have no problem. Getting a mature dog accustomed is going to be tough.

 

[beach_Dr]

Some of my own dogs are very distracted by drone. To the point the will not listen or recall if drone nearby, and will try and jump and grab it out air if the think they have a shot at it. Some of my dogs only mildly interested.

You’d first have to train dog around drone to get it accostamised, before you could hope to evaluate any normal doggy behaviors.

 

[FoxhallGH]

We have four dogs, and generally, they are OK with me flying my Mavic Pro around the back-yard ... However, I do have Carbon-fibre low-noise Hensych 8331 prop's on my Mavic - and I do know that these reduce rpm in the hover down to between 460 & 475 rpm. This means that they are rotating slower than stock prop's, and consequently, have a much lower noise level (than even the DJI low-noise prop's), and less high-frequencies which the dogs seem to be more sensitive to. These prop's also mean that the Drone is quieter when hovering at altitude.
Like all things with dogs, you are going to get some that just ignore it, some that will want to kill it, and some that will run a mile!

 

[Montana John]

Some of my own dogs are very distracted by drone. To the point the will not listen or recall if drone nearby, and will try and jump and grab it out air if the think they have a shot at it. Some of my dogs only mildly interested.

You’d first have to train dog around drone to get it accostamised, before you could hope to evaluate any normal doggy behaviors.

 

[Montana John]

My two dogs just never showed any interest at all. On the other hand, I was out flying on a hillside and three dogs ran away from the people they were walking with and almost jumped off the edge of a ravine chasing the drone. I wonder if bird dogs would be more prone to chasing. This could get out of hand!

 

[Montana John]

We have four dogs, and generally, they are OK with me flying my Mavic Pro around the back-yard ... However, I do have Carbon-fibre low-noise Hensych 8331 prop's on my Mavic - and I do know that these reduce rpm in the hover down to between 460 & 475 rpm. This means that they are rotating slower than stock prop's, and consequently, have a much lower noise level (than even the DJI low-noise prop's), and less high-frequencies which the dogs seem to be more sensitive to. These prop's also mean that the Drone is quieter when hovering at altitude.
Like all things with dogs, you are going to get some that just ignore it, some that will want to kill it, and some that will run a mile!

Any downside to the Hensych 8331 props? Otherwise they sound like a good idea on this project. Thanks for the input.

 

[DanMan32]

Since this is a general forum and it wasn't stated, what model Mavic are we dealing with?
By "follow me" I assume what was meant was Active Track. Follow Me follows the GPS coordinates of the remote, so that would only work if you strapped the remote, or more accurately, the mobile device to the dog.

 

[mavic 999]

I have read that the ultrasonics emitted from the sensors can be heard by dogs and that is why they attack the drones.

 

[Montana John]

Since this is a general forum and it wasn't stated, what model Mavic are we dealing with?
By "follow me" I assume what was meant was Active Track. Follow Me follows the GPS coordinates of the remote, so that would only work if you strapped the remote, or more accurately, the mobile device to the dog.

You're right. Not Follow Me, but Active Track. And my drone is a Mavic Pro Platinum. I am hoping that the quieter props will give some help with distractions, and we shall see. We've got snow right now, so the experiment is sorta on hold.

 

[Drone_guy]

I think if you got the dog accustomed to the drone as a pup you would have no problem. Getting a mature dog accustomed is going to be tough.

I disagree. My German Shepherd, as seen in my profile pic protecting my daughter against my attacks, was very bothered by my MP at first but through training he became accustomed to the noise and seeing it flying around. If you take some time old dogs learn every bit as well as young ones. My dog is 3 years old so by no means old but the fact remains that you can teach a dog of any age as long as you put in the time.

 

[beach_Dr]

I have read that the ultrasonics emitted from the sensors can be heard by dogs and that is why they attack the drones.

Would be interesting to see if my dogs hate a Mavic Air or mavic 2 as much as they hate the pro... I don’t know anyone nearby with those drones to do the experiment.

 

[Cdcolt]

One could do a follow me view from the front , but then the drone would be flying backwards and if below the tree line then since the Mavic has no rearward facing obstacle avoidance sensors it would potentially fly into trees and branches. I competent drone flyer could maneuver it around obstructions though by flying manually.

If flying too close to the dog I would be concerned that the dog would become distracted.

Mavic Air has rear sensors and possibly newer Mavic 2’s

 

[DanMan32]

I have read that the ultrasonics emitted from the sensors can be heard by dogs and that is why they attack the drones.

THAT's what it is. I thought it might have been harmonics from props, motors or electronics.
When I flew my P3A from a small park, some guys came over just as I finished for the day saying I was flying over private property. I was flying 100ft up and thought they were complaining about the photography angle, but really it was their dog that was bothered, which in turn bothered them. They were nice guys and thought otherwise the P3 was cool.