Experts are warning passengers that taking part in a new on-plane “raw dog” craze poses health risks.
Despite the eyebrow-raising name, those who “live-dog” flights are simply passengers who choose to endure the trip without entertainment.
In a strange new trend, passengers are having “raw dogs” during flights. Credit: GettyRaw doggos are forgoing all in-flight entertainment and distraction. Credit: Getty
Social media users have been sharing their “personal bests” of uninterrupted flights, and the trend is quickly going viral across the internet.
Whether it’s watching movies in the back of their airplane seats, listening to music on personal headphones or reading a book, passengers are sacrificing everything for the new trend.
Some people sit still for hours without food or water.
Why they do this has never been properly explained, but it appears to be a kind of endurance test to see who can last the longest without wanting to make long-distance plane travel less tedious.
But experts are now urging anyone who does this on a plane to consider the associated health risks.
Nutritionist Toby King told travel website Inspire Ambitions: “The trend involves sitting still for hours at a time and not consuming any food or drink.
“This is a recipe for disaster that could have dire consequences.”
He explained that airplane cabins have low humidity levels, which can lead to dehydration during travel.
“If you don’t drink water during the flight, you’re adding fuel to the fire.”
“Staying hydrated helps your skin and mucous membrane cells prevent bacteria from entering your body, making you more susceptible to infection, especially when you’re surrounded by hundreds of other people in a small space,” King advises.
“Getting sick at the beginning of your holidays is not a good way to start your holidays.”
But he warned that this is actually not the worst case scenario.
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King warned: “Two factors that are driving this trend are immobility and dehydration while traveling, which can increase the risk of blood clots.”
“If you develop a blood clot while traveling, it can break off and block an artery in your lungs, which can be very serious and even fatal.”
He added: “This is one of the most dangerous trends I’ve seen on social media for a while. Whilst on the surface it seems harmless and a bit of fun, this could have deadly consequences and I urge everyone to act sensibly while travelling.”
To prevent blood clots from forming during the flight, passengers should ideally move around for at least five minutes every hour or two and drink a glass of water every hour of the flight, he advised.
But as if that wasn’t enough to scare potential “raw dogs” away from the trend, experts added that it also poses the risk of increasing stress levels.
Internet flight experts say this can also lead to jet lag, which can make you feel tired when you land at your destination.
The phrase was first used in 2022 on X (formerly Twitter), when user @blackprints wrote: “The guy sitting next to me on the plane was really sassy the whole flight.
“He took a 10-hour flight to Europe in jeans, with no headphones, no book, no neck pillow, and literally just a paper cup of coffee with no lid. Is he OK?”
People responded by saying the man was “psychotic” and had “abnormal energy.”
Another claimed he had to bring all his belongings and prepare for the flight “as if he was being evicted from his home.”
And Instagram user Damion Bailey recently used the phrase in reference to an entertainment-free flight, sharing a video of himself simply watching a map on his personal TV with the caption, “Anyone else watching this flight live?”
Regardless of what it’s called, it seems there are people who can kill hours with just their own thoughts.
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