German Shepherd sits in own plane seat like a human

You never quite know who you're going to end up sitting next to on a plane - but you'd definitely be shocked to get a German Shepherd dog as a seat mate.

See also: Obese dog flies first class in his own bed

See also: 'Amazing' pilot diverts plane over the Atlantic to save dog's life

A passenger snapped this photo of a dog sitting upright in his own seat on an aircraft and uploaded it to Imgur, along with the caption: "There's a full size German shepherd sitting on front of me on the airplane."

One person wrote: "Probably a support animal or service animal. I am guessing emotional support since he's wearing a training collar. I don't think trained service animals wear those.

"How he got his own seat, though... I have no idea. Must have bought it. Normally service and emotional support animals have to sit on the floor in front of your seat."

According to the Daily Mail, the Department of Transportation says all US airlines must allow passengers to fly with their service dogs in the cabin.

This includes service dogs for people with disabilities, police officers, military members or search and rescue teams.

Back in October, a woman took a photo of an enormous dog travelling on his own seat in first class.

He turned out to be a support dog that detected his owner's seizures.