Show Dog transport needed - Idaho to NYC Feb 2012

mikea

mikea

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I was asked for an answer on this. Any ideas woudl be appreciated.

One of the volunteers who helped me get Dakota has an in law who has a dog that was invited to show at Westminster dog show in New York. She's in Idaho. They don't want to send the dog as freight on an airliner.

The show is February 13-14 at Madison Square Garden. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2012/show/tickets.html

I suggested http://www.petairways.com/

What transportation options are there? Anybody happen to be flying that way? :)
 
mikea said:
I was asked for an answer on this. Any ideas woudl be appreciated.

One of the volunteers who helped me get Dakota has an in law who has a dog that was invited to show at Westminster dog show in New York. She's in Idaho. They don't want to send the dog as freight on an airliner.

The show is February 13-14 at Madison Square Garden. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2012/show/tickets.html

I suggested http://www.petairways.com/

What transportation options are there? Anybody happen to be flying that way? :)
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Road trip by car/van? Even if they took Pet Airways they would still need to get to Denver which is a long day's drive from Idaho.
 
I've shipped my dogs on occasion, but only in cargo when I was traveling on the same flight. Looking at PetAirways, looks like they only fly twice a month, and the schedule (Feb 14/15) is the day after the show. And she's still have to get the dog from Idaho to Denver (BJC, not DIA)

'We fly eastbound on Tuesday and Wednesday, and westbound on Thursday and Friday."

And it's not cheap.
 
Everskyward said:
Road trip by car/van? Even if they took Pet Airways they would still need to get to Denver which is a long day's drive from Idaho.
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Well, put glasses, a coat & hat on the dog and call AngelFlightWest?
 
They had already contacted Pet Airways. They have no flights and no program for show dogs or Westminster.

Just out of curiosity, what would a piston charter run? Like $500 a flight hour plus expenses and some fixed rate for downtime? I imagine it's a 5-6 hour trip.
 
mikea said:
Just out of curiosity, what would a piston charter run? Like $500 a flight hour plus expenses and some fixed rate for downtime? I imagine it's a 5-6 hour trip.
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The problem with a piston charter in February over that terrain is, well, about everything. Your MEAs will be high, which has the plane (and dogs) at higher cabin pressures. A pressurized twin of some sort could do it potentially.

I get asked about trips like this often. Unfortunately, there is no good solution, it's going to be expensive no matter what, which is why I end up not doing the trips very often. You can ship the dog on the airlines, which really is not the best solution for the dog. Doubly so in winter, triply so if this is a show dog going to a dog show that you really don't want damaged.

Either a road trip or a charter ends up being the way to go. The road trip is long, and the charter is expensive.
 
I expect it would be cheaper to rent a comfortable minivan and drive the dog then it would be to fly the dog in any way. And probably better for the dog too.
 
mikea said:
Just out of curiosity, what would a piston charter run? Like $500 a flight hour plus expenses and some fixed rate for downtime? I imagine it's a 5-6 hour trip.
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To make it from Boise (just a guess as to where in Idaho this is) to New York in 6 hours you would need an average groundspeed of over 300 knots which is up in the faster turboprop speed range. Then there is the return against the wind. You would also need triple your per hour cost for the airplane. At least. Even in a jet it would be about 4 hours eastbound, 5 westbound. Charter is convenient but is in no way a bargain.

I'm still going with driving if the owner doesn't want the dog in baggage. I assume it's too big to fit under the seat...
 
TMetzinger said:
I expect it would be cheaper to rent a comfortable minivan and drive the dog then it would be to fly the dog in any way. And probably better for the dog too.
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Actually, we typically find that dogs handle air transport better than ground transport by a good margin.
 
TMetzinger said:
Hmm... our experiences differ, with show dogs at least.
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With over 1000 dogs having been transported in planes by me, I can say most of them handled it better than the car ride to the airport.

Show dogs, well, we don't transport those typically. :)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
With over 1000 dogs having been transported in planes by me, I can say most of them handled it better than the car ride to the airport.

Show dogs, well, we don't transport those typically. :)
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Yeah, my family's been showing dogs for a while, and the dogs do really well in the car. But they're used to it, while your pups are probably not used to cars OR planes, and at least with the plane the ride is shorter and smoother.
 
TMetzinger said:
Yeah, my family's been showing dogs for a while, and the dogs do really well in the car. But they're used to it, while your pups are probably not used to cars OR planes, and at least with the plane the ride is shorter and smoother.
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Definitely. There's a big difference between transporting a dog that you know and may transport frequently to transporting rescue dogs. Moving rescue dogs is very stressful on them, and a number of the ground transports I know routinely have dogs not survive the trip. Plus you add in all the stops you need to make and trying to unload, walk, clean, and reload a van's worth of dogs, well...

Flying is definitely a better solution.
 
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