NEWBIE almost an owner! - air conditioning question

Toot Mc wrote:
We have camped for years and our Dog has always went with us. we leave gen set running at many restaurants with ac running. and hooked up to AC pole in rv camp sights. We always leave radio or tv on in rv if we leave for a couple of hours so our pet doesn't hear commotion outside and she never barks. we have ask neighbors many times if there was any barking. Not one time have we had some one tell us the dog barked.

Doing it right. Thank you!

We have camped for years and our Dog has always went with us. we leave gen set running at many restaurants with ac running. and hooked up to AC pole in rv camp sights. We always leave radio or tv on in rv if we leave for a couple of hours so our pet doesn't hear commotion outside and she never barks. we have ask neighbors many times if there was any barking. Not one time have we had some one tell us the dog barked. Not one time have we had power go off and lose AC.

The main reason we bought class c and class a before was so we could take our pet with us and the AC is as much for us as it is for her.

with our new class c I am fixing a automatic switch to start fantastic fans on 12 v if 120 volts goes off when I figure out how to do this I will post the results on this forum.

jillhop wrote:
The AnimAlarm just needs a good enough cell signal to send a text message (which is a pretty low bar).shtml

Unfortunately, there are still large portions of the country, mostly west of the Mississippi, where cell phone coverage is spotty to non existent. And coverage is very provider-dependent. So people who buy this device must verify its ability to connect.

We would keep our dog in our motorhome for a few hours if we were at a campsite with AC running. If we stopped for lunch and it was hot we would run the generator to keep our dog cool. Of course there is always the chance that the generator or AC would fail, but an RV is not the same as a car. In hot sun a car will reach dangerously high temperatures in just a few minutes. With shades drawn, an RV will take much longer to heat up, and even then won't get much hotter than the outside ambient temp if all the windows are covered.

I show and compete with my dogs, and basically got my MH to use as a large dog transportation device (with amenities!). I often have to dry camp at events in hot weather with no shade, and had obvious concerns about leaving my dogs unattended in these conditions (genset running air conditioning). I recently purchased the AnimAlarm (see link below) and it works like a charm. It's basically a temperature sensor with a SIM card, so sends you a text message when the temperature parameters exceed the limits that you have set. I'm much more comfortable leaving my dogs unattended with this device. Many of the older units were radios, so had serious distance limitations. The AnimAlarm just needs a good enough cell signal to send a text message (which is a pretty low bar).

I'm a veterinarian and used to take care of my local state police dogs, and saw a trooper accidently cook his dog left in the cruiser with the engine and AC running. The AC failed, the car was still running (and looked fine from the outside) but the AC was blasting hot air. A very sad situation ... all the cops have temperature sensors in their cruisers now. The AnimAlarm is the first dependable, cost-effective temperature monitoring system that I've seen.

Cost was $170 (shipping included), then you have to get an AT&T or TMobile SIM card. I have a GoPhone pay-as-you-go plan that was $25 for 3 months of unlimited texts. It will text any phone that's paired with the device (I use Verizon for my personal phone).

http://crittercozy.com/Household-Safety/animalarm-temperature-sensor.shtml

We travel with one small dog that doesn't bark when we're not around. We chose a breed specifically that had this trait.

When leaving her in the MH while we're away, we have to limit the away time so she doesn't whittle you-know-where. For moderate temperatures, we leave the roof vent fan on medium or high pulling air all the way through the coach area. For hot temperatues and no hookups, we leave the generator running to power the air conditioner. When doing this, we maintain slight air pressure inside the coach while running the air conditioner so that no fumes can enter anywhere. This is the same thing we do for ourselves whenever we're in the coach in hot weather dry camping and have to use the generator for air conditioning.

RV people and pets seem to go hand in hand on this forum.

I really don't recommend taking a dog along if your intent is to spend significant time in our national parks for there are very strict rules with dogs. National Forests, Bureau Of Land Management, and Wilderness camp grounds are much more relaxed which is where we'll sometimes get an ear full of such noise pollution. I can't comment with private camp grounds for we avoid them.

I occasionally will see a cat resting on a dash board with owners away which never bother anyone including nature.

Regarding leaving pets on a hot day, a heavily shaded rig with a power roof vent running seems to do it right. Blazing sun and a/c dependency, I am not sure about that. As for cold days requiring heat, I see no harm in setting the furnace down so it isn't running all the time, and provide some snuggles for your cat or dog.

I would think it is best to take your dogs hiking with you, but stay off national park trails for you'll get into big trouble.

Keep in-mind that my comments are from a non-pet owner so I don't have personal experience vacationing with a pet. Just sharing my observations.

We bring our dogs along many places and we do at times leave them in the RV with the AC on. (For folks saying leave them at home, what do you think fulltimers, camp hosts, etc. do?) Of course if there are campground rules against it we don't, but the vast majority we've been to that are dog friendly just don't allow them to be unattended outside.

Our two boys are labs and are crate trained at home and the RV is no exception. We don't leave them unless they've had plenty of walking/hiking/playing to ensure that they'll be napping while we're away and we always close the shades for them. One of our guys even will go in his crate when he's tired to signal us to leave. Our rule of thumb is to not be away over 4 hours when we're at a site with hookups. We've used the genny to run the AC during a stop at a restaurant or museum or something for about an hour. And a couple of times we've been dry camping where we leave the windows open and the fans on, but that's been in the cooler spring or fall...and in those instances we've just gone to the swimming beach for a quick dip or something.

All that said, we are always entirely prepared for one of us to stay behind with the dogs if they are not totally relaxed and comfortable. Now that they're both adults we don't ever have to, but we're ready to do it if need be. When one was young we took turns staying back a few times (oddly enough, that's the big lazy one that now kicks us out!)

We also use our phones for temperature and power monitoring. If you have an Android with built in temperature sensors (our Samsung Galaxy S4's do) it is an easy setup. There's an app called Temperature Surveillance and you set one phone up with whatever temperature thresholds you want and give it a cell number to text if the temp goes above or below your thresholds or if the power goes out. I think there are aftermarket add-on temperature sensors that you can plug into your smart phone as well.

I think it comes down to being aware of your dog(s) and their temperament and easing into the lifestyle. We certainly didn't leave either one of our guys for 4 hours off the bat. We started with making sure they were comfortable in the RV in general for a few trips, then being away for 5 minutes with us within ear shot, then 10, 15...you get the drift.

Oh, and we also have a sticker on the entry door letting people know there are two dogs inside and please rescue in case of emergency. Not sure if it would really help in a true emergency, but worth having on there. I also think it probably would make a would-be thief think twice.

IAMICHABOD wrote:
Not only against some park rules, in some states and local ordinances prohibit this. It is illegal to leave a pet unattended in a vehicle.

If you think you might have to leave them/it -- the LEAVE IT/THEM AT HOME! pLEASE!

Most newer Motorhomes have a feature that automatically starts the genset if the power is cut off. After about 30 seconds, the air conditioning will kick back in.

In 31 years of camping, we've never stayed at a pet friendly park where we couldn't leave the dogs alone for a few hours. We leave our cell number with the park management just in case there are issues (like a power failure).

Quiet dogs are not a problem.

We leave the blinds closed and the TV on, and the Vortex vent fan running (to provide a bit more air circulation).

The key is to make sure that the management, and perhaps a neighboring camper knows how to reach you!!