Pets in the coach

our boys, 3 YO Riley (55 lb unaltered male Norwegian Elkhound) and 1.5 YO Nikko (fixed male husky) love to go camping. We don't do crates, period. They will stay happy in the coach. Neither has ever jumped onto the dash that I know of. If they did but didn't bark or bother anyone, I'd be good with that.

Generally, Riley sleeps under the dinette, and Nikko sits on one of the front seats.

I say "kennel up" and Nicky trots right to his crate. He will sometimes stop at the door and look up to see if I really mean it, but he is quite happy once he goes inside. Like a parrot, we drop a cloth over the crate so it is dark and he will sleep until we get back. When we are all in the RV he mostly sleeps anyway so it is really not new to him! When we work at Amazon our shift is 10 hours. While we know he can stay 10 hours in his crate we do not want to come home and then kennel him again so that we can sleep and if we let him roam, he is unaware or unmindful of the fact that we need sleep! He wants his walk and his food and his play time. On those occasions we put him in the bedroom with his crate open if he cares to go inside. We close the sliding door and turn the radio on to help distract him from outside noises. He usually jumps up on the bed and snoozes until we get home. He gets a short walk, a small bit of toy tossing and then off to his crate so we can all sleep. Works for us.

sowego wrote:
I'm guessing the reason you won't want him on the dash is damage from claws, slobbering, etc. The 1st thing I did was make a heavy quilted dash cover for just that reason. At the time we had a dog and two cats, all of whom liked to be on the dash to "watch for us to return"! Custom covers are available but a cover made of something easily washable is highly desirable and suggested. As a quick fix put down a long rubber rug gripper and a blanket or beach towels on top of that.
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Our cocker spaniels love laying on the dash, too. I made a cover to put up there. When we park, I put a piece of the rubber shelf liner stuff down, and put the cover I made over that, so it doesn't slide when they hop up and down.

When we leave though, I crate them so they can't get up there. I don't want them barking when we are gone, if they see strangers outside. They do not bark at ppl when we are there, but I don't want to take a chance on giving them any reason to bark when we are away.

My dogs are all crate trained from little on up. Our boy is crated when we go away, simply because he gets into things he shouldn't. At one time he was chewing electrical cords, and I don't want to come home to a dead dog. He has a huge 3 ft by 3 ft puppy pen. The door is open all the time, and he goes out there and naps in his crate. I think sometimes he just wants to be left alone. That is his castle...

Our girl is loose at home when we are away, as she doesn't get in to anything dangerous to her.

I crate them when we leave them in the MH as they know their crates are their safe areas and they feel secure. It also keeps them from getting up and looking out the windows, which might precipitate barking. we never leave them very long at a time.

Last year our male had a vestibular incident and was hospitalized. He was calm in the hospital in the cage they had him in. I saw other dogs there who were really stressing from being crated. Digging at the door, squealing.... I like to keep my dogs accustomed to being crated because in a hospital situation, the dog is sick to start with and I hate seeing the ones who are stressed/panicked on top of being sick, from being crated.

I don't believe in over-crating a dog - I think it's abusive to have an animal just living in a cage. But there are times where it is a good thing for short periods of time.

In response to posters who was wondering about pets left outside at campgrounds...all of the RV parks we've been too require all pets to be with the owner/not left outside alone, whether on a lease or in a kennel. It's common sense really...animals left alone can make noise or become startled when someone walks through the site therefore the campground doesn't want that risk on them. I know most of us have well mannered pets but the campground has to stick to one rule for everyone not matter what some individuals will say about their situation.

Lobstah wrote:
We have not taken our beloved boxers camping...yet. Up until now, we've had live-in pet sitters that always take care of our dogs and cats when we travel...but that situation is changing.
I think every campground we've stayed at has specified that pets are not to be left alone in the RV.
Are there campgrounds out there that don't have this rule?

Jim

Many

My dog hasn't been in a crate since she was 6 months old and I was potty training her. I don't believe in putting animals in a crate or even wearing a collar. Ofcourse, we live out in the country where this is not needed and she is on voice command. I have a very small coach(28'), and there would be no room for a crate anyways, lol.

Lobstah wrote:
We have not taken our beloved boxers camping...yet. Up until now, we've had live-in pet sitters that always take care of our dogs and cats when we travel...but that situation is changing.
I think every campground we've stayed at has specified that pets are not to be left alone in the RV.
Are there campgrounds out there that don't have this rule?

Jim

At many campgrounds, the "No pets left unattended" rule applies to pets left tied or penned outside. As long as the pet stays inside the RV and isn't disturbing anyone, it's not an issue. Check at the campground office for specifics, as each campground can be different.

downtheroad wrote:
Maybe something like this...They come in a ton of sizes, configurations, adjust ability..

We also use a child gate when we want to keep the dogs off the dash. Our favorite one is about 36" high and can expand to about 60". We open it all the way and put it behind the drivers and passengers seats.

Now that the dogs (2 female Cocker Spaneils)are 3 1/2 and 4 years old we rarely use it. They love to sun bathe in the front window. If someone walks by and taps on the window they may open an eye to see what's going on.

24 pound Dachshound, 5 years old.
Travels in motorhome and car, never a problem
if I or wife leaves he cries. Other then that lots of sleeping.