Dog or Pets in Motorhomes

chilly123 wrote:
The wife and I used to take our dog with us every time we went out. Our dog loved riding with us. Yes we would leave ours in the rig, with a/c on in hot days. Our dog always looked forward to our excursions on the road and on the trails. Training is key here.

X2

When we cannot we kennel Sparky but only for a shortest time possible. He is always tired after his stay... I think they stay up all not partying. You know like kids. The cost is only $18 a day so not bad financially. Anyway taking him in the motorhome he has his own chair to set in and you cannot pull the motorhome in front of the house with out him getting all excited. Buy one that fits your needs and travel on....

The wife and I used to take our dog with us every time we went out. Our dog loved riding with us. Yes we would leave ours in the rig, with a/c on in hot days. Our dog always looked forward to our excursions on the road and on the trails. Training is key here.

Bob states something you need to understand. The RV is not like a stick house. There are times you have to give up a group tour or a fun hike.
I leave my dogs for short trips and if we are on shore power longer trips with the AC running. But if I happen to be in a campground with no hookups, like a National Park, and the temp is above 85 by mid morning I do not leave the dogs alone for more than a half hour to an hour and that with windows open and fans running. The inside temp has never exceeded the outside under those conditions so I am comfortable with that. I am not comfortable with leaving them with a generator running so they have AC. To many things could go wrong. Even with windows open and fans running the inside can get dangerous in full sun on a hot day.

If you have a "tense" dog (that's what I call them) that gets frantic when you're gone, then you'll have problems.
As for pets in the rig....we have 2 cats. They ARE different than a dog (they don't bark). We don't have to worry about them. We, too, leave the A/C on. They have the run of the place just as if we were in a stick home (it IS our home -- fulltimers). We've been traveling with them for 9 yrs. They ride in the 5er (I know...some people think this is horrible) because they get car sick in the car and I won't drug them. They sleep in our bed and are happy cats.

As for my thoughts. I've debated getting a dog. Have always had a dog except for last 15 yrs. I watch people having to walk their dogs in the rain, having to be out at night to walk their dogs, having to run back from a tourist attraction because they need to let the dog out and I've decided to not get a dog.
If I HAD a dog when we started camping, I'd KEEP the dog with me and NOT put it in a kennel. The best of kennels can't make most animals happy, in my opinion. would YOU want to be caged up like that?????

w3ozwizard wrote:
Questions: 1. Do you take your pets with you on long trips?

We have no choice as we full time RV.

2-Do you leave your pets in the MH when you leave the camping area?
Yes we do. If it is hot, we advise campground management and leave our cell phone number and request a call if the power goes out. (Never happened though)

3-Do you let them have the run of the MH while you are gone and do they damage anything?

Yes. But I would advise crate training and starting out with the dog in a properly sized crate.

Your general thoughts and comments on the subject would be helpful Thanks

By the way, our dogs have peed in more states than most people will see in a lifetime.:B

Yes we camp with the dogs. Like you we wanted to take the dogs with us. Had similar issues with boarding at kennels and with the cost to have someone care for them while we are gone. The dogs love the RV. We pull the shades and close off the back room of the Mid Bath (see LD floor plans) so they don't bark at people and critters going near by. Both our dogs (poodles) and the visitor pictured are fine in crates so crate training is a big plus. There are more tips on dog RVing with dogs in the pet section.

We have 3 dogs and take them every time.
Yes, We take them on long trips.
Yes we leave them in the MH when we leave the camping area.
Yes We let them have the run of the MH. Never had any damage or accidents.
In warm weather we do use a temperature alarm in the MH linked to a cellphone if their is a problem with the MH AC system or power failure. Im also thinking about getting a Onan EC-30W Generator autostart.

We also bought our first motorhome, in 1991, so we could take our dogs with us.
We always stay in campgrounds with full hookups.
We leave the air conditioner, or fan on for their comfort, but also to help with keeping them from hear noise from the outside.

Our main concern was that we didn't want them barking while we were gone.
We had camping neighbors tell us the dogs were quiet until they heard our car pull up.
so we made sure we got into the motorhome fast to quiet the dogs, then we went back to unpack groceries, etc. One of these neighbors worked for the campground, so think if there was a problem, she would have let us know.

They never chewed or destoyed anything, they mostly slept. (we recorded them a few times).
We would take them for long walks before we left to tire them out. I really think that was key.

The longest we'd be gone was 5 hours, but usually much shorter than that.

Some of these trips were short, 2 or 3 weeks.
We did snowbird for 4 or 5 months for a few years.
Never had a problem

We're still taking them with us.

We were faced with the same problem when we had our golden retriever, after we'd bring home from the kennel she just slept for several days and didn't eat much; this was from a well respected kennel that walks the dog, etc. Think you're paying too much though, our cost was $15 per day. We took her with us when we could and that wasn't any problem for the most part. An option is to have somebody come to your house once/twice a day and stay with your dogs, walk with them, feed, etc. It would have to be somebody who already knows the dogs, maybe a son or daughter of friends of yours. A good chance for them to earn money and also do other things such as watering your plants or mowing the lawn.