Hello! My family is very new to RV'ing and we are soon-to-be new dog parents as well. We'll be bringing home a bernese mountain dog pup in a few weeks! We're also considering full timing for a year beginning in late May. Our pup will be about 9-10 months old then. I have many questions, but right now I'm wondering what life on the road will be like for a large breed puppy. I'm concerned about lack of off-leash time. I'm curious to know if anyone has ever used those dog pen gates or something similar to create a small open space around the side of the camper. Obviously we would only allow her to be free there when we are outside and right next to her...we have three young children (1, 3, 5) as well, so it could be useful for easily keeping the kids in 'our yard' while we are cooking and whatnot. We will be working with a dog trainer and hopefully will have a well-behaved dog by the time we embark!Would this be allowed in typical campgrounds? What do you guys do to compensate for so much 'confined' time? I don't want to end up in a situation where we feel we're doing a disservice to our dog!Thanks!

No, CG's rarely allow dogs to be off-leash.

Many dogs get all their exercise at the end of a leash- everything depends on early training. You have a golden opportunity in that this one's a baby. First learned, best learned, right? Every dog should be trained to be accustomed to confinement of freedom when necessary....whatever method you choose, please do commence that training immediately!

Many parks do not allow the type of fencing (x-pens and the like) that you are suggesting. We tolerate them to the extent we allow them as long as the pet owner is outside with the dogs at all times. The pens are not secure enough to dissuade a motivated dog from escaping to chase people, wildlife or other dogs. Dogs outside and unattended will naturally bark more often than a dog inside an RV. Also some dogs are very prone to digging under fences creating an obvious problem. Long walks on a leash is the best option for exercise if there are no off-leash areas either within the park or nearby. For most people, that long walk is also good for them, there is no better exercise partner than a strolling dog.

I have a couple of 4-foot high ex-pens that I latch together and use on the side of the RV that work very well. I have never had a complaint from the campground if the dogs stay in there, and I always stay with them to make sure. Of course, I stay mostly at state parks and federal campgrounds, and the dog rules at private campgrounds tend to be stricter. One thing to make sure of is that the dog can't get away under the RV. I usually use plastic fencing as an apron on the side of the motorhome, which has usually worked. Some dogs, however, can be escape artists and get right through a setup like that; that's why training is so important, especially with a dog as big and strong as a BMD. Another thing you might look for are private campgrounds that have their own fenced dog park that you can let a dog off leash, as long as they behave. Be sure to clean up after her!

Just random thoughts from our experiences as high-energy breed owners:A "walk" on leash sometimes is more tiring than allowing them to rip and tear offleash; plus it helps socialize your dog to the campground lifestyle (noise/confusion/distractions)If you ask at the front desk - many folks will tell you where you CAN run a dog offleash. Sometimes it's a back lot of the RV Park; or a property adjacent to it... BUT... (and this is the biggest "but" of them all) - your dog had better have a "Bombproof recall". As in "My dog will break off a squirrel chase to return to me". Having your pup run off to challenge a pack of coyotes, (or a skunk) for example, is a really bad thing.No offense - but you're going to have a huge rambunctious puppy and little kids all cooped in a small space if you full-time. Right now I have a 12#, 6-month old pup and NO children and I can't imagine full-timing in an RV....LOL!!! But you might want to really look hard at how much frustration your plan can cause for everyone....

Newbie q's re: leashing, etc | Good Sam Community

46 Replies

carp65
Explorer
Oct 28, 2013
The unfortunate thing about traveling with dogs, small or large, most people
do not take the time to train their dogs or take them to a trainer to teach
them, and it's the dog that rules the house. We have found that most RV parks
do not enforce their dog policy, especially when you complain to them about
people leaving their dogs in the RV and they bark constantly, or they leave
them chained up or in a pen and they bark at every little noise, people walking
by, or other dogs. We have been fortunate to find an RV Park in Florida where
we winter that does not allow dogs, period. A nice, quiet atmosphere!
colliehauler
Explorer III
Oct 19, 2013
My family grew up always having a dog and I could not imagine not having one. When I was a kid we always had GSD. They went where ever the family went. On Saturdays Mom and Dad would take us to Dairy Queen. Dad would get a dipped cone Mom a banana split and I a hot fudge sunday and Lassie (GSD) would get a plain cone. Lassie would hold the cone between her paws and lick it until the ice cream was gone then eat the cone. That was 45-50 years ago.
Basketweaverz
Explorer
Oct 19, 2013
Our Cattle Dog is one of those high energy breeds and she snowbirds with us in a 30 foot Class A, along with an Australian Shepherd and a lab cross, oh, and don't forget the cat!! DH and I are just along to drive the rig. Molly, cattle dog, has a tennis ball and we have a chuck-it. We can always find a place to run her because if we didn't, she couldn't live with herself.

We knew it going in but love the breed so much. She is our second one.

I think this family can make it work. I hope so, anyway because it will be so good for the kids to learn to go with the flow. Animals are a good part of that learning.
Gunner45
Explorer
Oct 17, 2013
Pawz4me wrote:
Deb and Ed M wrote:
Are you folks telling me there are breeds of puppies out there who never get the Zoomies?? Granted - my heart lies with herding breeds and yes my dogs are high-energy. But I've met LOTS of dogs/puppies, and sooner or later - they need to go crazy once in a while?!

I don't consider the zoomies to have anything to do with high energy. To me zoomies are more mental than physical, more an "I'm in love with the world and it's in love with me and I'm feeling great!" kind of thing that's huge fun to watch but usually over with in a few minutes. High energy is the need for hard exercise--sometimes hours of it--almost every single day for years in order to live sanely. I've not seen that need in the (admittedly few) BMDs I've known.

Our GSD still gets the zoomies and she's 19 months old! Our Sam's, I can't really remember a specific time they had them. But it's been a while since they were pups. But both of them were definitely more mellow and laid back than our GSD!!

~ Dori ~
Pawz4me
Explorer
Oct 17, 2013
Deb and Ed M wrote:
Are you folks telling me there are breeds of puppies out there who never get the Zoomies?? Granted - my heart lies with herding breeds and yes my dogs are high-energy. But I've met LOTS of dogs/puppies, and sooner or later - they need to go crazy once in a while?!

I don't consider the zoomies to have anything to do with high energy. To me zoomies are more mental than physical, more an "I'm in love with the world and it's in love with me and I'm feeling great!" kind of thing that's huge fun to watch but usually over with in a few minutes. High energy is the need for hard exercise--sometimes hours of it--almost every single day for years in order to live sanely. I've not seen that need in the (admittedly few) BMDs I've known.
Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
Oct 17, 2013
Deb and Ed M wrote:
Are you folks telling me there are breeds of puppies out there who never get the Zoomies?? Granted - my heart lies with herding breeds and yes my dogs are high-energy. But I've met LOTS of dogs/puppies, and sooner or later - they need to go crazy once in a while?!

I think most are just saying that a big dog with the zoomies takes up an awful lot of room in an RV with so many folks in it already- at least three of whom probably ALSO have the zoomies, two-legged pup variety.

Per breed differences, though, since this is a working (herd) dog:
I've had both working and "pet" breeds, and my experience has been that a dog bred to work has a greater compulsion for activities that satisfy that inbred need. I saw the sad outcome of one such dog, owned by my sister. And just so you know that this was not in a household that didn't know how to train a dog: This was the house dog in a setting that also included a full team of (outdoor) Alaska husky sled dogs.

The household pet, acquired at eight weeks and carefully raised, was a border collie so compulsive about "herding" that he simply could NOT be broken of nipping at the heels of groups of "critters", whether two-legged or four. He'd have made a champion herd dog in a setting that allowed/encouraged that natural bent!

Instead, he eventually had to be put down for "biting" a child.
Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
Oct 17, 2013
Are you folks telling me there are breeds of puppies out there who never get the Zoomies?? Granted - my heart lies with herding breeds and yes my dogs are high-energy. But I've met LOTS of dogs/puppies, and sooner or later - they need to go crazy once in a while?!
Gunner45
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
Pawz4me wrote:
Code2High wrote:
Never met a high energy bernese.

Me either. I'm rather flabbergasted that so many people consider them a high-energy breed. They're not even in the same zip code with the breeds I'd classify as high energy.

When I read that people keep thinking Berners are high energy I reminded me of our dogs :) We have two large (for their breed) Samoyed's and even though they are working dogs, our dogs are more like large throw rugs :D We are more often stepping over them than running them!

There is a couple that owns three Berners in our town and I see them walking them when I'm driving home from work. I'm guessing they don't have much of a yard and both of them work full time outside the house. You can tell that one of them is a little more high energy than the other two, the man walks that one while the woman walks the other two.

My parents have camped with a couple that has 3 Great Pyrenees rescues :)

~ Dori ~
PSZERO
Explorer
Oct 16, 2013
Or pop the baby (who will turn 2 within a week of our expected departure) in the sling or stroller and take a nice walk! Just an example, I know, but we're pretty good at juggling. And really...if I'm not comfortable leaving my dog alone in the RV, odds are I wouldn't leave my baby! Ha!
Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2013
colliehauler wrote:
I disagre I have yet to have a single item damaged in my house or RV by my Collies and they are left alone up to 12 hours while I'm at work. They have a dog door at home and I take them out in the RV. Since my rescue dogs are adults puppies might be a different story. Kids and dogs are are great together.

I should have said "during the puppy years" - especially during teething!!! My dogs have never done damage to our house or RV either, but they're crated until they're around 1 yr old or so, just to keep them from temptation when we're gone. With any amount of luck - a puppy would only chew up the children's toys and not the couch.

Kids and adult dogs are awesome together!! But I can see where a baby human and a baby dog can create conflicts, because when one of them needs something, they generally need it NOW. Let's say Hubby takes the older kids to a museum. Mom and the youngest are in the RV with the pup. Baby is taking a nap and pup is bouncing off the walls: there's 2 choices: wake the baby and walk the dog; or walk the dog and have a neighbor call Social Services.....

Regarding BMDs being high-energy: ALL pups are high energy. A 50 lb puppy with a case of the Zoomies in an RV is probably not near as funny as it is in a house.....

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Newbie q's re: leashing, etc

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