RV for one person and multiple dogs

agilitygirl wrote:
Corgi-traveler, I'm in Sacramento. Maybe we know each other? Will you be at the TRACS agility trial weekend after this? ;)

Small world. I doubt we have met, but my young corgi Diva is from Auburn, you probably know her breeder Christine (she runs Spy, the black Pembroke). I generally only go north of Turlock for special occasions. Sometimes I'll do a herding trial in Vacaville, sometimes I'll enter the all-breed show in Grass Valley, and we usually do obedience in Carmel each July. Other than that I'm all SoCal. This weekend I am doing agility in Camarillo, where it will be 77 degress as compared to the 104 here in the valley.

Dealing with 400 crates does present a challenge, but there are solutions out there. In a Class C toyhauler, you've got plenty of crate room, but your "permanent" bed is the cabover. The loft bed in the back may or may not appeal to you.
A lot of dog people will get a floorplan that has a "barrel chair" right behind the passenger seat, then remove that chair for crate space. Our old Class A actually had a flip-up table between the passenger seat and that chair, and our 200 crate fit perfectly in that space under the table. I have a friend who stacks 4 size 200 crates (2x2) in the barrel chair space, so you could probably stack two 400's one on top of the other. The third one might go on the floor up against the back of the driver's seat, might only block half of the dinette, leaving you one dinette bench to sit on plus your back corner bed.

There is an Alex Tkacenko running in our area but I have not met him yet; we've not been trialling as much these days due to our farm.

Yeah, that's the CD I got. To avoid bothering the dogs, I practice in my car on the way to work. Bugs the other drivers, they can't figure out what is that SOUND.

Alex is in New Jersey I think...he has a goose removal business, but I am sure he also trials. At least we was at the National that all the ABCA folks were at?

My ambitions are small, maybe some pen type trials or duck herding. Just AKC stuff. I am mostly about agility. When I retire in a few years, I just want to drive around and go to USDAA agility trials with the BCs. I will always have one nice Lab though.

Whistles take a while to learn and then more time to give consistently enough for the dogs to understand what you want. There are several different shaped whistles and I found some work for me better than others. But once you and they learn whistles they often respond better to whistles than verbal commands.

I've not heard of Alex Tchenko.

Kent Kuykendall's CD? I do know him.

You may enjoy reading this blog; she's a friend and has a couple of our dogs.
Of Ovines Bovines and Canines

BCSnob wrote:
All of our dogs have learned or will be learning to drive (sheep).:)

I am trying to learn to herd. I am a Veterinarian by training, but don't know much about herding. I am taking my pup to a trainer locally that doesn't mind novices. My girl is pretty easy going, so she's kind of good for a novice handler.

That whistle though. Bought the CD. Can't duplicate that stuff.

Hey my best friend got a pup last year from Alex Tchenko maybe you know him. She is turning out great. He had her at the National, but no one bought her so she ended up getting on a plane to sunny California.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts! For me, a shower and a bed that I don't have to fold out/down/whatever are top priorities. And I am not keen on backing up a trailer so I am still thinking Class C, about 25-29 ft size.

Right now I have two Labs and two Border Collies, both Labs are elderly though. If I can fit three 400 crates in an RV and still have room to turn around I will be set.

It sort of depends on the overall cost. I am trying to strike a balance between being able to afford to move the thing, and having something big enough that I can travel to southern Cal or even as far as Missouri or western Canada to compete. The long trips would be fewer. The weekend trips would be perhaps one or two a month. Bigger would be easier for longer trips, but smaller would be more affordable...

My ace in the hole here is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE negtotiating with car dealers. Really! I imagine buying an RV is similar. So this should be fun. I need to be sure I know the market first so I can ID the one I want. I plan to buy used, but hey if there is a great deal on new I am willing to talk. ;)

Corgi-traveler, I'm in Sacramento. Maybe we know each other? Will you be at the TRACS agility trial weekend after this? ;)

Gonzo42 wrote:
Who's driving?

My kennel club gives an annual "Oops!" award. One year it went to the couple who had parked their Class A at a roadside restaurant, leaving the dogs in the RV. When they came out after a nice meal, the RV was gone. Panic! It turns out the dogs had somehow release the brake and the entire rig had rolled out of the parking lot, across the four-lane highway, and into a gas station lot down the street. When they caught up to it, the police were already there scratching their heads.

All of our dogs have learned or will be learning to drive (sheep).:)

Visiting with people onsite in their rigs is a great way to figure out how you'd like to travel.

In our venue (USBCHA herding) we see "rigs" from cars/vans with tents up through high end Class A diesel pushers and we also see people with living quarter horse trailers. Our onsite facilities typically are a fenced pasture or hay field; no hook-ups, no fees, occasionally level locations to set-up.

We have a cargo van with up to 10 crates pulling a 22' travel trailer. I have found that the floor plan is key in finding a good rig.