Fulltiming with pets?

Listen to rockhillmanor. A fully self-contained TC is the SUV of RVs... go anywhere at anytime. For heavy travel around the country in practically any kind of weather, you'd be hard pressed to find a better alternative. It fits wherever the truck goes, height considering.

As a full time unit, it's severely lacking. With space at a premium, some highly desirable amenities are sacrificed. That may be ok for a younger guy. However, there's barely adequate room for one f/t person as long as nothing is under foot. Add another person and there will be a lot of "excuse me(s)". With two 40lb. dogs, you'll have to go outside to change your mind. I'd hate to be half asleep and have to navigate to the bathroom at 2 a.m.

A power failure during the summer, particularly in the south, would be a huge concern. While I've camped at government parks 95% of the time, I've come home after work to a sweltering camper in both public and commercial parks. Due to that fact, I won't consider a pet until retirement. These are the musings of an old guy with a lot of TC miles, having been there and done that. Hope the perspective is of help.

rockhillmanor wrote:
Hi welcome to the forum!

Here are a couple things you will need to look into BEFORE you leap into living in an RV and with dogs.

Many CG's have pet restrictions. Number of dogs, size, weight and breed of dog. Call the CG's in your area ask what their pet restrictions are.

Some CG's also have rules that pets are NOT allowed to be left in the camper unattended. I.E. when you have to leave for work.

Which also brings up the dangerous issue of leaving pets in a camper.

If the electric power to the park and/or the shore station itself goes out, air conditioner freezes up and/or fails while you are at work....the RV will reach dangerously high temps within minutes and becomes deadly for any pets left inside.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Call and find out about the pet policies at the CG's in your area. AND also find out what the CG's are charging extra such as electric, maintenance etc for long term stay, before you invest $$ in an RV.

You might be surprised that stayin in your apartment may be less expensive and maybe your only choice with owning 2 large dogs.

Good Luck! :C

x2 . Too many power issues at CG's to trust the a/c to be left on.
You would have to open windows and deal with bad weather .
Its just not a good idea and i certainly would not add another dog to the bank if you have to leave them for 8 hrs. in a tc every day .

I think rockhillmanor pretty well covered it all. Sounds great initially, but when you look at the fine print there are many potential issues. Personally, I would not do it.

Wayne

I don't think either you or the dogs are going to appreciate living together in a camper full time - too small.

Hi welcome to the forum!

Here are a couple things you will need to look into BEFORE you leap into living in an RV and with dogs.

Many CG's have pet restrictions. Number of dogs, size, weight and breed of dog. Call the CG's in your area ask what their pet restrictions are.

Some CG's also have rules that pets are NOT allowed to be left in the camper unattended. I.E. when you have to leave for work.

Which also brings up the dangerous issue of leaving pets in a camper.

If the electric power to the park and/or the shore station itself goes out, air conditioner freezes up and/or fails while you are at work....the RV will reach dangerously high temps within minutes and becomes deadly for any pets left inside.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Call and find out about the pet policies at the CG's in your area. AND also find out what the CG's are charging extra such as electric, maintenance etc for long term stay, before you invest $$ in an RV.

You might be surprised that stayin in your apartment may be less expensive and maybe your only choice with owning 2 large dogs.

Good Luck! :C

That is going to be one crowded camper with two dogs and you. Maybe a larger trailer would be a better fit. In out x20 foot TT Trusty found the best place for him was under the dining table. But he had to move if we wanted to sit down. Larger is better IMHO.

Several years ago we had a yellow lab, Jake, a k-9 dropout, and the floor of our truck camper was all dog. He weighed about 115 and was the greatest dog ever. However, after truck camping, not fulltiming we then decided to go with a fifth wheel because of Jake. There was me, DH and the dog but it was crowded. Sadly, after a year or so after upgrading we had to put Jake down. Jake was good in the camper but he always seemed to be where we were stepping. If he was left in the TC for a short amount of time then we always left the AC on for him.