Pets left alone in RV at campground?
We are now a dog owner and would consider bringing her on next camping trip. Question for all: is it considered acceptable to leave dog in trailer while we are away? Windows and vents will be open,...
Forum Discussion
We travel with our dogs. They can't speak, but they seem to love the experience. Objectively though, they seem just as happy when we get home as they do when we hit the road. I guess their natural inclination is to be happy though.
We mostly boondock, so there aren't really any rules aside from general statewide cruelty regulations. So leaving them in the RV while we go exploring isn't illegal and we aren't breaking any rules.
They seem to absolutely love it. They seem to mostly sleep while we're gone, but that's based on the hearsay of others in our group who stay behind while we're out. According to our campmates, the dogs are a non-issue while we're gone.
On the other hand, they absolutely lose their minds when we return to camp. We jokingly say every time we return: "Cue barking dogs" and point to the trailer. They bark when they hear the gravel crunch of our tires, and then they stop when we get to the door. So there's about 45 seconds max of nuisance barking. Seems acceptable to us.
We also do the same thing when we camp in RV parks and have no misgivings about it. Our dogs aren't a nuisance (except for that 45 seconds when we return) unless someone messes with our camp. Again, this is based on witness accounts from neighboring spaces.
As far as I'm concerned, there's a hierarchy of concerns when it comes to bringing the dogs.
1. Most importantly is the safety and lack of cruelty to the dogs. Do they have food & water? Are they comfortable? Are they too hot or too cold?
2. Next is the impact on the neighbors. Do the dogs bark or fart or do anything else that will affect the neighbors?
3. Is there stimulation for the dogs or do they get bored to the point of frustration?
If the dogs are OK, aren't bothering anyone, and if you reward them with walks and other stimulation, then leaving them behind falls into what I consider to be the "victimless crime" category.
Are they unattended? Depends on how you define that. All their needs have been attended to and they aren't chained up outside where they can cause problems.
Similar to the "no alcohol" camps, what happens inside our RV isn't anybody's business provided nothing inside affects anybody outside. We've stayed at plenty of these dry camps, but we never pour out our liquor when we stay there. We just don't take it outside and don't cause any trouble.
Are we breaking the rules? Probably. We consider ourselves to be law abiding people, but we're also aware that we break the laws all the time (speed limits, rolling stops, etc.). We also break a few of the Ten Commandments from time to time. We're human.
We pay extra to have the dogs with us and we make sure they're well behaved and aren't harming or annoying anyone else. That seems good enough to me.
We have plenty of mantras in our family, and one of them is: "Don't let OUR problems turn into YOUR problems." As long as our dogs aren't negatively impacting you, then there's no problem.
It's kind of like the elements of a civil tort:
1. Duty owed
2. Duty breached
3. Damages result <<--- This is important here
4. The breach of duty is the proximate cause of the damages
Number three there is the basis of the saying "No harm, no foul". If there's no harm to anyone, then it's irrelevant whether we broke a rule (breached a duty) or not. You're OK. We're OK. The dogs are OK. Everybody is good.
We mostly boondock, so there aren't really any rules aside from general statewide cruelty regulations. So leaving them in the RV while we go exploring isn't illegal and we aren't breaking any rules.
They seem to absolutely love it. They seem to mostly sleep while we're gone, but that's based on the hearsay of others in our group who stay behind while we're out. According to our campmates, the dogs are a non-issue while we're gone.
On the other hand, they absolutely lose their minds when we return to camp. We jokingly say every time we return: "Cue barking dogs" and point to the trailer. They bark when they hear the gravel crunch of our tires, and then they stop when we get to the door. So there's about 45 seconds max of nuisance barking. Seems acceptable to us.
We also do the same thing when we camp in RV parks and have no misgivings about it. Our dogs aren't a nuisance (except for that 45 seconds when we return) unless someone messes with our camp. Again, this is based on witness accounts from neighboring spaces.
As far as I'm concerned, there's a hierarchy of concerns when it comes to bringing the dogs.
1. Most importantly is the safety and lack of cruelty to the dogs. Do they have food & water? Are they comfortable? Are they too hot or too cold?
2. Next is the impact on the neighbors. Do the dogs bark or fart or do anything else that will affect the neighbors?
3. Is there stimulation for the dogs or do they get bored to the point of frustration?
If the dogs are OK, aren't bothering anyone, and if you reward them with walks and other stimulation, then leaving them behind falls into what I consider to be the "victimless crime" category.
Are they unattended? Depends on how you define that. All their needs have been attended to and they aren't chained up outside where they can cause problems.
Similar to the "no alcohol" camps, what happens inside our RV isn't anybody's business provided nothing inside affects anybody outside. We've stayed at plenty of these dry camps, but we never pour out our liquor when we stay there. We just don't take it outside and don't cause any trouble.
Are we breaking the rules? Probably. We consider ourselves to be law abiding people, but we're also aware that we break the laws all the time (speed limits, rolling stops, etc.). We also break a few of the Ten Commandments from time to time. We're human.
We pay extra to have the dogs with us and we make sure they're well behaved and aren't harming or annoying anyone else. That seems good enough to me.
We have plenty of mantras in our family, and one of them is: "Don't let OUR problems turn into YOUR problems." As long as our dogs aren't negatively impacting you, then there's no problem.
It's kind of like the elements of a civil tort:
1. Duty owed
2. Duty breached
3. Damages result <<--- This is important here
4. The breach of duty is the proximate cause of the damages
Number three there is the basis of the saying "No harm, no foul". If there's no harm to anyone, then it's irrelevant whether we broke a rule (breached a duty) or not. You're OK. We're OK. The dogs are OK. Everybody is good.
