Keeping pets safe in travel trailer while “home alone”

[Jas1317]

Tell me about keeping dogs safe in the travel trailer when they are alone (as in if the humans go out somewhere for a while and want the dogs to stay back and be safe and comfortable). We are new to camping, we have 2 40ish pound dogs, planning a few months on the road, and while we will likely take them lots of places there will surely be times that we need to leave them in the camper. We plan to crate them and we plan to have a generator as back up in hot/cold weather. Please give me the tips! Thank you in advance.

[Jas1317]

garysol wrote:
We use the Marcell Pro cellular monitor that will call, text AND email me if the RV loses power or if the temps get above or below a preset level or if the humidity rises dramatically. It uses cellular service and not wifi so it will work ALMOST everywhere and does not rely on campground wifi which will be non existent in a power outage.
Marcell Pro

Thank you!!

[DougA]

We have left Leo, our 5 year old spaniel mix, alone for up to 5 hours. We have a routine. Before we leave him, we take him for a trip to the dog-park where he retrieves his Piggy toy until he's tired and had enough, as shown by his standing by the door to leave whatever dog park we're in. This is about half an hour to hour. We take him back to the trailer, leave him a bit of food and lots of water, turn on the AC with the fan running constantly and the radio, and leave open a roof vent or two. When we return he's usually where we left him... on the couch under the Murphy bed. He jumps up, well rested and wants to go to the dog park again. We've asked neighbors to tell us if there is any barking. As far as we know, the only time he barked is when a neighbor's dog came sniffing around our trailer because it escaped its leash. That got Leo riled up. Yes, we lock the door. No we don't have a camera or monitoring equipment. We leave him his toys of course. We do put the toilet paper and wastebasket out of reach, but we have to do that at home too. Leo's a very melo traveling dude who will endlessly sleep on the truck's back seat, as we drive from state to state.

[garysol]

We use the Marcell Pro cellular monitor that will call, text AND email me if the RV loses power or if the temps get above or below a preset level or if the humidity rises dramatically. It uses cellular service and not wifi so it will work ALMOST everywhere and does not rely on campground wifi which will be non existent in a power outage.
Marcell Pro

[MikeDupont]

Please be a responsible pet owner. And please familiarize yourselves and obey the campground rules concerning pets. They really are there to make everyone's stay more enjoyable.
Mike

[Jas1317]

colliehauler wrote:

Deb and Ed M wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
If you watch a video of a RV fire they are burnt down in minutes with leathal toxic smoke long before that.
What good does a sign do if the door is locked?

My Collies are the most important thing in my RV. The rest can be replaced with a shopping trip to Wallyworld.

You have a really good point. I guess I feel the chances of a random opportunistic thief opening the unlocked door and turning my dogs loose (now scared and running - neither is very protective) is higher than my RV catching fire??

I don't know where you camp but I haven't locked a RV door (other then the storage yard) in over 25 years and never had a theft. Of course I have owned RV'S for over 25 years and never had a fire.

There for awhile RV'S had a issue of refrigerator fires. I had the recalls done to fix the issue.

Usually a thieve will do more costly damage to the RV breaking in then what the stuff inside is worth.

We don’t camp anywhere yet we just bought our first travel trailer! I’m so glad to hear this!

[Jas1317]

richclover wrote:
We’re at our winter runaway rv park. Dog friendly with the usual rules. Campers next door have 3 dogs and are in the habit of leaving them unattended for several hours at a time. Wow! Those critters can be heard all over the park!

So last evening the lady walked by with her 3 dogs and my Wife struck up a conversation since we had not yet met. Very friendly, so we let her know that their dogs bark constantly while home alone. She had no idea and thanked us for telling her. We’ll see what happens.

No complaints from us. We’re dog people too. But ours go with us.

Wow. Yeah I don’t intend to leave them without a monitor so I would know if they bark. Mine don’t bark much at home unless they see a dog out the window or someone comes to the door so I don’t think it will be an issue, but we are going to make sure before leaving them. And it would also be for a very short period of time - to go to dinner or to the pool or something like that. Otherwise ours will come with us too.

[richclover]

We’re at our winter runaway rv park. Dog friendly with the usual rules. Campers next door have 3 dogs and are in the habit of leaving them unattended for several hours at a time. Wow! Those critters can be heard all over the park!

So last evening the lady walked by with her 3 dogs and my Wife struck up a conversation since we had not yet met. Very friendly, so we let her know that their dogs bark constantly while home alone. She had no idea and thanked us for telling her. We’ll see what happens.

No complaints from us. We’re dog people too. But ours go with us.

[colliehauler]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
If you watch a video of a RV fire they are burnt down in minutes with leathal toxic smoke long before that.
What good does a sign do if the door is locked?

My Collies are the most important thing in my RV. The rest can be replaced with a shopping trip to Wallyworld.

You have a really good point. I guess I feel the chances of a random opportunistic thief opening the unlocked door and turning my dogs loose (now scared and running - neither is very protective) is higher than my RV catching fire??

I don't know where you camp but I haven't locked a RV door (other then the storage yard) in over 25 years and never had a theft. Of course I have owned RV'S for over 25 years and never had a fire.

There for awhile RV'S had a issue of refrigerator fires. I had the recalls done to fix the issue.

Usually a thieve will do more costly damage to the RV breaking in then what the stuff inside is worth.

[Jas1317]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
If you watch a video of a RV fire they are burnt down in minutes with leathal toxic smoke long before that.
What good does a sign do if the door is locked?

My Collies are the most important thing in my RV. The rest can be replaced with a shopping trip to Wallyworld.

You have a really good point. I guess I feel the chances of a random opportunistic thief opening the unlocked door and turning my dogs loose (now scared and running - neither is very protective) is higher than my RV catching fire??

Are RV thieves a big thing? This is probably a separate topic in itself!

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

colliehauler wrote:
If you watch a video of a RV fire they are burnt down in minutes with leathal toxic smoke long before that.
What good does a sign do if the door is locked?

My Collies are the most important thing in my RV. The rest can be replaced with a shopping trip to Wallyworld.

You have a really good point. I guess I feel the chances of a random opportunistic thief opening the unlocked door and turning my dogs loose (now scared and running - neither is very protective) is higher than my RV catching fire??

[colliehauler]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

colliehauler wrote:


Now more controversy, I always leave my RV unlocked when gone with pets inside. If a fire would break out there would be a possibility of a rescue. A RV can burn to the ground in very little time.

I also give the campground my phone number if they need to contact me.

I lock the door, but have a sign that said "Dogs on Board".

If you watch a video of a RV fire they are burnt down in minutes with leathal toxic smoke long before that.
What good does a sign do if the door is locked?

My Collies are the most important thing in my RV. The rest can be replaced with a shopping trip to Wallyworld.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I think dogs need to learn that "their yard" around the RV is mighty small. All of mine learned to ignore whatever was going on in the street or the RV next door - it helps to just sit outside with them and monitor what they are alerting towards. My guys were great - you don't know they are in the RV until you bump the side or step on the stairs.... my newest camper "Augie" is the perfect camping dog - not very big for an Aussie (45 lbs) but has a deep voice. His alert is one loud bark - but most people who are up to no good, would move along to another RV

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

colliehauler wrote:


Now more controversy, I always leave my RV unlocked when gone with pets inside. If a fire would break out there would be a possibility of a rescue. A RV can burn to the ground in very little time.

I also give the campground my phone number if they need to contact me.

I lock the door, but have a sign that said "Dogs on Board".

[Jas1317]

colliehauler wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Been traveling with a dog, or dogs for 30+ years...

Like already stated, how they react at home is usually how they will be in the RV... Take a drive, park away and sneak back to see what they are going....

Get a monitor and keep a watch..

^^^This, to a dog the RV becomes home. My Collies like the RV because we go on more walks.

Perfect I think our dogs are going to love it too! Thank you for the confidence!