Traveling with dogs

[GoalstoDreams]

I will be full-timing in just a few months. I have two small poodle-mix fur babies that I would like to take along, but I have serious concerns. In my quest to find RV parks on the first route I have planned, I am finding considerable restrictions regarding pets; some that allow dogs will not allow you to leave them unattended even inside the MH. What? How does a single person go to the grocery store?

Also, one of my little darlings is a runner...give him an opening and he is gone. I dread the idea of setting up and tearing down a dog fence every time I move and constantly watching over my shoulder. This retirement adventure is supposed to "reduce" my stress.

While this sounds like I am trying to talk myself out of taking them with me, I also don't like the thought of not having them along. I would appreciate some honest and practical reflections from those who full-time with their pets.

[Go_Dogs]

Havenese
Havenese have increased in popularity in recent years. That is usually not good for any breed as breeders try to pump out puppies, with little regard to quality. The article in the link above lists some problems associated with this breed. Separation anxiety; manifesting in barking and destructive behavior, is specifically mentioned.
An unsecured dog, merely becomes a projectile in the event of an accident. Think of having a 15 pound bowling ball, flying loose in a vehicle.

[jobythebay]

Go Dogs wrote:
It's very important to have your pets secure when the vehicle is in motion. Small dogs can go in a securely tethered crate.

It's also so important when choosing a 'type' of dog, to do your homework. If it's a dog known to be a barker-you should reconsider if that will be a problem. Same with active breeds. Lot's of people choose a dog because it's small/cute. Those breeds can be a challenge to an inexperienced dog owner.
I recommend research, and training to build a bond with a dog rather than shocking, squirting, yelling, beating, confining, and eventually getting rid of the dog.
Owning a dog is a big responsibility, and not for everyone.

Havanese are not known to be barkers. They are our 4th and 5th dogs so we've been around the block and have always had dogs with us when camping and never had a problem until this last campground. So we should crate then when on the road and secure the crate? They will be very unhappy! But if the crate (it could be soft sided were right between us maybe that would work.

[Go_Dogs]

It's very important to have your pets secure when the vehicle is in motion. Small dogs can go in a securely tethered crate.

It's also so important when choosing a 'type' of dog, to do your homework. If it's a dog known to be a barker-you should reconsider if that will be a problem. Same with active breeds. Lot's of people choose a dog because it's small/cute. Those breeds can be a challenge to an inexperienced dog owner.
I recommend research, and training to build a bond with a dog rather than shocking, squirting, yelling, beating, confining, and eventually getting rid of the dog.
Owning a dog is a big responsibility, and not for everyone.

[jobythebay]

kridg wrote:
We also travel with a baby gate to place in front of the door and/or steps to prevent ours from slipping out ahead of us when we enter or leave. Putting leashes on before opening the door when you take them outside is also a good idea.

This is such a great question. We had a Pomeranian, the love of our lives. When we lost her way to young our grief was so awful that we rashly went out and bought TWO Havanese sisters. We adore them but their bark is very loud. Ok so with Hanna, our Pom, we did leave her but when we were away she didn't say boo because she was very timid. Not so with these girls. In fact we almost got evicted - no joke- this summer so we are working very hard to teach them not to bark! We often left Hanna. We hike and other than a couple of places (Acadia, Sunline Drive) Hanna couldn't come with us. We also have two fence type things. They are super easy to put together and though we thought Zoey would run, she has learned not to and goes right into it.

NOW my question is: if anyone has a motorhome, do your dogs roll around :E I am just picturing that. I wish I could figure out how to amend my signature!! So what do people do with their dogs - especially more than one - while underway.

[GoalstoDreams]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. Don't get me wrong. Outside of the running issue, they are both very good boys and understand and abide by basic commands......my main concern is the restrictions at the parks. As I have begun to map out my first route, I've already come across several parks that I would prefer to stay at that I simply won't be able to with the boys. Its all about weighing options and setting priorities.

Thanks again to everyone!

Sue

[Gunner45]

I agree with the opinions on training 🙂

The wait or stay command will be your most powerful tool. Work on getting your dogs to sit and wait or stay every time you open your door at home. Then move this to the RV 🙂

You can teach old dogs new tricks, we have an 8 yr old Samoyed that is finally getting to a 2 minute sit/stay.


~ Dori ~

[orlandimal]

For what its worth, right now I am sitting in my 5er at the Mayport Navy base, Jacksonville, FL. With me my fiancee Debbe (weight not disclosed), Cody (100 lb) pointer, Josey Wales (90 lb now) black lab and Jabootu (13 lb) calico. We leave them in the trailer when we go fishing, sight seeing, restaurants, etc. with no problems.

[xteacher]

Work on the "wait" command at home. Ours are required to sit and wait while I open the door (takes some work/patience to teach some dogs this - be consistent at all times, or they'll never learn it). They're not allowed to go outside until I say "okay, go". If you don't want to fool with this, then definitely leash your dogs before opening the door. I leave the dogs in the car while setting up our x-pen, then leash them to transport between car and x-pen. The x-pen is one of the first things we set up upon arrival.

While in the camper, crate the dogs when you leave (if they're not crate trained, work on this at home first), keep blinds closed to create a darker environment (encourages sleep better), keep the t.v. or radio on loud enough to drown out exterior noise, but not loud enough to disturb your neighbors. Give your dogs a stuffed Kong (smear peanut butter around the inside with a knife and freeze (freezing makes it last longer). This gives them something to keep them occupied while you're gone.

As a last result, if you have a hard core barker (no one likes one, trust me!), invest in a bark collar and use it (I got mine at Wally World). My westie mix is a barker, so I use one when we go camping. To those who think they're cruel, it beats having to leave them at home, or getting kicked out of a campground.

A quiet dog doesn't catch the attention of anyone at the campground, whether you're there or not.

[kridg]

We also travel with a baby gate to place in front of the door and/or steps to prevent ours from slipping out ahead of us when we enter or leave. Putting leashes on before opening the door when you take them outside is also a good idea.

[frmAloha]

As for the runner, just connect his leash before opening the door to let him out. It's what we do.

[Pawz4me]

sher9570 wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:
Expen with a top. Takes all of 2 minutes to set up. To be used Only for when you are right there on the site with them.

Unattended CG rule means INSIDE the camper also. Some CG's are very strict about this. If your dog barks when you leave you will have problems.

Most are not strict about this at all..unless your dogs are loud and totally obnoxious then they will use this rule and ask you to leave.
When you leave them alone, pull the shades, turn on the fans or AC and make sure there is a radio on, if they can't hear noises outside they will more than likely just sleep.

Sher

I agree with Sher. We also crate our dogs when we leave them alone inside the RV, even though at home they're never crated. Crating in the RV means they won't be able to stick their heads up under the blinds or curtains to find something to bark at.

We've only encountered a handful of campgrounds whose rules specifically stated that dogs weren't to be left alone unattended inside the RV. In each of those instances I called the campground and asked for clarification and was told by every one of them that it was absolutely fine to leave our dogs alone as long as they don't bark. So my advice is . . . call and ask.

And if you're not positive that yours don't/won't bark, you can easily monitor that by using a voice activated recorder or something like Bark Sentry.

[sher9570]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Expen with a top. Takes all of 2 minutes to set up. To be used Only for when you are right there on the site with them.

Unattended CG rule means INSIDE the camper also. Some CG's are very strict about this. If your dog barks when you leave you will have problems.

Most are not strict about this at all..unless your dogs are loud and totally obnoxious then they will use this rule and ask you to leave.
When you leave them alone, pull the shades, turn on the fans or AC and make sure there is a radio on, if they can't hear noises outside they will more than likely just sleep.

Sher

[sher9570]

Make sure they are micro chipped...the rest of the advice above is right on.
I will add that we had to train our dogs to stop at the door, we always go first
mainly because you don't always know what is out there and secondly you are the one in control.
Before the door is opened...leash them, if they aren't going train them to stay back. We just tell ours to go lay down, "you are not going right now"
It's all repetition and training, they will get but you have to be diligent and aware.
We got our RV so we didn't have to leave our pups home, they love it and I can't imagine spending much time away from them.

Sher

[rockhillmanor]

Expen with a top. Takes all of 2 minutes to set up. To be used Only for when you are right there on the site with them.

Unattended CG rule means INSIDE the camper also. Some CG's are very strict about this. If your dog barks when you leave you will have problems.