Traveling with pets

If we want to be gone most of the day, we put our pups in "day care". Most towns have some kind of daily boarding businesses. For example, we're planning on spending most of the day on 8/21 going to the solar eclipse. There is a small veterinary clinic with a pet boarding business on site right along our route. $30 to board two dogs for the whole day, and we don't have to worry about them.

If we're just going to be gone for a few hours, we'll leave them in the RV with the AC running. We also leave the blinds closed. If they can't see out, they are much less likely to bark at people passing by.

YOU will need to make concessions as the dog owner........dogs comfort/safety first.

Absolutely.

First thing you need to do is check the rules regarding leaving dogs unattended in a unit. Yup, there's a 100 people reading this right now saying "my dog doesn't bark, I do it all the time regardless of the rules". It's because of those people that many campgrounds no longer allow dogs. If the rules don't suit you, then move on down the road.

We didn't take our dogs very often because we used campgrounds for a base camp from which to explore. It's not unusual for us to be gone 10-12 hours at a time which is not fair to the dogs. When we did take them we made sure the cg allowed them to be left alone, ensured they were tired if we left the cg so they'd sleep (fan or a/c on) or we'd take them with us. If we left them it would never be for more than 4-6 hours.

The campground we are in, charges $5 a day per dog with a max of 2 dogs. If you leave your dog in your unit to got shopping or site seeing it's a $50 fine charged to your credit card. A form is signed at check in informing of the list of rules...sign or go someplace else.

The campground we are in, charges $5 a day per dog with a max of 2 dogs. If you leave your dog in your unit to got shopping or site seeing it's a $50 fine charged to your credit card. A form is signed at check in informing of the list of rules...sign or go someplace else.

Thanks for the insights, just wondered what y'all do. I would never leave my dog in a vehicle with windows rolled up. I even leave her in the truck when I go to Walmart or stop somewhere I leave the air on and lock the truck. Trying to gather as much info as we can before diving in the camper pool.

Our dogs have always loved trips. They are very well trained, and treated like dogs, not humans, which many pet owners don't get. But for them traveling is awesome, they get nice long nap while driving, followed by walks, tennis ball chasing, and new smells every day. If it is a reasonable temperature our dog is very content in the trailer while we explore. Or he just rides in the truck bed. I don't like to travel in 90+ degrees anyways.

Get something with a generator which can power the AC while traveling. One of the reasons we prefer a mh. We have the option of using the dash air, roof air, or both depending on the heat situation. If we want to stop for whatever reason the inside temp is already cool, and cranking up the gen and running the AC for the dog/cat is simple.

FTd 7 yrs traveling weekly......78# Border Collie/Lab Mix
Set up 5th wheel and go exploring every day......majority of time our dog went with us.
If necessary she would sit in truck while we ran into a store, shopped out even a restaurant PROVIDED it wasn't HOT (She LOVED her truck)

IF HOT we didn't leave her in truck...and that would curtail our adventures some what.


When we would go do something where she could not go.....train rides, too hot etc she would stay in 5th wheel with A/C on.
We would go for 4-5 hrs and then come back. On occasions up to 8 hrs which is less time then when we worked and she was at home in S&B

But she was 7 when we hit the road .....adapted to 5th wheel living quick (quicker then we did) and it was HER home.
When left alone she would just climb up in our bed and sleep...same as S&B

(No she didn't bark, disturb neighbors.....we checked by sneaking back and straight out asked neighbors letting them know we WANTED the straight skivvy.)


Depends on dog and past behavior.

YOU will need to make concessions as the dog owner........dogs comfort/safety first.

Check into RV park, go enjoy the sites. If your pet does well in a four to five hour window, that should be plenty of time for you to enjoy the sites.

No RV park, no stopping and enjoying unless one of you sits in the vehicle with them and the AC running.

Since you show you live in Texas, you should know that no pet can survive the heat within a vehicle.

I think a lot depends on the outside Temp. During hot weather We would NEVER leave our dogs without air conditioning during Fl.summers, the temp can /does climb considerably,lately several have died due to heat stroke in a vehicle. In cooler weather we might leave them for a little while. It is not worth taking the chance
to leave our pets in the heat. BTW: Fl. just passed a law that if an animal is inside a car in the heat and suffering a window can be lawfully broken by law enforcement and the owner can be fined as well.