New to the forum - crazy dog people!

[Ohana Mom]

Hi there - I'm new to this forum. My husband and I are dreaming of our motor home and I joined the site to watch and learn. We raise Newfoundland dogs and do everything with them (show, obedience, water rescue work etc) - so traveling and vacations are now VERY different for us. We're seriously considering a Class C toy hauler - would welcome any recommendations, or "stay away from" type of advice....

[jfran304]

We purchased our Class A motor home so we could take our dogs with us on vacations.

Take your time picking out your motor home and get what you want the first time. With Newfoundlands you are going to need plenty of room.

Also look for one with a generator with a self starter in case you are parked and lose shore power if you plan on leaving the dogs in the coach any length of time.

The toy hauler sounds like a great choice. Getting older dogs in and out of a normal coach can be a hassle.

Good Luck,
Jon

[MSHappyCampers]

Welcome to the forum

[SteveLevin]

Another thing to look at is total cooling capacity of the rig for summertime. I am guessing (perhaps wrongly) that for shows you might just end up in a parking lot with no shade and the heat radiating back up from the asphalt as well. That puts a LOT more heat into the coach that you'd expect from a typical campground where there's grass and shade helping take the edge off on Labor Day weekend, for example. Definitely take the generator into consideration; you may well not get enough shore power at shows to keep both your a/c units on full time.

Steve

[Ohana Mom]

Steve - that is a really good point! And you are right - many shows are in a parking lot / field. I will keep the generator capacity in mind for sure!

[Hiway]

New over here too!

...and Newfies ROCK! (although I am a hardcore GSD lover myself)

[frankdamp]

We thought about getting a Newfie, but DW didn't want a dog that outweighed her, so we have two Labradors. Having had a 26' Class C, I wouldn't consider anything other than a Class A if you have big dogs. The only issue we have is that, with a basement-type rig, the five steps entry is a bit much for the 14 year-old. We have to lift her rear end into the rig and getting her out is a real circus!

[Dakado]

Welcome from one newbie to another!

[Ohana Mom]

@Frank - yep - they do outweigh most humans - fortunately not my husband nor I . regarding A vs. C - we were thinking of a large C with slides and is a toy hauler to give us the garage space for their gear, crates, a place for wet gear, grooming if it rains etc..... Given that configuration - do you still think an A offers more interior space? We would not crate them when we are driving - so I am concerned if there will be enough interior room when the slides are in. Since this will be our first RV, my husband feels more comfortable with the idea of driving a C than an A. We have friends with a travel trailer toy hauler - but they only bring two dogs - which fit in their SUV. We have 3 and have a large van - and it wouldn't tow a trailer. Fifth wheel is out since we don't want the dogs in it while we drive (plus I believe it's not legal). So it's basically down to a C or an A....

[DCPakaMOM]

Hi! Welcome! (newbie here too) I also am a dog show person. Golden retrievers and a rhodesian ridgeback. I have a Class C - 27'. Acquired it so I didn't have much choice but LOVE LOVE LOVE it - it was used at shows before.

I removed the queen bed in the rear, extra bolted down hook things to secure the crates there. I have capacity for two 42" crates and two 36" crates. Plus they have room about 2' before the crate door, have dog towels stacked/rolled stored beside them. I will sleep on the overcab bed or, have just about decided to leave the dinnette down into a bed and sleep there. My dogs will travel in their crates as I think they are safer contained and secured than loose in the event of having sudden stops. In my van, they all ride crated as well.

I love newfies as I think I have an affinity for dog hair.

Good luck in your quest/search! Keep us posted on what you get! Maybe we will find each other at a show one day.

[RickO]

Aloha and welcome to the forum!

We're glad you're here.

Rick

[jfran304]

Jennifer,

You might want to check out the Class A toy haulers. When we traveled with our Lab and Goldie we would make the dinette into a bed and both of them could lay on it or the couch. This gave us plenty of room when the slides were in.

I don't know if they still make these but check out this Class A. I did see some ads for used ones for sale.

Bounty Hunter Toy Hauler Motorhome | 08 Photo Gallery

Jon

[SteveLevin]

One other thing to think about are black/grey tank sizes... even if you get power, I bet you won't have any other hookups. For us (and we do 4-5 days at a racetrack) 40 gallons for black is a minimum to avoid having to serious "plan" anything. And we'd love to have 50+. We are both frugal and good with quick showers, so 40 gallons grey works for us -- but I know many folks that feel very constrained by less than 15-20 gallons/day on the grey side.

Steve

[JohnRR]

For the sake of any animal traveling if your ever involved in an accident and the animal has the ability to get into the open area outside of the RV or car it's going to be long gone after being shook up and confused from the trauma of why the vehicle got so violent during the time of the accident.

Scared animals have no common sense and react accordingly and many are never seen again once let loose into strange surroundings. I've responded to many of these type accidents over the years.