Traveling with Dogs

[kcdogger]

Dogs are amazing companions. But they are also a huge anchor. There will be many places you will not be able to take them and that may seriously impact your travels. In National Parks they are generally not allowed on the trails or anywhere off of the roadways. You will always be beholden to their bathroom schedules should you desire to visit the millions of attractions where pets are not allowed. You will be limited in non-RV travels to lodging that allows dogs. Airline travel will require you to have a pet sitter. When the dog gets old, you will need to be their care giver. A dog also comes with liability should the dog misinterpret a friend as a foe.
If your goal is an alarm, get an alarm. If you goal is a life long companion who will worship you like a God and would be willing to give up their life and well being to protect you, go for it. Just remember, committing to an alarm can be month to month, committing to a dog is a commitment for the life of the dog, which will hopefully be many years.

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by MrsChilerick

We just adopted 2 very young puppies. We’ve been missing our dog that passed 2 years ago. Now I’m not sure how to secure them in the MotorHome while driving. Our last dog slept on the floor by my feet on the passenger side, leashed. But I’m pretty sure that’s not going to work for puppies. How does anyone with 2 pups currently handle it?

Another thing we learned traveling with a puppy, are ut-oh's when the puppy squats and lets loose somewhere he/she isn't supposed to, like the carpet. We carry a SpotBot with us, and between Sharon spilling stuff and the puppy, it gets a real workout!

[MrsChilerick]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

Another thing we learned traveling with a puppy, are ut-oh's when the puppy squats and lets loose somewhere he/she isn't supposed to, like the carpet. We carry a SpotBot with us, and between Sharon spilling stuff and the puppy, it gets a real workout!

We had that problem with our last dog. She really didn’t like the RV, so although she was an older dog and good at home, she had anxiety issues when we traveled. We’re hoping starting off with pups, we can have them acclimated to the RV at a young age and that they will just grow up traveling.

I imagine if we start harnessing the pups in the jeep, that should translate easily enough to the coach. We have theater seating with seat belts that would be pretty roomy and comfortable. It’s fairly far away from the cab area, though, about mid coach.

[Milford 47]

We tried the Theater seating with our Westie but she insisted on riding on the window edge beside the co-passenger seat.

She isn't crazy about the MH but sure don't want to miss a trip. Seems the slides coming in bothers her so we get her up on the seat first.

[A32Deuce]

We have a rescue we just received last August. First long trip with him started just before Thanksgiving. With what's going on now and living in Jersey, don't know when we will get home. So he has been living in the RV longer the the S&B at home. My Copilot asleep on my lap!

[Gearjammer]

Originally Posted by RaeAnn

We have not started our RV life yet but are looking to within the next year or so. We will be three females traveling and were considering getting a dog to travel with us. Someone to make a bit of noise when someone is too close to the RV. We will have two cats traveling as well.

My question is - How hard/easy is it to travel with a dog? Cats are easy, as far as the bathroom is concerned, but what about dogs and late night potty breaks? It has been suggested that dogs are too much trouble on the road and that some RV/National Parks will not allow dogs at all. Have any of you found this to be true?

Thank you for all the info.

It would be easier to get rid of two females and replace them with two dogs .

[Filthy-Beast]

Since you are asking the question I'll assume none of you are dog people. An older house broken dog will have no problem going 8 to 10 hours between going out at night and in the morning. A puppy is like a baby, it needs constant supervision, and potty breaks very often even during the night.



Dogs are social pack animal, cats not so much. It's very important that all three of you are involved in training and that you all have the same rules, commands and practice training all the time.


For their psychological well being, it's important that they know their place in the pack, that rules never change, and that there is an alpha and they don't need to be the alpha.


Do lots of research on different breeds, their temperament, exercise requirements, grooming and known genetic issues.



Bottom line the average dog in an RV requires hours a day of your time, feeding, walking, playing, and training.

[m.j.colors77]

Originally Posted by MrsChilerick

We just adopted 2 very young puppies. We’ve been missing our dog that passed 2 years ago. Now I’m not sure how to secure them in the MotorHome while driving. Our last dog slept on the floor by my feet on the passenger side, leashed. But I’m pretty sure that’s not going to work for puppies. How does anyone with 2 pups currently handle it?

Our 3 tiny Chihuahuas are crate trained. When we travel they are crated. If we leave for the store they are crated. And at night when we sleep they are crated. So as to not have any steamy surprise while fixing my morning coffee lol. They love it. They have dog beds and blankets in each one. And a tiny Wal-Mart carpet under the bed. They are never in there for long during the day. Should be no more than 4 hours bc they need to stretch and move them joints. Hope this helps. (P.s. for anxiety while at the store we give them a tiny bone to keep their minds busy when we leave)

[MrsChilerick]

We have considered crates. Our biggest challenge will be leaving for a hour or two. Theses are going to be big dogs eventually. We used to leave our German Shepard run of the coach with the blinds drawn and the TV on for company. But she was almost 10 when we started RVing. These guys still think everything is a teething ring. They are just now 3 1/2 months. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get on the road until they are at least 7 months with everything that’s going on, if even then. So we’ll have to see if we can train them

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by MrsChilerick

We have considered crates. Our biggest challenge will be leaving for a hour or two. Theses are going to be big dogs eventually. We used to leave our German Shepard run of the coach with the blinds drawn and the TV on for company. But she was almost 10 when we started RVing. These guys still think everything is a teething ring. They are just now 3 1/2 months. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get on the road until they are at least 7 months with everything that’s going on, if even then. So we’ll have to see if we can train them

We traveled with our two high energy Labradoodles when they were that young and they were just fine. At about 6 months old, we left them for 6 hours once. At home our two are crate trained, but when we are traveling in the RV they are restricted to the couch area. We have a child gate blocking access to the bedroom in the RV. That is to allow the two felines a place to call their own without "chompy jaws" trying to ruin their day!

We took our two, labradoodles to PetsMart for training classes. That worked real well. The training is partly for the dogs, and partly for the owners. They have several levels of training from beginners to older dogs.

[KanzKran]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

We took our two, labradoodles to PetsMart for training classes. That worked real well. The training is partly for the dogs, and partly for the owners. They have several levels of training from beginners to older dogs.

We started there with their puppy training class, but after one class they had to shut it all down due to CV-19. She's now almost 5 months old with little socialization. And she pees from nerves when traveling to the vet and back in her crate, and ends up wet from it, which I have to work on.

I think she'll be confined to a crate for RV travel until she doesn't do that. If ever.

[MrsChilerick]

Originally Posted by Bigd9

We traveled with our two high energy Labradoodles when they were that young and they were just fine. At about 6 months old, we left them for 6 hours once. At home our two are crate trained, but when we are traveling in the RV they are restricted to the couch area. We have a child gate blocking access to the bedroom in the RV. That is to allow the two felines a place to call their own without "chompy jaws" trying to ruin their day!



We took our two, labradoodles to PetsMart for training classes. That worked real well. The training is partly for the dogs, and partly for the owners. They have several levels of training from beginners to older dogs.

We have considered confining them to the bedroom. We’re worried about them chewing up the living area furniture. But with the bedroom we’re worried about them scratching up the door to get out. They are babies. It would be great if we could take a weekend and see how they react.

These guys have zero socialization, due to covid 19.

[Filthy-Beast]

Socialization does have to be done up close. Even with our current distancing practices you should be taking them out to see new thing. Other dogs, people, joggers, or anything at a distance is great opportunity to work on getting them to focus on you instead other things going on around you. Teach them leave it, look at me, sit while they can see, hear and smell all these distraction.

[NITEHAWK]

Keep in mind that after awhile you will become "nose deaf".
By that I mean you will become insensitive to the odors created by the dog and the cats.
Years ago we met a couple with a Great Dane. Couldn't hardly breathe the smell was so strong. And the DW and I have had nine dogs--so far.
Another couple has five cats in their coach. The odor is absolutely overwhelming!! Visitors don't even know we have a cat in our coach.
Lesson here? You have to be acutely conscious of your pets' odors and do thorough cleaning of the litter boxes (daily) and bathe your dog frequently or soon it will be difficult if not impossible to sell or trade your RV.