RV With Pets?

How many of you RV with pets? We're bringing our little Shih Tzu Shane along for the adventure. We bring him in the car all the time, but I'm not sure how he'll react in the motor home. Any advice?

I think I'm attaching a picture of Shane, not sure how that works!

We are new to RVing this being our first season ever.  ALl 3 kids and our lil dog Marley (a Westie poo) absolutely LOVE it !  When she sees the trailer in the driveway getting loaded up, she watches out the front door going bonkers !!! 

Also, once we get home....she sleeps for the next 2-3 days from all of the fresh air and extra walking she does.  She adapted well too.  We have her food/water bowls and her little bed on myside of the bed, and she KNOWS that now, goes right on over when we are all turning in for the night. 

When we go off camp site for a few hours, we usually put her in her little crate, which she is used to from home, and actually prefers, keep the air and radio on low, and she just crashes out for a few hours.  Touch wood...haven't had a problem yet.

Good luck !
Kim

Lots of us here travel with our pets. For many of us they're our kids ! If Shane is used to riding in the car and enjoys that, it's an easy step to the motorhome. Is the motorhome at your house so you can take him out there a few times before you actually go somewhere? Take his "stuff" (bed, toys, etc) out there and show him around. If he's crate-trained, take the crate out and have him relax in it while you're out there. And try a short trip the first time out.

Our yellow lab thinks it's so exciting when we start taking "stuff" out to the coach because he knows he's going somewhere fun with lots of new smells. Actually, all of our labs have loved traveling in the motorhome and the previous two would go out there and lay on the dashboard so we couldn't forget to take them along !

Enjoy your travels with the hairy kid
Wendy

We have traveled in our truck/trailer rig for15 years accompanied by dogs.  The dogs get to ride with the human pack, sleep in their den, get walked at least three times per day, meet new people, go new places, encounter new smells,  and take a whizz on new spots. 

What is not for a dog to like?

Most commercial campgrounds permit critters -- lest they lose 2/3s of their clientele. 

For ten years I've owned operational K9's for air-scent search and rescue (hence the name: SARGUY). I average about 90 searches a year in my state looking for lost hunters, hikers, elderly, despondent, and children. We do both live and not-live. Lucky for me, I have only owned one dog at a time, so traveling with me or when the whole family comes along is very easy. She has her own crate in the truck for travel and gets a bunk in the RV at night. I have towed my trailer to actual searches, but generally use it when I attend week long training seminars/sessions in remote areas.  When you spend so much time in the woods, it's nice to have a comfortable place to sleep and it sure beats sleeping in the truck. With two kids in college and a little bit more free time, my K9 companion goes everywhere with my wife and I.  I can honestly say that my last two dogs have never seen a boarding kennel. If you plan a vacation in my house, it includes her.

since we are on the subject...........my dilemma is ...........my old buddy Hermie the cat has been the terror of the neighborhood for about 14 years..........he doesn't like to ride anywhere in anything......he can even sense it when i need to take him to the vet 

we noticed last month that he was loosing weight and getting slower..........we thought it might be just old age [he is 16].........

with 2 trips to the vet and 300 bucks worth of blood work, we find that he is hyperthyroid, we have to dose him twice a day.......the good news is that most of the time, they can become healthy again.....

i just wonder if we will be able to train him to come with us when we go????..................he likes the motorhome when it is in the driveway [curls up and naps], but i haven't even started it with him in it.........any thoughts....

we are going to give it a try when he starts feeling a little better.....

FWIW, I have my MH just so I can go places with my dogs ? mostly upland bird hunting in remote area of the west.  Any working dog must travel happily because they cover tens of thousand of miles/year and mine are no exception, but they like MH travel the best because they have the most room and they can really see out the big one-piece windshield.  They have the run of the place, but generally I turn the big leather passenger chair around to face the front when I am actually driving and they sit there and watch the world go by.  They are with me during the day, just like at home; and at night, they sleep at the foot of the bed, just like at home.

Generally they are out with me when I am out, but if I must leave them, I have no hesitation.  They just wait quietly in the MH for me to return.

Bottom line ? mine just love MH travel, even though when they get in the MH, they don?t know if they will be gone a couple days or a couple months, driving for a few hours or several days, etc.

If you dog likes to travel in the car, I?m certain there will be no problem in the MH.

The only problems I have found are these:

1. My dogs need to run hard, off-lead, for miles every day to stay fit and happy (and so does the Old Man).  Campgrounds have very restrictive rules when it comes to dogs (and lots of Rules Nazis to enforce them).  I do understand the reasons for the rules in such crowded places, especially since most dogs seem to be poorly trained/controlled, but I do not like them.  One of the universal rules is dogs must be leashed at all times (never mind that mine handle far better off-lead than on-lead), so it is impossible to attain the needed levels of daily exercise at a campground.  But usually we avoid campgrounds when we can; and even when stuck in a campground we can often hop in the toad and find a place where we can run.  When they are actually working (hunting) this is no problem of course, as they will cover about 45 miles/day.
2. My dogs are kept in an ex-pen when we are ?camped? so that they can enjoy the scents and people going by, so they don?t bother anyone, but they are visible and exposed to campground busybodies coming on to my site uninvited so their little foo-foo dog can ?play with the nice doggies?.  My dogs are bred and trained to dispatch small varmints (a very useful thing for a rural landowner like me), but only on command (because I don?t ever want my dogs taking on some critter without my knowing and allowing it).  To my dogs, a yipping toy dog is a ?small varmint?.  While they are well-trained and have never broken their training in this regard, when someone has their tiny dog stick its head in my dogs? pen, I get concerned  - if there was going to be a problem it would happen before the busybody could blink.  So, I must instantly stop wherever I am doing, leap up and try to get the busybody and her dog to leave without upsetting her.

Cats in an RV?  I know people do that, but I can tell you that I leave my elderly cat at home ? I think she would HATE the MH.  My suggestion would be to start with a kitten and not subject an older cat with health problems to the stress of travel.  FWIW, my cat is also hyperthyroid and has been for maybe five years ? she does fine as long as she gets her twice daily meds.

A fella I know travels with 2 cats. he was pretty clever, put the litter box in the bay, sealed the compartment, cut a hole in the floor and the booth- they have an adventure going back and forth. we have 4 poodles- thus the bus name- "Poodle Express"

We go everywhere with our Scotty "Brandy". When we start getting ready to go she gets all excited and stands by the door so we don't forget her. We stay at The Great Outdoors in the winter in Fla. and I think probably 75% of the people have pets there.

When I look around an RV park, it seems that just about everybody has a pet. We've traveled with our cat for 11+ years.  He didn't like it so much when we had a small trailer, but he loves the motorhome.

As for the 16 year old cat (ours is 18 - we know the feeling!), all you can do is try. Cats don't like changes in their lifestyle and the older they are, the more fixed in their ways. Lots of luck!

rbell said:

We go everywhere with our Scotty "Brandy". When we start getting ready to go she gets all excited and stands by the door so we don't forget her. We stay at The Great Outdoors in the winter in Fla. and I think probably 75% of the people have pets there.

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And I'll bet he looked forward to 3pm every day when all the "little dogs" gathered at the doggie park for doggie cocktail hour!

the old cat is pretty smart.......i hope he can adapt, we really can't trust any one else to give the meds........i can't even think about putting him down........i guess maybe we look at them and see ourselves........ getting older, loosing the ability to do what we are used to, but fighting to keep what we have for as long as we can.......

he was used to spending his days and and sometimes nites outside, depending on what the gang was doing ..........we are keeping him inside now and he seems to be taking it pretty well..........when i get him settled down I'll take him out to the MH for a couple of hours a day with box and food for a while .........it might take some time, but he's worth it.........we don't make too many true friends in our lives do we??? ;D

My tenant suggested he and his sister take care of my cat and not take her, she is going on 15.  I doubt if they have seen her in the house since I have been gone.  She is very odd. I may have to take her in the future, I hate to leave her, don't know if she could handle it though. 

I saw a semi driver get out of his rig today and he had 3 large white dogs.  I'm betting they were all from the same litter. He had a time handling them, had them all on leashes but I'm sure they would have loved to run for awhile.  But when he went to the truck cab they were all jumping at the door to get in so guess they like it.  But I wonder how all of them fit in there.

angiesdamon said:

How many of you RV with pets?

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We once thought about not taking our TWO doggies with us. Just couldn't do it. We still don't know what's it's like to go on a RV trip without the two doggies.

Here's our other doggy:


-Don-

My cat of 8 years on the road, Little Dude, was totally content as an RVer and having me as his driver.

My biggest problem was that in the summer, I could not leave the RV for any extended time during the day.  Summers in the Sacramento valley are over 100 degrees quite often -- as they are other places I travel. Even if not that hot, air would be required during the afternoon hours regardless. As a solo running a business traveler, I just would not trust park power anywhere that might lead to causing the air to stop -- so would have to stay close during the day.

Have rescued several cats in the past few years and really wanted to keep them vs. finding them a home elsewhere, but didn't mainly because of the problem of leaving them on hot days alone in the rig.

HERE is an album of all of my cats while fulltiming - other that the first one, Fred, that lived with me in San Mateo, CA. The last two were almost dead strays that I rescued. One now lives in AZ and the other one in Santa Rosa, CA.

hmmmm......thanks Bob that gives me a little more confidence .....maybe mine will take it well.....also...he could go 3or 4 more years..

digiacomo said:

hmmmm......thanks Bob that gives me a little more confidence .....maybe mine will take it well.....also...he could go 3or 4 more years..

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You write that your cat is OK in the MH when the engine is not running. My approach with all of the cats I've had was to also start that way -- let them get used to the MH before you ever start the engine. I let them find their box, know where the food and water are going to be, and so forth. Let them spend enough time that way until they have explored all the nooks and crannies, decided where to nap, and all the things a cat does when establishing their new territory. I would also have the radio playing most of the time.

My next step is to catch them when they are on the down cycle of energy and just about ready to nap -- or just waking up. Go out and start the MH -- and let it warm up until the revs slow and the idle sound is as quiet as it gets. Then turn the radio back on. The idea is to get him in there w/o knowing you have started the engine before he arrives. Once he appears settled, turn the radio off and just let him get used to the drone of the engine instead.

I spend time that way until he is comfortable and doesn't realize the engine is running. The radio thing seems to work well to fool kitty. I'm extra careful so do this every day for 15 minutes or so for a couple of days.

The final step is after that 1st 15 minutes, I ever so slowly slip the rig into gear and start moving. Each time I've done this, I probably move about 1/4 mile that way before picking up speed. With all of my cats, by the time I reached the end of the block, kitty was OK in his new moving home. The final step is that after starting the engine before placing kitty inside enough times to think he is ready, put him in and let him play for awhile, turn on the radio -- then start the engine.

As you can see from my pics, they all loved traveling once they got used to it. It takes patience, especially with an older cat, but they are worth it. 

That sounds like a lot of trouble to train your lord and master

.............hey Bob that sounds like a good plan of action, we will stay home a couple of weeks to get him used to his meds and used to being an indoor cat [he has already quit whining about going out]............and do some RV training in between.......

hey Ned, it sounds like you have had a few good friends too........  ...........i hope i don't start a riot here but,  ...........cats remind me an awful lot like women.........they just let you think you have control..... but..........

thanks a lot for all the pointers...........we have only had this one cat and he has done just about anything he wanted to do for many years..........now i hope he can bend a little.................do women do that??? 

No cats here, we're both allergic.  We do have a dog that listens to us, most of the time