How to RV with pets

Hi everyone,
We are very new to Rving and we have 2 small dogs, one very quiet--the other one will bark at sounds.  I've read that camp grounds don't like you to leave pets in the RV and there are many "sightseeing" places that don't allow dogs.  How do you handle the situations when you'll be gone for 4-6 hours?  When we're working they are used to be home alone for eight hours.  Any suggestions would be most welcome.

We have a labrador retreiver who travels with us. We have run into campgrounds that restricted number of dogs, breed of dogs, size of dogs. Very few that do not allow dogs at all. Most tourist places do not allow pets so our Gordon stays in the RV when we're out sightseeing. But we also make an attempt to find spots where he can go....hiking trails, lakes (he's a lab so this makes him very happy), dog parks. One big thing is to always carry poop bags and always pick up after your pets. Another is to "test" your doggies by leaving them in the RV like normal and then sneaking back to see if they're quiet. And if your campground neighbors tell you that the kids bark, believe them and take steps to take care of it. And enjoy your travels.

Wendy

Everything Wendy said is true and good advice.  In addition, you will face limitations to your activity if you have a barking dog.  Some people have found bark collars effective, and not as cruel as they might sound.  Some have found creating a familiar sound (TV, music, etc.) helps mask every little outside noise your dog might hear and "comment on".

We traveled for many years with a yellow Lab who would bark in protest if we left her.  She was family, so we couldn't leave her behind (or put her down) so just put up with it.  We either took her with us and left her in the car where practical and safe, or didn't go.  Heat can be deadly to a pet in a car, so we were very careful.  We kenneled her for important things like funerals, weddings, etc. but she wouldn't eat until we returned.

It's a very real problem.  One to think carefully about.

Margi

we have found that most dogs bark when they see/hear strangers. This is probably territorial/fear on their part. When we leave the motorhome, we make certain that all the curtains are shut to restrict the dog's view. Before leaving we make certain that the dog is walked to tire him a bit. We leave a television or radio on for background noise and to cover some extraneous outside noise and once in a while ask a neighbor for a report on whether he heard the dog bark. When we first started traveling we bought some software called Bark Sentry which monitored/recorded the noises while we were gone. We also limited our trips to short periods in the beginning so the dog would be comfortable that we would return. Our dog sleeps while we are gone and, I suspect, most do once they are used to the travel.

frondina said:

I've read that camp grounds don't like you to leave pets in the RV and there are many "sightseeing" places that don't allow dogs.  How do you handle the situations when you'll be gone for 4-6 hours?  When we're working they are used to be home alone for eight hours.  Any suggestions would be most welcome.

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I travel with a dog. I have not run into a campground that had a problem with you leaving the pet INSIDE the RV, but most all will not allow you to leave your pet outside unattended. However, I do set up a tethering system for my dog to be outside, while I am outside too, or inside with the door open, so I can immediately correct him if he is yappy. It is possible to retrain a yappy dog to be quiet and save the yapping for real threats.

So before you run off sightseeing, you might need to spend a bit of time, training your dogs, to be left alone and to do so quietly.  I always give my dog a brisk walk before he is left alone and another when I return. Sometimes friends invite me to ride with them to go out to eat, and I let them know I need to give the dog a good walk before we depart.

No idea whether you have trailer or Motorhome. Since I have motor home and no car, I sight see with my RV, so if I am at a place where the dog can't go, then he is in the RV in the parking lot, but this is rare as most of my sightseeing is places where dogs can go anyhow, so he doesn't get stuck alone much. He even saw Niagara Falls, which turned out to be a long walk from where we parked (I had a friend with me) but since there was nothing I could find about banning dogs, I took him with us and it worked out just fine. The hawkers at the souvenir stores kept telling us to come on in and bring the dog too.

Which my dog has visited inside many hardware stores and RV part places plus the usual pet stores.

He has learned to quietly wait in parking lots while I shop for provisions. I had to double back and sneak up on him a few times, to make sure he understood that he is to be QUIET.  I did this "training"  in a campground until he got the hang of it, that me leaving does not mean he needs to sing the opera nor have a barkfest with every little movement outside.

I also "reward" him when I return by giving him a quick walk in the parking lot, hopefully there is some landscaping nearby he can water. I am sure I often amuse shoppers, because some times after I unload the groceries, I leash up the dog to walk back to the store with me, to return the cart, then walk him around the landscaping briefly, then into the RV and on our way.

I leave the shades up so he can watch the world go by but it might be better to leave them down for your dog, whatever works to keep them quiet. Since I often have to park at the end of the lot (for shopping and sightseeing) I can hear if he is barking as I depart or arrive.  If I have parked and am walking towards the store and he barks, I go back and hush him up. Now I can just whip around, and point my finger at him, he hushes up and settles down.

Walking your dogs, even on short jaunts at every opportunity, does seem to settle them down. For instance, while  gas is pumping into my RV, I take the dog on a brief speed walk to water the bushes and sniff a few things. 

Campgrounds don't like "yappy" dogs and it can be a real problem if your neighbors complain. Walking your dogs through the campgrounds on  long brisk walks does indeed seem to make them better behaved all around. 

Thanks for all your advice.  First, it's good to know that you CAN leave your pups in the RV.  Leaving music on, pulling down shades, and frequent walks are all very doable and relieve my worries.  Once again this forum comes through for us.  Oh, we will have a motorhome.

We just went on our first camping trip with our 3 dogs (RV, no trailer).  We bought an RV specifically so we could travel with them but I was very worried at first.  Our dogs are VERY yappy, at just about everything when we are at home.  I was so worried that if we left them they would bark their heads off the entire time.  THANKFULLY they were angels on the trip.  The best behaved they have ever been.  We are really hoping this continues for other trips!

We left the dogs for no more than 3 hours on this trip since it was their first time alone in it.  We left the TV on and one of the window shades up so they could see out.  We also have a small window at the feet of the passenger side for them to look out.  We found that the dogs were so pooped from the traveling and walks that they slept the whole time we were gone.  They didn't even bark when we came home.  2 of our dogs are always in a crate when at home so we brought them on the trip.  The dogs were so good that we actual left them out of the crates when we left.  We aren't sure if this will work if we are gone longer than 3 hours though.  When we went for walks the dogs would get a bit barky but would stop pretty quickly when told to.  Our campground had a dog(s) at just about every site so we didn't have the only dogs that were barking.  You would hear barking from time to time but there was never anything excessive.

I don't see how it is possible to go camping and not leave your dog in the RV.  I have seen many places say this isn't allowed but unless you don't leave your camp site what do you do with the dogs?  They can't go sightseeing with you.  I understand there are risks with leaving them, but there are risks with leaving them in a house also.  As long as the dogs have AC and comfortable accommodations inside I don't see the harm in leaving them a few hours.

Overall, camping with the dogs was a really great experience.  I think each situation will be different though depending on how noisy your neighbors or campground are.

We have a small, fairly yappy dog -- some days it feels like she yaps at every leaf that blows by.  She is used to being caged at home when we go out and feels secure and comfortable in her cage.  For the MH we found a pop-up cage that has good ventilation.  If it is warm at all, we leave a small fan blowing into the cage.  After a couple of barks, she settles down and, unless someone knocks on the door, is pretty quiet, according to the neighbors.  Of course, she gets a walk before and after caging her, put some water in the cage, and a treat for going into the cage nicely.

Just a suggestion; we had Barking problems with Toby at first. The solution was "No Barking" and then put the muzzle on. That offended his dignity and now we often get comments that he is very well behaved, even at rallies where neighbors are only a few feet away.
Ernie

When we adopted Gordon, the first time we left him alone he yodeled his brains out. So I started going off for walks and sneaking back, throwing open the door and saying QUIET. Took 2 or 3 times doing that and now he makes no noise. When we leave, we give him a treat and tell him that we'll "be right back." He enjoys laying on the dash, Watching the world go by. He is secure in the motorhome and knows that we will take care of him and not leave him. We've asked neighbors if he barks and have always been told that they didn't hear a peep out of him.

But, again, if your neighbors tell you that your dog barks while you're gone, you must believe them and do something about it, even if it means never leaving the dog alone in the RV. When we were camphosting in Death Valley, we had many, many complaints about a barking dog. We walked over to the area and found the motorhome with the "offender." When the owners came home, I told them that their dog had been barking all day and that they needed to do something about it. They told me that I (and 40 other campers) were mistaken, that it wasn't their dog. I explained that I had stood next to their motorhome and that, indeed, it was their dog, and they still insisted that it was not their angel. The next day, a law enforcement ranger stopped and visited with them after more complaints. So please believe people if they tell you that your dog barks when you're gone.

Wendy

[quote author=Wendy].... throwing open the door and saying QUIET.[/quote]

Chris uses the same trick to stop me yodeling 

We are new to the RV world and had some concerns about having our mastiff with us.  She is very well behaved and not a barker but I thought new surroundings would be a problem.  As others have stated we like to walk her through the RV park and there are plenty of dogs.  Maggie doesnt really pay much attention to dogs since she lives full time with three cats.

We left her this weekend for the first time when we made a breakfast run. She did cry a bit but was quiet when I started the SUV so we continued out.  Our neighbor did listen in for her and reported only a bark or two and they were pretty muffled.  It sounds like she had that "anybody out there, just checking" bark. Sort of like the Tim Allen  confused grunt.

We are happy to report she did very well the second night as we met another couple for dinner and closed the place, about 3.5 hours.  If they know the quiet command that helps and treats for good/correct behavior works.

I don't have a barking problem at all with Tarzan and Jane.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SeilerBird/TarzanAndJane?authuser=0&feat=directlink

zzyzx said:

I don't have a barking problem at all with Tarzan and Jane.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SeilerBird/TarzanAndJane?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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LOL...they are a bit quieter than dogs! 

Tom said:

Chris uses the same trick to stop me yodeling 

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Funny Funny Funny, Tom.
Still laughing!

In our travels we have come across several campgrounds that restrictions on pets. Custers Gulch in South Dakota, Buckeye Lake KOA and Evergreen RV Resort in Ohio, and Twin Creek Gatlinburg, TN. There is an additional charge for your pet, you can not leave the pet in your rv while you are gone and your pet must be on a six foot leach, not an extend a leach. If your violate the rule you will be asked to leave. Those parks are full all the time, so the rules don't seem to be a problem.

We travel with two pitbulls. They love the rv, and amuse themselves when we are not around. If we are going to be away for more than a few hours (which is rare) we excercise and tire them out. Pits are typically not a barking breed, so that hasnt been an issue for us. Our biggest problem has been peoples fear of this breed, but they are gentle dogs, and its fun to see peoples attitude change when one of our babys puts their big head on someones lap for an ear scratching.

We learned the hard way that our pug wanted to look out the windows when we were gone. We came back to broken mini blinds and ripped curtains. He didn't bark, whine, or howl while we were gone, he just wanted to look out the windows.This is not how he was in the stick and brick when we lived in one, just the RV. We full-time in our Pace Arrow (while we work on the bus), so every morning I raise the blinds a foot so the kids can see out. Just a thought......blinds and shades can be expensive.

We have a travel kennel that sits under the dinette table, one of our dogs uses it during travel time as a safe place, while the other hangs out with my DW in the passenger seat.

Once at a camp ground they get walks and play, and we often have music on during the day and TV or cable on in the evenings.

When we go out for a couple of hours, we provide good ventilation and both dogs go in the kennel and settle down very well, we got one complaint from a camp host, when he knew we had gone out, and went and banged on the door to give us our receipt, DUH the dogs barked at him and kept barking even once he moved away, (our camping neighbors told us he came back 2 or 3 more times and knocked again, they told us they were fine with the noise having dogs of their own, but they really couldn't understand the host coming back time and again).

Once we are back in the RV the dogs get a good walk and life goes on.

SoEzzy said:

We have a travel kennel that sits under the dinette table, one of our dogs uses it during travel time as a safe place, while the other hangs out with my DW in the passenger seat...

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In my opinion where the pets ride is an important issue that seems to be ignored in many discussions about travelling with pets. Having a safe place where they will not become flying objects in a panic stop or accident is as important for their safety as it is for a person. I have always crate trained all my dogs. It is their safe haven. They will sleep in them at night even when the door is open and happily travel in them going down the road.