Leaving the dog while working

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Gingercat

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Joined
May 12, 2015
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11
I've been approved for my loan for my first RV. I'm kind of terrified. But, my plan is to do travel healthcare work. I'll be traveling with my dog and 3 cats. I would be staying at a campground/rv park for about 13 weeks on average. My concern is that most of the parks around me (in Georgia) say that pets are welcome, but that dogs can never be left unattended. My dog is not a barker unless you knock on the door. Does this mean that they cannot be left unattended while outside or at all? Would be hard to work that way.  :-\ . I've been nervous to ask because I don't want to draw attention to my dog/rv if that place ends up being a campground I want to stay at.
 
What a loaded question that will definitely draw a response! Put your helmet on! I have mine on.

We are not dog people but Christi will adopt any dog in the campground that wags its tail.

That being said, you will get the argument that "everybody says their dog does not bark". But they do. Sometimes. And often at the most inopportune time.

Two separate reasons for the unattended rule, one, outside, should be self-explanatory. Inside, it happens, sometimes, even with the best intentions, that a dog will howl for hours. We had one howl for eight continuous hours, and the owners still swore that could not happen. But RV parks hate both cases because it stirs up the populace, just like this will stir up dog owners.

So, my version of the truth is simple - you don't expect your dog to create a problem and you should feel free to take him to whichever park you want. But if it turns out there's a problem, regrettably, you may just have to suck it up if there is a complaint. Don't invite the conversation with the park owner, just park and make it work out.

The vast majority of dog owners are responsible but because of the few who are not, the rest of you have to suffer.

I do not wish to sound unsympathetic, but I also would not worry about a well-behaved animal camping with a responsible owner.

Kim
 
We have camped with two doggies that nobody knew where in our motorhome....only barked if someone knocked on the door.... campground employees, were so happy to say my doggies didn't bark till they knocked on the door.  As long as doggies are well trained to not bark at any noise they are fine.  Just ask neighbors in rv park if there is a problem with doggies barking.  If they do bark at all noises you will need to train them further.  Right now we have many more (7) but tiny doggies by 50 lbs.....my problem barker is 4.5 lbs.  Such a watchdog, but at every noise!Training continues.
 
Thanks for the responses. I plan to have the dog comfortable with RV before we live in it, and he has never howled or barked when at a hotel. Whined a bit, but I think surrounded by his things in his space with his cats, he'll be fine. I just don't want to be kicked out of anyplace because my car was gone all day and then they noticed me walking my dog. I would never let him loose outside, and I hope others don't practice this. I'm not really worried about him barking, I'm worried about the principle of not leaving him unattended. 
 
Bill and Carol said:
We have camped with two doggies that nobody knew where in our motorhome....only barked if someone knocked on the door.... campground employees, were so happy to say my doggies didn't bark till they knocked on the door.  As long as doggies are well trained to not bark at any noise they are fine.  Just ask neighbors in rv park if there is a problem with doggies barking.  If they do bark at all noises you will need to train them further.  Right now we have many more (7) but tiny doggies by 50 lbs.....my problem barker is 4.5 lbs.  Such a watchdog, but at every noise!Training continues.

Ever think about one of these? http://web.orthofix.com/Pro​ducts/Pages/Cervical-Stim.aspx
 
Hi Rene T....couldn't pull up your site but want you to know that I am considered a foster failure.  Six of my little ones were my fosters that nobody wanted and we took in along with all vet bills.  I have fostered over thirty little doggies that were adopted to fabulous homes.  I foster for many rescues NY, OH, and NJ.  I am just here to give these doggies love and training to know life is great till they are adopted to their forever home....unless I fail again and keep them.  Try to foster and give them up.....soooo hard.
 
Bill and Carol said:
Hi Rene T....couldn't pull up your site but want you to know that I am considered a foster failure.  Six of my little ones were my fosters that nobody wanted and we took in along with all vet bills.  I have fostered over thirty little doggies that were adopted to fabulous homes.  I foster for many rescues NY, OH, and NJ.  I am just here to give these doggies love and training to know life is great till they are adopted to their forever home....unless I fail again and keep them.  Try to foster and give them up.....soooo hard.

I don't know why the site would not open up but what it is are dog barking collars. I'm a dog lover and owner and I'm proud to have known you. You are a hero in my eyes.  Keep up the good work.
 
We have 3 rescues that go with us everywhere but sometimes you just can't take the dogs in the toad and they have to stay in the MH. Ours are fine like others, don't bark unless someone knocks and I'm OK with that. I also leave the radio on at a reasonable volume level to help drown out certain noise outside the MH, never had a problem. Have fun.
 
Gingercat;  We have 2 dogs and will leave them in the MH when we go site seeing etc.  I think the point that most campgrounds are trying to get across is aimed at those people with dogs that tie them outside and then spend all their time in their campers with the dogs left outside unattended.
 
The best way to know if your dog is actually a barker is to drive away from your house, then walk back so that he doesn't know you are there. Stay quiet and listen for awhile to see if he barks at someone walking by your house while talking, or actually knocking on your door then leaving.

My younger dog barks a lot if we are not in the living room and goes crazy when we leave. We started crating him when we leave and that makes him more secure and then he quit barking so much... until he hears us pull into the driveway, then he sounds like he's being tortured.  :)
 
OK, time for the counterpoint....

I'm a nice guy.....I really am.  And I like dogs.  I really do.  But few things ruin a nice peaceful few days at one my getaways than listening to somebody's dog wail incessantly for 8 hours while they're gone.  And the owners ALWAYS say the same thing....."our little precious WOULDN'T DO THAT!!!".  And yet their little precious does.....nonstop.....as loud as it can.....until they return. I approach the owners when it happens, and I'm not nice about it.  It's happened enough that I'm frankly tired of it, and I don't owe the offenders any measure of courtesy.  The one that got snippy with me got treated to a Metallica marathon on my outdoor speakers late into the night. 

So there you have it.  If your dog barks all day, craps in another campsite, or is running loose and being a nuisance, someone is likely to make your stay uncomfortable.  Probably not what you wanted to hear.

Let the hate mail fly.

 
Frizlefrak said:
I approach the owners when it happens, and I'm not nice about it. 

IMHO, that's where you went wrong. I would never approach the owner of a dog and complain. I would go to the campground management and let them do their job.  If after two or three complaints I would move out.  I know you don't want to hear that but that's the way I handle it. Most campgrounds will usually take care of the problem. They don't need or want the bad publicity.
 
Read this, start on page 24, and build yourself one of Steve Gibson's "Portable Dog Killer" machines :)  He's got a Google Group where you can get the plans and parts list.  People have built these and they really do work.
 
Way back when we first started RV'ing with our then 10 week old Shephard/Shar-Pei rescue pup, we taught her early on that barking when we left was a no-no. As we traveled, we would ask neighbors to please let us know if she raised any fuss while we were gone, even giving them our phone number when we began carrying a cell phone. We even monitored her with a webcam at one point, that we were testing as a possible dash cam before dedicated units became readily available. The only thing we "caught" her at was sleeping on the sofa, something she never did while were there, although she'd never been told she couldn't. In the 15 years she was part of our family until she died last May, no one ever contacted us or reported anything more than an occasional single "woof" at a loud noise or knock on the door.
 
NY_Dutch said:
Way back when we first started RV'ing with our then 10 week old Shephard/Shar-Pei rescue pup, we taught her early on that barking when we left was a no-no.

How do you teach a dog that it's a no-no when you're over 1000' away.  :eek: ::) 8) :D
 
Does the dog have a cell phone so you can hear him barking?  What if you're gone  for a couple of hours. He won't have a clue as to what's going on when you come home and make him kneel in a corner.  :eek: 
 
Gingercat - I'm guessing you're a nurse doing travel assignments?  Want to know how your year has gone!  Looking to do the same with my pooch.  Concerned about leaving her long times in while Im in the hospital
 
Rene T said:
Does the dog have a cell phone so you can hear him barking?  What if you're gone  for a couple of hours. He won't have a clue as to what's going on when you come home and make him kneel in a corner.  :eek: 

We spent the time needed to leave the coach but stay close enough by to insure she was behaving, taking corrective action as needed. We also asked neighbors to call us and let us know if she was acting up when we were further away, although that never happened. I even left a video camera running for several hours at times, but found it was really boring watching her sleep with just a few moves now and then to get a sip of water or look out a window for a moment.

I should add that part of our training system also involved teaching the dog that we do return, even if she doesn't bark. That was done by rewarding her with lots of praise when she stayed quiet until we came back. It's really just the same typical separation anxiety training that's been used for many, many years.
 
I've done pretty much the same. Papillons are notorious barkers so we started early and consistently putting a muzzle on him whenever he barked. Now (eight years later) he barks when someone comes to the door, and issues a muffled growl when someone comes too close, but no disallowed barking. We've actually gotten compliments on his behavior when we were away (at rallies where people were sitting out very close to our mh).

Ernie
 

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