Do you crate, tether or let them roam?

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Opie2019

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Apr 24, 2019
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Packing motorhome for first outing with 2, 70# dogs. We have crates but they sure take up a LOT of room with the slides in. We also have tethers on the floor at their beds. I?m wondering how people deal with puppers while on the move.
 
We travel with 2 dogs and they roam.

Our 70lb Schnauzer has 2 favorite spots - with his head out a side window or sitting on my wife's lap.  He favors sitting with my wife and looking up front.  For when my wife doesn't want him up front we plan to put a child safety gate between the front 2 seats to keep him in back. 

Our smaller mutt usually curls up for the entire trip.  It took a few trips for him to acclimate.

I hope this helps.

 
I let him roam, but there IS risk to that. We were in a roll over crash once, this is a true story. The dog always stayed in the very large back area of the Yukon, he never camw up front with us. That day, about a minute before the crash, he jumped over the back seat and over the next seat so he was in the middle row. When we rolled over, my daughter held him, but everything else in the car flew out through the smashed windows. He never would have survived if he was in the back.
 
My opinion is also let them roam, deceleration incidents in a motorhome are likely to be much less abrupt than in a car, even in an accident is the motorhome is likely  to be far heavier than the other vehicle, if you roll over or hit a concrete embankment all bets are off, and furniture, cabinet work, microwave oven, refrigerator, etc. will all be flying about anyway.
 
When we traveled in the motor home with our large Yellow Lab, we did not let her roam but neither did we tether her.  She would curl up under a small table behind my passenger seat and would not move until we were stopped. (Except when we crossed a cattle guard.  She was afraid of that noise and would run back and cower on the floor next to Tom's side of the bed.)
 
When we traveled with our 75 lb shepherd/sharpei she was tethered just long enough to reach our driving seats for ear rubs and pats, her spill proof water dish, and her bed.
 
We (read DW) let our toy poodle sit on her lap untethered but she ended up on the floor more than once. In a crash she would have been un unguided missile into the dash or windshield. My current co-pilot, a Shih-Tzu/Maltese, sits in a harness tethered on the seat next to me. In the event of an abrupt stop a collar would strangle her or break her neck.
 
thelazyl said:
We travel with 2 dogs and they roam.

Our 70lb Schnauzer has 2 favorite spots - with his head out a side window or sitting on my wife's lap.  He favors sitting with my wife and looking up front.  For when my wife doesn't want him up front we plan to put a child safety gate between the front 2 seats to keep him in back. 

It does help. Thank you.

Our smaller mutt usually curls up for the entire trip.  It took a few trips for him to acclimate.

I hope this helps.
 
RVMommaTo6 said:
I let him roam, but there IS risk to that. We were in a roll over crash once, this is a true story. The dog always stayed in the very large back area of the Yukon, he never camw up front with us. That day, about a minute before the crash, he jumped over the back seat and over the next seat so he was in the middle row. When we rolled over, my daughter held him, but everything else in the car flew out through the smashed windows. He never would have survived if he was in the back.

Whoa! Glad everyone was ok. Thank you.
 
Isaac-1 said:
My opinion is also let them roam, deceleration incidents in a motorhome are likely to be much less abrupt than in a car, even in an accident is the motorhome is likely  to be far heavier than the other vehicle, if you roll over or hit a concrete embankment all bets are off, and furniture, cabinet work, microwave oven, refrigerator, etc. will all be flying about anyway.
[/quote

Thank you.
 
NY_Dutch said:
When we traveled with our 75 lb shepherd/sharpei she was tethered just long enough to reach our driving seats for ear rubs and pats, her spill proof water dish, and her bed.

Thank you!
 
Roy M said:
We (read DW) let our toy poodle sit on her lap untethered but she ended up on the floor more than once. In a crash she would have been un unguided missile into the dash or windshield. My current co-pilot, a Shih-Tzu/Maltese, sits in a harness tethered on the seat next to me. In the event of an abrupt stop a collar would strangle her or break her neck.

Harness and tether. Got it. Thanks.
 
Our mutt knows when we're getting ready to travel.  When the slide starts to come in, he heads for his pillow on the dash and stays there no matter how much the sun beats down on him.  My wife tries to make him get down on the floor in the shade sometimes, but he loves to lay in the windshield and watch the miles roll by.
 
Wish I could do the math, in a crash such as  a head on crash the dog/cat or other animal will continue forward at almost the same speed as the vehicle was moving.

SO that seventy pound dog will hit something in your rig like a ton of bricks.If it is your head or your wife's head then you will probably be dead. I know you and I are a good drivers BUT the other guys are idiots.
 

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