New to rving

[dnk]

Question to people who travel with pets. What do you do with pets when doing events where pets are not allowed? Every rv park i have checked doesn't want you to leave dogs alone inside or outside of camper.
Some places you just can't take pets.

 

[donn]

Barking pets is the biggest complaint you will see in most RV parks. Being a lifetime dog owner and a long time camp host we almost always took our dogs and left them in the car unless it was hot. Then we left them in our fiver with the AC on.

 

[Rob&Deryl]

We have pets. Cats. No barking and they are happy to sleep the day away while we are out.

Most campgrounds seem to mean dogs when they say pets.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

If we can't take our dog, we don't go. We had him before the RV and he's a better friend than the RV will ever hope to be. We knew this before getting the RV and it was just part of the deal.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Close the shades so they don't see folks milling around, turn on a vent fan or A/C for climate control and background noise, and off we go. You can only be gone so long of course, if it looks like an extended outing then they either come along and we deal with where they can't go, or we find someone willing to watch them for a while. At one RV park there was a family with kids that were thrilled to dog sit for some spending money. We have yet to take a camping or RV trip without the furry monsters and we've always made it work.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[dnk]

Thanks for the replies. Only been out twice and always kept dogs with us.

 

[Matt_C]

If you are going to take your friend traveling, be sure said is chipped. And even before that, have a tag on his collar with your cell number.
Our dogs wear harnesses traveling. That is a carry-over from sailing days. If you have to haul him out of the water, a harness makes a better handle than a collar.
Back to the subject.. On the back strap of the harness is a two sided tag that has both contact information and a coach description. This been valuable just a couple of times, but both of those were very valuable to the resolution.
Matt

 

[MN Blue Skies]

It all depends on your pet. We travel with a dog and a cat. Thankfully the dog isn't a barker and well...the cat just doesn't bark. We try not to leave them alone for more than 6 hours, 7 hours max. They get really grouchy after 7 hours. We've never had a CG complain or deny us because we have pets and intend to leave them alone for a few hours. (Of course our girls are perfect angels.) Occasionally we'll check with our CG neighbors to see if the dog has been a nuisance. I agree with Matt, definitely get your pets chipped. Our pets have tags with contact info and vaccination info. As I said in the beginning, it depends on your pet and how well they adapt to being left alone in your RV.

 

[sslabbe]

Totally new to the Forum. I am about to retire in a couple of months and the wife and I are looking at renting an RV to start and buy if we fall in love with it. I have 2 dogs. Both about 55-65 lbs. I am concerned about securing them while we travel. Seems like most of you lean towards crates. Where do you keep your crates in your RV? Under the table? Behind the driver's cab? All help is appreciated.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

When they're puppies we put the crate on the doghouse between us. There are a couple A/C vents right there we can direct inside to make sure they're not too hot or cold. No puppies currently so we keep the crates in the bedroom, they fit between one side of the bed and the wall. One dog will free range, finding a comfy spot and crashing for the most part once underway. The younger one is still a bit of a fussbudget and wants to mill around and bug me when driving so we resolved that by tying him up with a long leash to the grab handle by the main door. Just long enough he can reach his bed or choice of floor space, can be scritched by us if he wants but can't jump on me or the dash. Hoping as he gets older he'll join the other one and we won't need to tie him up. Generally they travel well but make it a point they get plenty of potty breaks, drinks while stopped and fed on their usual schedule. A fed dog is a sleepy dog.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

With that size dogs, you will need two large crates or a supersize single crate. That is going to limit your options on where to put them. RV size and floor plan (layout) will be important factor in your choice too.

You didn't mention the size of the RV you expect to rent or buy either, but it will need to be fairly large to accommodate two adults plus two large dogs, whether in their crates or not. Hope you are thinking of a Class A and 32+ feet.

Some pets are good travelers and just choose a place to curl up while in motion. Maybe don't even need to be caged. Others get nervous, or curious, or just want to be with their owners. Unfortunately, you won't really know until you & they get some travel experience under your belt. Traveling in a car may give you some hints, but RV travel is enough different that you can't be sure.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

We travel with 4 cats. They are perfectly happy to hang out in the camper all day. 3 of them are leash trained and get to go on short walks when there aren’t loose dogs running around. 3 of the last 4 campgrounds had plenty of dogs running around loose which terrifies our cats. Sometimes we have to take the kitties somewhere else when the dog issue is an issue. Mostly they like to sleep or look out the windows. When we do go out it’s less than 4 hours setting the heat or air conditioner on (whichever the weather presents).

 

[sslabbe]

We would probably be leaning towards a Class C motorhome. As much as I would like to give my dogs room to roam, I really don't want to drive a bus. Both dogs are what I would call medium sized. 1 is a bulldog, the other is a shepherd beagle rescue. The rescue is 8 years old and shouldn't present any issues. The bulldog is almost 2 and his favorite spot to sit is on my lap. That makes it difficult to drive. I like the idea of the crate right behind the cab.

 

[uchu]

We would probably be leaning towards a Class C motorhome. As much as I would like to give my dogs room to roam, I really don't want to drive a bus. Both dogs are what I would call medium sized. 1 is a bulldog, the other is a shepherd beagle rescue. The rescue is 8 years old and shouldn't present any issues. The bulldog is almost 2 and his favorite spot to sit is on my lap. That makes it difficult to drive. I like the idea of the crate right behind the cab.

That's a common misconception. IMO, Class C motorhomes are more difficult to drive (and park) than Class A ones.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

We would probably be leaning towards a Class C motorhome. As much as I would like to give my dogs room to roam, I really don't want to drive a bus. Both dogs are what I would call medium sized. 1 is a bulldog, the other is a shepherd beagle rescue. The rescue is 8 years old and shouldn't present any issues. The bulldog is almost 2 and his favorite spot to sit is on my lap. That makes it difficult to drive. I like the idea of the crate right behind the cab.

We have a class C, like I said above we travel with 4 cats, biggest one being about 20lbs (part Maine coon). After about 4 weeks, they go from being our precious fur babies to little monsters. They are everywhere. They are usually pretty good travelers, but at about 4 weeks, at night, they develop the zoomies (where they run furiously around, bouncing off the walls) at 4AM, making them monsters for us…We’ve introduced a 9PM play session, that delays the zoomies to 6AM.

My point: There’s not a lot of space in a Class C.

We’ve dedicated the loft above the cab as a kitty loft so they do have a place of their own, I can’t see dogs, especially older ones in the loft above the cab? Our travel plans always include a trip home so our kittys can run free range (they’re indoor/outdoor). We’re home now for this reason.

When you go look at class C’s, take them with you and try it on for size.

Just our learned experience. We won’t stop or get rid of our class C(though we have played with the idea of upgrading to a super C). We’re just learning to get our guys home for a stretch.

Oh, yes, note the duct tape on the screens, they bounce out of the windows going down the road…cats can escape…

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We would probably be leaning towards a Class C motorhome. As much as I would like to give my dogs room to roam, I really don't want to drive a bus.

That's a common but misplaced phobia. Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve due to the different driver seating position in a class A, but it's not hard er to drive. In act, most say it is easier once you get over the initial learning hump. Some people do that in a few hours behind the wheel, while others may need a few trips to get acclimated.

A 30-32 foot class A has a lot more interior room than the same size class C.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

My dogs love the class A dash. Talk about a panoramic view from there.





Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Larry N.]

hat's a common but misplaced phobia. Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve due to the different driver seating position in a class A, but it's not hard er to drive. In act, most say it is easier once you get over the initial learning hump.

True, True! To my mind, a Class C actually has some illusions that make it more difficult, once you are used to both, such as feeling that you are in a pickup or van, neither of which is as wide or as high as the Class C rig. Distances in a Class C tend to be disguised a bit, especially to the side and back. And overall visibility is better in a Class A, too.

And Gary's other comments are so true. Granted that a very few people still prefer a Class C, even after using a Class A for a while, but they are fairly rare though there are a couple of such regulars here.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

misconception. IMO, Class C motorhomes are more difficult to drive (and park)

They are very difficult to drive and parking has become an art - with practice. Can’t compare to a Class A, never drove one.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

Granted that a very few people still prefer a Class C, even after using a Class A

We prefer the class C because we feel a class A is just too much for us. But that’s us. I’d be afraid to drive something as big as a class A (wife here), but if I had to, I feel I could drive our class C if I had to.

There is a learning curve to driving a class C as well, but we’re used to driving farm equipment, tractors mainly, which have similar handling, square, squatty, unforgiving, large turning radius.