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Old 09-17-2017, 05:39 PM   #1
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Traveling with a dog

Due to personal family caregiving issue our 21 Escape has never been more than 30 miles from home. We are soon to have the opportunity to get away. I have always taken my dogs when we use to go with our Casita and we stayed in campgrounds and did the beach and stuff. My question is in traveling where we want to stop at a tourist place where you'll be there for a few hours at least away from the camper - how do you handle the pet thing?
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Old 09-17-2017, 05:47 PM   #2
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In simple terms, you take turns, one leaves and the other stays. Several states have outlawed leaving pets in automobiles, you may be okay with one in your trailer with the fan on, but we find taking turns works the best for our 2 dogs.
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Old 09-17-2017, 06:47 PM   #3
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Got that - what we have done in the past for small stops like lunch - dinner etc
when it is hot was build a little DYI swamp cooler for the camper, basically ice in a Styrofoam cooler with vents and a 12 volt fan, now my dogs are alot smaller than yours. I am wondering if the touristy places are starting to make it convenient for folks travelling with pets, probably not but I was curious how other folks do it.
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Old 09-17-2017, 07:08 PM   #4
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It's not really practical to "take turns" when visiting a "tourist" area for a few hours. That's kind of the point of stopping - to enjoy it together.

Many places do allow leashed pets. For those that don't, what we do is try to limit spontaneous tourist stops, and plan to camp there instead. Once we are set up, our Coco does very well waiting for us for a few hours in the trailer while we go out and do our thing.

Yes, I know some rv parks and campgrounds don't allow you to leave your pet alone in the trailer. I suppose if Coco was a barker it might be an issue, but we've done this many times with no issues.
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Old 09-17-2017, 07:10 PM   #5
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We have traveled for months and thousands of miles in both our old Casita '17 and the last two years in our Escape '19 in weather than ranged from near 90 degrees to the mid-30s with a dog and a cat. No problem.

If the weather is under, say, 85 degrees we leave all the windows open and probably leave the exhaust fan running. Of course there's plenty of water. (Not food. Dogs love cat food.) Under normal circumstances I'd say 3 hours is our limit, although 4 or 5 would probably be fine if necessary.

Our biggest concern is the dog barking. Our previous dog tended to bark a lot upon occasion. If that is the case, I'd turn on the air conditioning which would dull outside sounds that might set the dog off. Even just running the overhead fan on high exhaust would probably mask the outside sounds even for sensitive canine ears.

The fan and a.c. of course assume we have auxiliary power.
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Old 09-17-2017, 07:23 PM   #6
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Our dog never barked while we were away from the trailer.
That's what we thought, until we were informed by our neighbour that she barked and cried the whole time we were away. She just waited until she heard the car leave.
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Old 09-17-2017, 10:15 PM   #7
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We leave a radio on talk shows (mostly NPR) at home while we're away, so the dogs are used to different voices all the time. We do the same when we leave them alone in the camper, and with the roof fan on the noises are pretty much masked. Additionally, we raise the dinette seat cushions against the table and place a barrier in the aisle so they can't get to any windows to see outside.

They're pretty happy snoozing in their "cave" under the table while we're gone - we've done many tests by penning them inside and taking walks around the campground to check that they remained quiet.
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Old 09-17-2017, 11:02 PM   #8
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Talking Dog sense

Quote:
Originally Posted by gbaglo View Post
Our dog never barked while we were away from the trailer.
That's what we thought, until we were informed by our neighbour that she barked and cried the whole time we were away. She just waited until she heard the car leave.
So before you leave you just have to say: "Don't back, okay."
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Old 09-18-2017, 06:11 AM   #9
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We tell our dogs when leaving the house that we are going to the store, that way they know we will not be gone too long and since they can not tell time, wait patiently until we return. Seems like to them we are always "going to the store" several times a day!
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Old 09-18-2017, 06:48 AM   #10
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We have asked our neighbors in the CG to listen to see if our dogs were barking- they said
"We didn't hear a peep" - people will be honest with you.
We always taught our dogs not to bark, and got them used to being alone when they were very young. The 3-4 hour timeframe is our usual guide.
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Old 09-18-2017, 06:57 AM   #11
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If we are headed somewhere on a trip that we know that Jasper will be restricted on going places with us, we just leave him at home with other family members who are happy to have him around as he is well trained and no problem for them.

On trips he is along, we just try to do stuff where he can come along. It seems that when in the US this is quite limited unfortunately, especially in National Parks. I do understand how and why these policies came to be, it is just a shame for those dogs that are trained and behave.

If we are touring around in an urban area, we take him in stores if allowed, and if not I am usually quick to volunteer to sit outside with him, where I would much rather be in most cases anyway.

Rarely do we leave him at a campsite alone in the trailer. He does not bark, but it is just boring for him. He is used to being around people pretty much 24/7. If it is a short trip and cool out we might for a bit. Sometimes we find other campers who will watch him too.

Lots of options out there, but it really is a shame that those that don't bother fully training their dogs have made it tougher for everyone to bring them along.
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Old 09-18-2017, 08:12 AM   #12
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We have taken two cross country trips with our Vizsla in our 17B. One trip was to go pick up our camper at ETI. Basically our trips have revolved around our dog, mountain biking, hiking and eating. He usually is with us on all our adventures. If it is cool out we have left him in the camper with all the windows open and the fan going. He doesn't really bark and we only leave him after he has had some really extensive exercise and we know he is tired. On a few occasions we have left him in the camper with the AC on for a really short period of time. However I will never leave him in the camper alone again if it is too hot because we had an incident (our error) with the AC and when we came back the AC was not on and our dog was super hot. It was a scary incident and I swore I would never leave him again.

If you want to hit the tourist attractions and you are flexible on time go when the weather is cooler and just leave the windows open and fan on. If your dog is comfortable being left alone and doesn't bark I think you'll be okay.
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Old 09-18-2017, 03:20 PM   #13
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I bought my 17B specifically for my dog....he was hounding me about getting a trailer...... Especially after that tent camp out on the north rim of the Grand Canyon with highs in the 40's and 50mph gusts. Froze our tails off. Beautiful though...only ones there for some reason.

Actually it gives my dog a safe place to hang out while I check the area. He's been attacked by off-leash dogs a couple of times so we're both cautious about where we camp. Plus I can leave him in the trailer if I need to run to the store, etc and I know he's safe and comfy.
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Old 09-18-2017, 03:22 PM   #14
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All my dogs since as long as I can remember have never been barkers. With one exception they were all mutts. Our current one, a rescued rez-dog, never barks unless she is insisting we play with her. When she wants something she also will emit a lengthy trilling sound, rolling her R’s like a Latin lover addressing a paramour.

She has made the trailer her personal cave. I can leave her in the truck for 4 hours, no worries. A DNA test revealed her lineage was mostly pit bull and Rottweiler but I have my doubts there.

Years ago Nancy had Fred, a Wire Fox Terrier, who was devoted to her, and was so high strung he barked at falling leaves outside the window. He died one evening of heart failure, happy when we finally came home after a long night out. I admit, I wasn’t sorry to see that dog go.

If dogs are so smart, why will some dogs bark endlessly? Is barking something an insecure, lonely dog does just to get attention, is it being vindictive, or is it a genetic thing certain breeds do without thinking? I wonder sometimes if some smart Ph.D. candidate has ever done a bark-o-meter study on a breeds’ predilection for barking.
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Old 09-18-2017, 04:06 PM   #15
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Usually dogs bark as a warning or a greeting, from stress/anxiety or boredom. Personally, I can't take a dog that barks a lot. Brock, he'll bark once and that's unusual, then it's up to me to go look at it. Now if he growls then I'm really paying attention as that is really rare and he means business then.
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Old 09-18-2017, 07:16 PM   #16
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My dog barks once in while, but she yodels more. Amuses our neighbors when camping. Fortunately, she snoozes soundly when penned in the trailer...
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Old 09-18-2017, 07:55 PM   #17
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Looks like my dog was the only barker, didn't like it when left alone, at least at home, never tried leaving her alone in the trailer.

We didn't take her along on sight seeing trips, just camping. Left her with family when needed.
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Old 09-18-2017, 11:29 PM   #18
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Mikey isn't inclined to bark, but makes up for it by snoring. We've left him behind with the AC on for short periods of time but I always worry about it shutting down while we're gone. We keep it short. The next time we head south we might try to leave him with family.
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Old 09-19-2017, 01:48 PM   #19
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Guinness barks outside when tied i now use a bark collar and just putting it on stops the barking. Inside if i leave him and my Jack i turn on the air and close the blinds they sleep. I also don't like to leave them long or when its very hot. If the trip looks boring for them i will often leave them home.
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Old 09-19-2017, 03:37 PM   #20
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Our rat terrier was a rescue from a breeder that was seriously ill and could no longer care for her. As such Kizzy spent most of her first years in a kennel. She thinks of our trailer as a big kennel where she feels safe. So she doesn't bark and would rather be curled up in her bed if we are not around. With the thermo windows and insulation on our trailer, it is generally plenty cool for her with the fan on. We don't leave for more than 3 hours and ignore the "no dog unattended in RV" rules if we cannot take her were we are going. At the escape rally, we traded off dog sitting with another Escapee (Fox Hunt!) while we went on the wine tour one day and she did the tour the next. We just find a way to make it work.
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