Leaving dogs in the RV

[Houndmobile]

hi there, I am a newbie to the whole RV thing...2011 is my rookie season and would like some guidance please.

I will be travelling with my two bassets and not really clear what the "rules" are in regards to leaving your dogs in the RV while you're away.

If I am at a campsite - fully hooked up - with AC on (where needed) is it okay to leave your pets in your unit (me - class ""C") while you are away shopping per say ?

Is it fairly common for campsites to have doggie daycare that can look after your dogs if away from your unit ?

Any other feedback / thoughts would be most appreciated.

thanks

[mtnguy]

I leave mine in the camper. I leave him at home for up to 8 hours, but try to limit the time alone in the camper to 4 hours or so.

Maybe limit the time alone over the 1st trip or 2, to get them used to the camper.

If you dogs are barkers, then that is a whole different ball game.

[The_Stuff]

we leave ours in the camper in a kennel. keeps him from making accidents on the "expensive" carpets. lol

[ravenmike]

We leave our Pugs in the RV with the a/c on and Tv set on animal planet.

[rthrbelsewhere]

Rule of thumb:

If they whine, bark, or cause any kind of attention to be drawn from neighbors and/or campground owners while you're gone, the better the odds that you'll find yourself either getting kicked out of the campground or someone will call animal control/rescue. Each campground is different and some will offer an animal daycare type thing, but most of them don't and in their rules, they will state that the animals will stay under control at all times.

If your animals are well mannered and can be left alone, I don't think it would be a big problem, but if they have any kind of "separation anxiety"...forget it. The attention from the law getting involved is WAAAAY more attention than anyone would want while they're on vacation.

Joe

[acadianbob]

National Parks are a real problem for dog owners. They do not allow dogs on trails. They have to be in the campground or within 20 feet (or so ) of a roadway. They also do not allow you to leave a dog unattended in your RV; ever.

National Forest Service is much more conducive. Dogs are allowed on trails.

State Parks generally allow dogs on trails but some areas can be restricted.

So, we tend to camp in NSF or State parks as we can generally take our dogs with us; hiking, kiyaking, etc. Then you don't have to worry about annoying everyone; and the dogs love coming along.

Common sense says that you need to know your dogs. We do leave our dogs in the RV occasionally but only if the windows can be safely closed. Our trailer is hardsided so would mask some sound. I would not leave our dogs if they were excitable resulting in barking. Barking dogs are not fair to your camping neighbors whether you are there or not.

Kenneling helps as do dog tranquilizers. Fortunately, we don't need to do either. But we DO check and also check with our neighbors. Nothing ruins camping like loud music and barking dogs IMO.

[rockwood06]

All good advise, but one other thing we learn, leave the blinds up otherwise when you get back they will be destroyed if they are not created. We take 4 dogs with us and have no problem. And here they are......Not the red head but his coller has been removed.

[Hipshot]

We leave the Idiot Yorkie in the TT when we go sightseeing. When we go hiking we take her with us if we can. She did six miles in Palo Duro Canyon last year, she was one tired puppy. Yorkies can be very barky. On our first camping trip we followed the advice found on one of the RV forums, might have been this one.
We closed all blinds and turned on the radio. Some dogs bark when they see things others bark when they here things. We stayed gone for about 1 hour. When we got back we asked campers around us if they had heard our dog barking, no one heard a thing. We increased the time each time we left her. She has never damaged anything in the TT and no one has said she barks. We have left her in the TT for 14 hours and she has never had an "accident", but all dogs are differant.

[EdJunior]

We leave Brit alone, but as mentioned above, we try not to leave her more than a few hours. And yes...blinds up! In our old TT, the blinds were pretty much destroyed. She's gone through a few in the house also. But the day/night shades in the Cat are always up when we're gone, and no problems so far.

DSC_0181 (Large).jpg

[rockwood06]

Yes, you do need to know how your pet will react, dogs in most cases hear sound and if the windows are closed do to blinds then all they what to do is look to see if it is you and or see where it is coming from so they will open them themselves. Tv's and radio's/music helps drown out some of the out side sound, but for us leaving the blinds up works for us.

If you go to Pet Smart or a place like that you can buy a devise that will make a high pitch sound every time the dog barks and it makes them stop if you found barking is an issue.

One other thing you can do for your pet if you leave it in the camper, on the door of the camper place some kind of pet indicator on the window so that if there is an emergency some knows there is a pet inside. Remember cats can't bark.