How Cold Can I Travel w My Travel Trailer

[xlphillips]

I am buying a very small Wildwood, 19ft, 014 Forest River Wildwood 185 Travel trailer.

I want to know what I can plan for for the coldest places I can/should take it. Sleeping bags are pretty warm, and I am OK at a campground w hookups if it is cold.

Can I get some recommendations?

For example, an I take it Spring Skiing? eg, Mammoth Mountain, April. Guessing low will be 29o...I would think that is fine.

*******

Next topic, trying to plan if I can travel well with a dog. My new Brittany puppy will be 6 months old when I start my Colorado to Canada trip this summer. I may be gone 2 months. Not sure how I will care for a dog while I am out mountain biking up to 6 hours. Inside, may get too hot. Outside, may get stolen. Any ideas for me?!

Thanks!!

[mduff]

Regarding cold, keep in mind your plumbing. We camped late Fall and overnight the temperatures fell partially freezing our supply line. You have exposed lines even if not hooked up that need to be protected in cold weather.

[mlong]

If you are taking an animal that is not able to be alone for 6 hrs you need to either not take it along or cut your time away from the camper. You need to take care of the animal first. If you do leave it for 6 hrs and it has an accident in the camper or it tears something apart it is not the dog's fault. You chose to get a dog. It's like having a child. Would you leave a child alone for 6 hrs and go out on an all day bike ride? Obviously a dog is different than a child but the point is you need to abbreviate your time away or let somewhere that it will be taken care of. We travel with a dog also. When we leave it is for a short time. Since we upgraded from a PU to a TT we will be taking a dog crae to put the dog in when we are away to prevent the dog from having an accident. She tends to get upset when we leave and on occasion will have an accident. This will prevent that.

Good luck, have fun & enjoy the dog.

[WrongWayRandall]

Since you will be leaving your dog in the trailer you will ~have~ to have heat and air conditioning available (leaving a dog tied out is both illegal in many places, and completely and totally irresponsible.) The temperature inside the vehicle will get very high very fast in mild to warm temperatures, and deadly in no time at all in hot temperatures. Pick locations that have electrical hookups for spring, summer, and fall (you can run the furnace on gas, just make sure your tanks are kept topped off.) Dogs can be exceptionally rewarding, and frustrating to no end, all at the same time. If you are not willing to make accommodations for the dogs safety and needs (even if it means that you can't do something that you really, really want to do) don't make the dog suffer or endanger it's health and well being.

It will take a little time for the dog to get used to both you and the travel arrangements. Some animals will travel easily and with little difficulty, others not so much. You will have to sacrifice some of your time so that the dog is well cared for, or board it somewhere that you have inspected carefully and are comfortable with (NEVER someplace you have not personally inspected before hand!).

We have always traveled with dogs for many decades, both camping and staying hotels, and each time we get new dogs it takes some time for them to get used to the order of things. Dogs cannot communicate the same way that people do, so you have to learn to 'read' the dog. It will tell you what it is thinking and what it needs, but you have to be able to listen to it. Take your time, get comfortable with the idea that your time will no longer be all your own, and understand that you are responsible for a living, breathing being. If you are OK with all of that you will be in for 10-20 years of a very rewarding relationship with your dog that will be something that you remember for the rest of your life...

- Randy

[Dave Lyon]

As others have said.....leave the dog at home or cut your activity time.

We have a chocolate lab and I can't imagine leaving her at the campsite for 6 hours......no point in taking her.

If you do take the pup and are planning on entering Canada, make sure the dog has all the required shots and you have documentation to substantiate it.

[mjones12]

We regularly camp when the overnight temps drop into the teens and have never had water lines to freeze. Maybe the Wildwood is different, but on every camper I have ever had there are no exposed water lines. Once the water enters my camper from the fresh water hose, it is subject to the heat inside the camper.

[mlong]

Originally Posted by mjones12

We regularly camp when the overnight temps drop into the teens and have never had water lines to freeze. Maybe the Wildwood is different, but on every camper I have ever had there are no exposed water lines. Once the water enters my camper from the fresh water hose, it is subject to the heat inside the camper.

What about the holding tanks? Mine are exposed underneath and I can't imagine that the plastic provides much insulation.

[mjones12]

Originally Posted by mlong

What about the holding tanks? Mine are exposed underneath and I can't imagine that the plastic provides much insulation.

I've been told by RV techs that unless the tanks are full with no room for expansion, freezing wouldn't hurt anything (except you'd have to wait for them to thaw before you could dump). We've never had a problem with it. Never had tank heaters and one of our campers had an open underbelly. We've camped with temps as low as 13 degrees with no problems, although I must note that in our part of the country such temps are almost never sustained for more than overnight.

[f5moab]

Originally Posted by xlphillips

Next topic, trying to plan if I can travel well with a dog. My new Brittany puppy will be 6 months old when I start my Colorado to Canada trip this summer. I may be gone 2 months. Not sure how I will care for a dog while I am out mountain biking up to 6 hours. Inside, may get too hot. Outside, may get stolen. Any ideas for me?!

Thanks!!

If you are talking about dispersed camping, leaving a dog outside in the mountains of CO/WY/MT (as you head north into Canada) could possibly get the dog eaten. It happens around here in Moab and it happens in those other states.

If you are talking about an organized campground, I would bet the dog has to be inside the trailer and no barking.

Also, take into consideration, if you leave a dog in the trailer, and you go mountain biking and you have an accident, and it sure does happen, I know for a fact, will you or someone be able to make it back to the trailer for the dog?

[mlong]

Don't forget a dog in very small camper (as you stated) will have nowhere to expel excess energy. Puppies are usually very active. If you let them penned up for a long period of time they will become bored and most likely start chewing on things to occupy themselves. I know from experience.

[Bryan2503S]

Problem......Solved

[Bryan2503S]

where there is a will there is a way

[youroo]

Water freezes at 32f,your call. Leave a Dog in a closed unit and it gets HOT=Dead Dog,your call! Would you trade places with the Dog under the same conditions? Youroo!!

[mjones12]

We learned the hard way not to leave our dog at large in a camper. She found and ate a chocolate candy bar (wrapper and all) while we were away for 15 minutes. After some induced vomiting, she was okay. But it made us think about what if she jumped down from the bed and broke a leg while we were away for a couple of hours. Not an acceptable option for us.

So we now leave her in a well-ventilated soft carrier which gives her plenty of room to stand and turn around. She loves it. Gets in on her own when told to do so because she knows she'll get a treat for doing it.

Still, we try not to be away more than two or three hours. Anything more and we leave a camper key with friends or campground owners (if we know them well) who can get inside in case of a power failure or other emergency.

The carrier stays on our bed during the day, so it doesn't get in the way of normal activities. At bedtime, we move it to the dinette, and we put it back on the bed in the morning. No problems with it taking up too much space. Might not work with a real big dog, though.

[whj77372]

We try not to do the cold weather thing, the vast majority of RVs are not build for cold weather. The way that we look at it is that is why the have wheels, to chase the good weather. Good Luck