Taking you dogs with you

[ThePair]

I'll bet Alaska has cold weather restrictions.

The difference between car an TM is that the TM can and should have AC running, and legally it counts as a residence not a vehicle, iirc. That being said, I'd be a little surprised to find a state law regarding a pet in an RV or trailer. It's a good idea to check, nonetheless.

We have four that we take with us when we travel. We, too, have one "problem child" that suffers from separation anxiety (he's not destructive, just barks). After numerous talks with out vet, she said we could try 'medicating' him about an hour before we plan to leave the camper for the day. She gave us a prescription for acepromazine and we give him 1/2 tablet (he weighs about 18 lbs.) when we are going to be gone. Works great for us. We typically don't leave them alone for more than 4-5 hours at a time, and also leave the AC on and the Fantastic Fan on low in the event of a power failure. In addition to keeping the camper cool, it also provides the noise so that they don't hear people walking by, etc.

We have never had a problem.

Regards,

Bob

Originally Posted by Bob&Karen

We have four that we take with us when we travel. We, too, have one "problem child" that suffers from separation anxiety (he's not destructive, just barks). After numerous talks with out vet, she said we could try 'medicating' him about an hour before we plan to leave the camper for the day. She gave us a prescription for acepromazine and we give him 1/2 tablet (he weighs about 18 lbs.) when we are going to be gone. Works great for us. We typically don't leave them alone for more than 4-5 hours at a time, and also leave the AC on and the Fantastic Fan on low in the event of a power failure. In addition to keeping the camper cool, it also provides the noise so that they don't hear people walking by, etc.

We have never had a problem.

Regards,

Bob

How well does the fantastic fan work when the a/c fails, for whatever reason, and the outside temperature is higher than 100F?

Perhaps you never am where it get hot.

Since one of the primary reasons we got our trailer is so we can take our dog with us, often to conferences etc where we have to leave her all day, we are in the same situation.
While I'm sure some campgrounds are stricter than others, our experience and impression has usually been that the 'no dogs left alone' rule is one of those that is in place to allow enforcement against owners with very loud or otherwise obnoxious dogs or dogs left outside. I know plenty of people including us leave dogs in their campers at these places, and as long as they are quiet or only let out the occasional muffled 'yip' as someone walks by no one will complain.
That just addresses the social aspects, the possible hazards from power outages etc are something you will have to judge for yourself on each trip based on weather etc.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

How well does the fantastic fan work when the a/c fails, for whatever reason, and the outside temperature is higher than 100F?

Perhaps you never am where it get hot.

Wayne,

I'll admit that we've never camped anywhere the temp got over 100 degrees. In addition to the fantastic fan, we will open the large window above the counter about 2" so that fresh air can be pulled in, and will slightly open the two roof vents. We close all the curtains so that sunlight through the windows will not cause a rapid warm-up. And, even with cool morning temps, we turn the A/C on if we're going to be gone for a few hours to kind of "pre-cool" the TM. We've yet to have a problem, but we've yet to have a power outage.

Regards,

Bob

[Virginia Deacon]

Our two miniature schnauzers look forward to camping trips with us, and we enjoy camping as much as we did before we got them. We take our dogs with us whenever we can, and take turns shopping and staying in the truck with them. We would never leave them unattended in the TrailManor all day.

We've found that KOAs are "pet-friendly" and that most other campers have pets (usually dogs), too. And, they tell us, their dogs bark, too. After a few minutes, most dogs seem to stop barking, we've observed. Lately, we've noticed a LOT of campers have dogs and that they are also quite tolerant of ours.

Some places strictly forbid dogs - Assateague Island is one of them. When we go there, we leave our dogs with our (and their) favorite kennel, where they are played with and looked after most of each day, and where we know they are safe. We are free to enjoy shopping, sightseeing, and togetherness, without our dogs being a distraction. And, we have the joy of being together again - later.

I hope this helps you. Enjoy your camping!

We had a problem with a little bichon that we had once.
She would bark incessantly whenever we left the trailer.
Boarding her was not an option as we were on the road for the summer with our TM
We purchased a no bark collar - it gives a small electric shock whenever the dog barks - and it worked perfectly.
When we returned to the trailer she would whine and wiggle but would not bark until we had removed the collar!
If this sounds cruel think of the consequences of an accidental overdose of medication (we had been using anti hystimine to try to calm her down).
This seemed like the better alternative.

[ThePair]

Shock collars aren't cruel at all if used properly.

We had one for training, 9 strength settings. I tried it on my arm first, level 1. Quite unpleasant, didn't want that repeated. Put the collar on my dog, starting the training. Needless to say, he didn't even notice the collar was being activated until level 5, and that just made him pause and look around, like "what touched me". No pain, no discomfort, just enough stimulation to distract him from whatever it was he was doing (or not doing). An excellent training tool, by the way, especially to teach him not to do dangerous things...

We traveled 7,000 miles this summer with a mix of camping in our TM and staying with family/friends. We had our two Havanese with us and initially were hesitant to leave them in the TM alone. They travel in crates in the TV. On a few occasions we crated them in the TM, left the AC on and were able to enjoy a dinner out or a non-dog friendly sight seeing excursion. They did fine and were quiet according to neighbors we asked. We were at some campsites however, where a dog was left behind and howled or barked for hours, so bottom line, guess you have to know your dogs and see how they do.