Dogs in Motorhomes
Hi Sorry if this has already been discussed before. We're quite new to the motorhome experience and would welcome advice on how to accustom our puppy to travelling in the vehicle. He's just under 5 months old, so we don't expect to be taking him on holiday until next year. We'd like him to experience travelling in the M/H for short periods as soon as possible though. Is this too early? What's the best way to do it? He sleeps in a crate and travels in a crate in the car.
We're going to invest in a drive away awning, to give us all a bit of space. We thought one with a separate ground sheet. Is this the best option?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Marion
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Hi, and welcome, the good thing is your puppy is already used to a crate ,so I would put the crate in the M/H with pup and go for a drive and see how he gets on , the sooner he gets used to the M/H the better,if your M/H is parked at home then let puppy in it as much as you can,so he gets used to it
can't give any advice about an awaning as we don't use one
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As above with ref to your puppy,
I suggest if getting drive away or any awning you get one without a groundsheet attached as it may restrict the use if on a grass pitch,as most sites will req the groundsheet to be lifted to allow the grass to "breathe" or in some groundsheets are banned on grass pitches to preserve the grass
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Husky has given you good advice.
If your dog eventually travels without his crate, make sure he is restrained in some other way. Perhaps with a harness anchored in a seatbelt bracket.
Sorry, I can't help with the awning issue. We don't stay on one site long enough for it to be worth having one as we find the freedom to move on and tour is one of the best things about having a MH.
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Hi Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated. We've been to check out the M/H today to see how we can secure the crate, and as soon as this is done we will put Ben in and take him for a little ride around. Bit worried about the noise, but I'm sure he will settle down. We have a drop down bed and it makes a lot of noise when travelling.
Tinwheeler says that they don't stay long enough on one site for an awning. What's the best way to give us all a bit of space if we don't put a drive away awning up? We have an awning, would this work OK for a night or two?
Maybe I'm overthinking it all?
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What space for you need, Mazza? I don't know how many of you travel. We are only two and, even when we had a dog, had plenty of room to live inside our 6.4m MH without the need for additional space.
You say you have an awning. Do you mean the roll out canopy? I don't leave ours extended overnight in this country as our weather is very changeable and they aren't the most wind resistant. However, some people do leave them out.
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Hi
We too have a dog and a caravan, both go well together as we take him everywhere. Benji (collie cross) is a brilliant traveller brought about by patience over a long period of trial and error and ever increasing distances. He was a rescued animal so you never know what will happen and it does take time but well worth the effort. Now its a joy to take him anywhere and this year we had him all the way up to Orkney via CalMac ferries.
Please do not be offended by what I am about to say but anyone who takes a dog with them on holiday should be prepared to take them everywhere when on holiday and not leave them in the van alone at anytime.
Speaking from an experience of others...leaving them in an awning or van all day when going out may cause separation anxiety as well as annoying many other residents.
We had a wonderful holiday ruined this year by a couple who brought two dogs with them. One was left in the awning all night whilst the other was in the van all day and howled which was pitiful and cruel it was 22 deg in shade during the day, leaving an animal in van all day alone is criminal in my book. Apart from the disruption to others, the cruelty we observed was so unbearable we had to take action.
There is a small book available on Amazon called Scaredy Dog which we found useful for overcoming apprehensive moments. It taught our dog nothing but taught us a lot about dog behaviour so we could understand his problems and counter them.
I hope it all works out for you as it's wonderful having your 4 legged friend with you. Good luck and best wishes
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Can't remember the make, but there is a green mesh awning carpet available which we've used for years & up to a couple of weeks causes no problems to grass - if you're on site long enough, the grass will come up through it. Awning skirts cause more of a problem! There is another type with peg holes in each corner that is described as breathable, excellent on hard standing (& in France late on when most of the grass on many pitches has disappeared anyway!) but we found after only 3 days use grass was showing signs of distress. Either one though, some CL owners don't like you to use them at all.
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Re dogs - as per previous comments, you shouldn't leave them in a vehicle - in winter with no sun you might be ok, but even a little sun warms the inside of a vehicle extremely quickly. Don't know about other countries, but France bans leaving dogs alone in caravans!
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