New to Motorhomes
Hi everyone, my name is Sue and my husband and I have just bought a motorhome. My husband retired 6 years ago but I still work so for this year it will be weekends and the odd weeks holiday in the UK. That will all be practice for next year when I also retire and travelling within Europe will be part of the plan ! Being middle aged now I don’t usually get overly excited about things but I have to tell you I am excited about picking up our motor home next Thursday.!!!
So I joined this club and hopefully along the way we will meet lovely people and make friends as we explore new places!
We have owned a static in the past, which I loved but now retirement is approaching I want to be free to travel wherever and whenever I want to, sometimes planned and sometimes when I just get the urge to jump in and off we go!
Have booked one night next weekend to to get a feel for it and then off on a weeks adventure the following weekend travelling to Somerset and then on to the Dorset area.
We have two little dogs (Lhasa Apso ) who will be holidaying with us. Any advice on having dogs travelling with us ?
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Hi, Sue, and welcome. I hope your van is all you want it to be.
The following links may be of use to you regarding dogs -
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/globalassets/pdfs/content/uk-holidays/Visiting-Club-sites-with-dogs
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/useful-information/travelling-with-dogs/
I think it's important to secure dogs when on the move for their safety and yours. Whether you choose harnesses clipped to seat belt mountings or a crate is a matter of choice. Our lurcher was too old to learn new tricks when we swapped to a MH so we had to make do with a board behind the cab seats to stop him coming forward. It wasn't ideal but was better than nothing.
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Thank you, I hope the motor home is too. Got one with 4 seat belts so probably go with a harness each that will attach to the seat belt. They travel well in our hatch back cars and tend to just sleep , so fingers crossed they will be fine.
i hope they are ok generally getting in and out of the MH and doing the camping bit , when we had the static they were contained on the verander but when we did put them to the grass on our pitch, in line with the rules we had to tether them and they quite often got tangled so there a bit of a challenge there, little bit of thinking needed on that front ! Thanks for the advice 😊
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Our Labrador (12 year old) loves our motorhome, she soon notices us getting ready for a trip away then waits by the door to make sure she isnt left behind. She travels well, sleeping most of the time, she remembers sites we have been to before, even 2 or 3 years previously, she loves to lay outside people and other dog watching.She NEVER barks unless she needs the loo, or is woken by noises at night.
Try to train your dogs not to bark or yap? that can be very annoying for other campers.
Enjoy your Van with your dogs, create lots of memories.
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Dogs just love touring, no matter what you are in! 😁
Make sure you factor in stop offs for a doggy leg stretch and drink on your travels. We have found that not sticking to motorways all the time is easier with dogs, but this is just a personal thing, we have larger dogs that need a good leg stretch. Does us good as well.
On site, be it Club Site, CL or another kind of site, I would say try to be a good neighbour. There’s few things more annoying than the yap yap of a dog not being adequately supervised, and take walks away from pitching areas, including the grass strips in between. We personally don’t leave our dogs tied up outside unless we are with them (quite capable of yanking a tie up cable out of ground!), but you will know your dogs best. We have seen tied up dogs that tend to lunge at passers by with dogs, occasionally ends badly.
There are some great Club Sites for dogs, Yellowcraig, Bolton Abbey, Hawes, Bernard Castle.... These either have a good dog walk on site, or very close by....we work on the basis of a well exercised dog being a tired dog, and no bother to anyone else.
Hope you and your dogs have a lovely time touring around.😁
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Thanks to all for your helpful advice. We are currently on our first weeks holiday and both of our dogs are adjusting well to life in the Motor Home. As you all know the weather has been very wet and that has led to us drying the dogs off after every walk but we are determined to get out and about and make the most of our travels . We have not had an opportunity to sit out and enjoy sunshine with them, but I do thank you for comments on keeping dogs quiet and not tethered without being present with them .
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Not tethered ? does that mean let of leads ?
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Thought i did ,read it twice before i posted .. if i am wrong my apologies
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So the point ive missed is not tethered in m/h while you go out and dogs are yapping away ?
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