Traveling with Pets

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Linda Giuliani

Traveling with Pets

Post by Linda Giuliani »

On another discussion thread, there was much conversation about which vacuum cleaners were effective in the removal of pet hair in their Born Free coaches. That leads me to ask the following questions about pet travel in general.

We have a 26' RSB and THREE Standard Poodles. On occasion we have taken one or two of them with us on weekend outings. Obviously, they are large dogs for such a small space, but they are well behaved and very good travelers. (And they don't shed so I couldn't join in the vacuum discussions).

We take other trips two to three week s in duration and leave the dogs at home with a dog/house sitter. When left behind, we all miss each other and find that we don't get as much exercise (using weather as much as anything as an excuse). We would consider taking one or two of them on longer trips except for the fact that we like to sightsee, hike and do various things where dogs are most times not allowed to join in. Museums, many public places and lots of parks and hiking trails are off limits. If the weather is cold and cloudy, they can stay in our "toad" on day trips. But more often than not, the weather is too warm for that. Then they would have to stay back at the coach, inside, with the air conditioning on. I would worry about a power outage and them getting overheated in the coach. If we left the windows open on a reasonably warm day, that might work. But I would still be concerned about the dogs becoming a nuisance by barking in our absence. And haven't we all experienced the frustration of someone having left a howling pet all day at their campsight when we are trying to enjoy some peace and quiet at ours? So, we have never left them behind in the coach. Consequently we find we are limited in doing all the things we want to do when they are with us. In addition, when we travel with them we find that the trip becomes "all about the dogs" Are they too hot, too cold, do they need to be walked, did we bring enough water, etc. And meanwhile, we've missed seeing the Grand Canyon!

Are we destined to leaving our furry friends home when we go on cross country journeys?

How do you travel with your pets, or do you leave them at home?
Judy Harris

Post by Judy Harris »

Linda, we always travel with our 2 dogs - Cavalier King Charles littermates, males 3 years old. That is the main reason that we bought the BF. I can see that 3 standard poodles present more of a space problem. We so far have had very few problems, although I admit that we don't travel that much in the middle of the summer when air conditioning is an issue. The only time that came up was at Zion where it was unexpectedly hot this fall and where you can't drive into the park (we don't pull a toad). We were staying outside of the park but the park campground had electricity so we got a space, parked the BF there during the day with the AC running, toured from there on our tandem and the suttle bus and all was fine. We get a senior citizen rate at the national parks because we are 62 so the extra cost was 8 bucks a day. Leaving the windows open a bit and running the fantastic fan will work for a few hours if it is under 80 and in the shade. We have done that a lot to bike. Traveling with pets does admittedly limit your time away to 4 to 6 hours but for us, it is worth it. They so far have never been a problem and they seem to enjoy it. It is home to them on the road and it is home to us with them there. The strangest thing we have seen with pets was a couple traveling in a small Class A with 4 Jack Russell terriers and a pot belly pig!!! This was outside of Yellowstone. I guess it is all about what makes you happy!
Brent

Post by Brent »

Traveled for 6 years with two of us and two boxers in a 21 - 23' unit. One reason we enjoyed the RV was the ability to take them. We've left them in the RV with air on and never had a problem. If we are plugged in at a camp ground we've been gone for hours. If it is the generator, I've limited it to three hours in hot weather then we would check.

If someplace didn't allow the dogs we didn't particularly want to be there. They are excellent travelers, never a problem and when we boondocked it was a comfort to have them as watchful security.

It is now me and one boxer, but I can't imagine going without him. I think if the dog is properly trained and they get used to traveling it is a pleasure.

I've traveled with a cat 2 or 3 times when we were forced to evacuate during storms. The cat did great, but if it were to be an ongoing situation I would make special arrangements to locate the cats box where it would be convenient to change and not in the way.

To me having an RV is ideal for including the pet.
Judy Harris

Post by Judy Harris »

Sam, your post made me laugh out loud! You are a MENSCH, traveling with Cinderella. I love the name. We had two cats who were given their wings at ages 19 and 21. When we meet them at the rainbow bridge, the one will still be yammering for Fancy Feast salmon cat food and the other will hide and then carefully place a kitty turd to show his displeasure at being left. You are right, leave her in Texas. (I miss my cats)
Barbara & Ken
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:36 pm

Post by Barbara & Ken »

Sam Ryan wrote:I've a 15 1/2 year old, long haired black cat, aptly named, Cinderella. I've had her since she was a 6-week old kitten.

I pay a lady friend of mine $5.00 a day when I travel (which is a lot!) to look in on her in my home in Texas......well worth it.
Wow, $5 a day is a very good rate! The last time we paid $5 a day to pet visitors was more than fifteen years ago.

The going rate in our area near Albuquerque is $12 - $15 a day for a 30-45 minute visit to feed, water and comfort our very spoiled 8-year-old rescue cat. However, Oreo pre-furs (sorry, couldn't resist) to go along with us, even though she literally howls for the first hour or so on the road. When we do leave Oreo at home, every pet visitor we've hired has told us that she is very unhappy and completely unsociable while we are away.

We tell everyone that Oreo hates to be on the road in the Born Free, but she hates being left home even more. And Ken cannot get through even one day without wondering out loud if "kitty cat" is okay. So, it's definitely better for all three of us to take her along if possible. Besides, she is a great foot warmer in cold weather.

Oreo already was de-clawed when we adopted her, so we don't have a problem with her scratching the ultra-leather. She is so spoiled that she insists on having a towel to sleep on, and that helps eliminate a lot of the problems with shedding. Even so, the ultra-leather seems to have a "magnetic attraction" to her fur, but a sticky style lint roller works great for a quick clean up.
Last edited by Barbara & Ken on Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
Barbara & Ken
w5vthdonb

Post by w5vthdonb »

Our last cat lived for 23 years. When we started to load the RV you couldn't get her away from the front door as she was not going to be left behind. She saw more of the US, Mexico, and Canda, than most of the people in the US will ever see.
While spending the winter in KeWest Florida we adopted a six week old female cat. She is now three years old and travels all over with us in the BF. We didn't get her declawed. We have a 26' RSB with the elegant package and entertinment center. We have covered the seats with slip covers. Under the bed I removed the access panel under the bed and made a cage so she couldn't get behind the refridgerator as we were afraid she would get stuck. This is where we put her jitter box. I put a cover on the dash panel and she will just sleep up there on her back looking at all the traffic as it goes by. We have her trained not to get in front of the driver while the coach is in motion. On the two top ledges in the front where the top bed would pull out we have two beds for her to sleep one on each side. While travelling she will get up there and push the curtains aside so she can see outside.
To leave Kewe behind I would have to leave my wife also, as she will not go anywhere without Kewe.
She is trained to walk on a lease and people just look as she takes her our for a walk.
We use a Panasonic vacumn cleaner that is a compact, that came with one of Vogue motercoachs we had. It doesn't take up hardly any room and stores under the couch. When we return home and the RV is cleaned again my wife used the Dyson to pick up anything the Panasonic didn't pick up. To sum it up she is a better camper than all our kids. As long as she has her fancy feast, water and a clean jitter box, she is happy, and we don't hear ---ARE WE THERE YET!!!
On our SMART (Special Military Active Retired Travel Club) caravans, people who travelled with dogs, a couple would rotate and stay behind to take care of all the dogs, that way they only missed one day of activities on long days away from the RV's
Don USN ret.
2002 26' RSB
1987 Cabriolet toad.
mellowbo

Post by mellowbo »

Hi. This is our third motorhome and we bought it because it is the only way we can really travel with our pets. We had 2 class A's and the furkids always went with us. We always left them alone in the motorhomes just like we would do at home. If we were hooked up we just left the air on or fantistic fan, which ever was appropriate. Now we just bought our BF because we were a year without any RV and found out we couldn't go anywhere. We have a yellow lab, a snoodle and a cat. If we are where we can't hook up we just leave the generator on. All of us are happy campers. Our pets are well behaved and just do what they do every day at home.....mainly sleep.
I think you will find that MANY RVers have RV's so they can take their furkids on vacation with them.
Trisha

feathered friends

Post by Trisha »

One of the reasons I bought a MH (the BF), was because I took a trip to Pueblo CO and the bird refused to eat or drink for 5 or 6 days until I talked to him on the speaker phone. Weird. Now he travels with me. funny thing, the rules against pets are usually waived when it comes to a 'caged' bird. I've been allowed to stay in pet-free parks, keep him in the coach at "pet free" museums etc. And the requirements are no different besides he can be just as noisy as any dog if he's looking for me. Go figure?

Most folks, I guess, just don't know what kind of rules to make when birds are involved. He's happy, I'm happy. He likes this. He's gotten to the point where he sings his little heart out when we're driving down the road. He looks out the windows and folks look in and see him and I get some great looks!

Whatever kind of pet we have....we sure do love them and spoil them, don't we?

Pat=-Trish
knitheaven

pets

Post by knitheaven »

Trisha,
yes, I agree, whatever pet, we spoil them:) Surprise even myself! lol
Dianne
Linda Giuliani

Post by Linda Giuliani »

Sam, you are a stitch! :lol:

I've enjoyed everyones posts about pet travels. Guess Greg and I are just mentally working through all the obstacles about long term traveling with three large dogs in a confined space. A friend mentioned we might need a bigger coach and I just laughed. The odds of us trading our BF for a "bus" are slim and none because we like the drivability, safety and quality of our BF. Someone else suggested we pull a trailer with our animals in it. We thought that was just as absurd an idea! Would you put your kids in a trailer behind your coach? (Don't answer that!)

Maybe to put things in perspective I need to think back to my youth. How many of us grew up without sharing a bedroom with a sibling, or lived in a house with multiple bathrooms - let alone an "extra" bathroom just for guests! So what if interior space is a little cramped. At least we are all together!

Unless you are Sam's spider, that is.
w5vthdonb

Post by w5vthdonb »

For those that are worried about loss of power, when conected to shore power, contact the large manufacturers (RV) and ask them about the start stop relays they used. These should be able to be installed when loss of 115 volts the generator would start and when the power was restored shut down. This system could also be wired with a disconect switch. This system should not be to expensive, and there should be no problem wirring it in if you can get a nice copy of installation instructions.

For those travelling with cats, we have a 2002 26' RSB and I removed the excess panel under the rear bed and put Kewes jitter box there. She now has access without us having to move it from the bathroom or have it in the living room. Because under the bed it is open to the refridgerator, I made cage out of chicken wire so Kewe could only use the area of the jitter box and there is no way she could get out if one of the panel doors were left open, while loading or unloading the compartments.
She has been travelling with us since we rescued her from the pound in Key West Florida when she was six weeks old, while spending the winter at the US Naval Air Station.

Don USN ret.
2002 26' RSB
1987 Cabriolet convertable Toad
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BornFree_n_Now
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:28 pm

Post by BornFree_n_Now »

Pretty pets seeking new home ~~ sorry, couldn't resist :>)
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Larry & Sharon
2002 26' RSB
Suzuki X90 4x4 Toad
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