Traveling with dogs

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Dallas Baillio
Posts: 1181
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:52 pm

Traveling with dogs

Post by Dallas Baillio »

I know that many of you travel with your dogs. Do you restrain them? If so how do you do it? At one point in our travels we attached the dogs collars to the seat belts on the couch. That worked somewhat, but they tended to get the belts tangled. We now do not restrain them, but we know this is not a very good idea. In an accident they likely would be seriously injured, if not killed. The largest weights over 80 lbs and would be a deadly projectile. not only might he die, but we might as well if he were thrown into us. So far, I haven't come up with a way to restrain them, yet give them some room for movement. A crate will restrain the dog, but unless the crate is tied down, it is still a danger. We travel with five dogs with a total weight of 280 lbs in a 26 ft BF. Crates would take up too much space, even if we could somehow tie them down. Any good ideas?
Dallas Baillio
2001 26RSB
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Member
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bcope01
Posts: 1290
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:55 pm

Post by bcope01 »

Five dogs, 280 pounds - that's a lot of face lickin' and tail waggin' going on. :lol:
Last edited by bcope01 on Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Barb & Bill
2004 Born Free 22' Built for Two (Sold)
no longer towing a 2008 Smart ForTwo

Escondido, CA
Nancy
Posts: 172
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:01 pm

Post by Nancy »

We travel with a black lab and she tends to stay on a dog bed between our 2 seats. I know this doesn't help you with 5 furbabies though.
2005 26' RSB Casual Elegance
jobrien

Post by jobrien »

My 2 German Shepherds (65 and 80 lbs) ride on the couch. They usually don't get off there until we stop, which is usually every 2-3 hours.

We do not restrain them, but I know they sell harnesses that can be hooked into car seat belts, so I guess they would work in the Born Free also. We did have seat belts installed at the factory for when we take the grandkids with us, so that can be done.

We did try taking a crate on one weekend trip, but it was more trouble than what it was worth. We put it on the rear bed during travel and when we wre using the ebd at night, we pulled the couch out and put the crate on it. But it's a lrage crate and hard to move around inside the coach. We would have to collapse it and then set it up again.

Good luck

John
Linda Giuliani

Post by Linda Giuliani »

We travel with three Standard Poodles ranging in weight from 55 pounds to 90 pounds each. One likes the couch. One likes the rear side bed. Another sleeps on a cushion between the driver and passenger seats. We own a doggie seat belt but haven't used it in the coach, although we should use one on each dog. You are correct that it is dangerous for people and pets not to be restrained. We keep ourselves belted in but the dogs can become projectiles. We are taking a chance and know it.

Our bad! :oops:
Bogiesmom

Post by Bogiesmom »

Image
We travel with our Basset Hound, Bogie. He rides on the twin bed behind the passenger seat with a safety harness on that hooks into the seat belt. Being short legged, he can stand up, sit, or lay down in his spot. He loves his perch because he can see out of the windows. He travels safely and should we have a panic stop or worse, he won't become a flying missle.

Image
Bogie's safety harness has the fleece lined covering over his chest and buckles on top of his back. The seat belt goes in a loop on the buckled back strap.
Dave&JanPotter

Post by Dave&JanPotter »

We travel with a 65lb shepard mix and she is restrained in a harness which I rig to a lead secured to one of the frames for the twin bed. She can move around a bit so she likes it but this keeps her out of the cockpit in a panic stop situation. She is a "digger" when we leave her alone so if we go into a restaurant, we use a collapsible crate. We have a hard plastic one which collapses and I just slide it under one of the twin beds into a slot I installed under the passenger side bed. It takes me less than a minute to set it up and it keeps her and the coach out of trouble. At night she roams the coach freely and sleeps in the cockpit between the two seats. This is her space and it keeps her out from underfoot. I've traveled across the country several times with our 3 kids and I'll take traveling with dog over kids anyday. Our dog never sassed us while underway and not once has she teased to stop at a Mickey D's for lunch. She never whines, yells or fights and obeys us religously.....can't say the same for our kids.
harrisgowing
Posts: 338
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:30 pm

Post by harrisgowing »

We travel with two 18 pound Cavaliers who are also unrestrained. This makes me very nervous as well. We do put a baby gate across the driving area when traveling, which keeps them out of the way but not safe. We tried a crate but also found that it took too much room. Bogie looks pretty comfy (and cute) in his harness and I think I will try this. One of our dogs likes to ride on the top of the couch to look out the window, which is really dangerous!

Judy Harris
Chuck and Judy Harris
Oliver and Monty, the Cavaliers at the Rainbow Bridge; Timothy Dickens, the Cavalier puppy
2004 RSB
2015 Royal Splendor
Santana tandem bicycle
GKarschnick

Post by GKarschnick »

We travel with an 11 lb. Pomeranian who spends all of his time on my wife's lap.
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Dallas Baillio
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Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:52 pm

Post by Dallas Baillio »

Thanks for all the replies. I like Bogie's safety harness. It appears that many of you are doing the same as we do. Letting the dogs find a place on their own and hoping and praying you are not involved in an accident. I think traveling in a motorhome makes one complacent about safety. For us, for instance, when on the road the rider in the passenger seat tends to get up and move around the coach -- preparing a snack for driver and passenger, securing something that has become dislodged, even using the toilet. We've even heated water for coffee while going down the road. I know we should stay seated with our seat belt fastened. In our car, we religiously buckle up and stay put. Maybe a motorhome feels more like a home than an automobile. Anyone want to confess to doing something stupid while going down the road?
Dallas Baillio
2001 26RSB
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Member
rv4fun

Post by rv4fun »

We travel with our 85 lb chocolate lab all the time. He's a great traveler. Goes with us all over.. all our fishing trips, the Rallies, the Copper Canyon Baja and Maritime Provinces Caravans, etc. He's been on all our RV trips and has traveled about 75,000 miles since we bought the coach in Aug of 2000. We've never worried about him being restrained or in a harness of some kind. He mostly just lays down between the two front seats while we're driving. I think this is an issue where we each have to do what we are comfortable with and I understand why others are worried about what happens if there's an accident.. Larry
Ann P

Traveling with dogs

Post by Ann P »

In the "Doctors Foster & Smith " catalog, there's a snazzy safety harness modeled by a basset hound (not Bogie) for $10.99; $29.99 fleece-lined. And Pet Vehicle restraints for $19-28. Also barriers, car seats, booster seats. I confess that Miss Curlie Sue rides on the passenger seat when I'm driving. This winter in Arizona, we haven't gone very far. But when we're on the highway, I usually put her fleece dog bed between her and the dash, in case of sudden stops. I wish I could turn off that airbag but there's no way to do it.
I see people in Class A motorhomes with little yappy dogs standing or lying on the dash while the coach is in motion- now, that's dangerous.
Chuck Collins

Post by Chuck Collins »

Wife mentioned she might want to get a dog to travel with us. I said "no problem". Find one that can keep us with us when we are "motoring down the highway" and she could get it.

Room for a total of four feet - six feet -no more!!! in our MH - not eight!!

Other option was could she keep up running behind with the RV when the dog was riding with me in the Cab area?

All jokes aside - she grew up where dogs and cats were pets and neat animals to "play house with and have alot of general fun" with. My background being from a farm is they protected the livestock, watched for racoons, badgers and foxs to ptotect the chickens and took care of the 4 legged rats (sometimes the 2 legged ones also). Nother words - they "earned" their keep like any other 2 or 4 legged animal on a working farm had to or they would jusL "disappeared" one day as my father use to say!

Honestly - God bless all cats and dogs - they are great companions.

What is the most "unusual" animal anyone has traveled or seen traveling with a RVer?
harrisgowing
Posts: 338
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:30 pm

Post by harrisgowing »

Chuck, that is an easy one - a big pot bellied pig in a medium sized A in West Yellowstone (family also had 4 Jack Russell Terriers along). The pig had a litter box outside and slept in a sleeping bag in the middle of the living area in the motorhome. Some others may have seen them as well since they travel all over the west and are hard to miss!
Chuck and Judy Harris
Oliver and Monty, the Cavaliers at the Rainbow Bridge; Timothy Dickens, the Cavalier puppy
2004 RSB
2015 Royal Splendor
Santana tandem bicycle
Covfam

Post by Covfam »

We take our 2 Dogs with us. our 2001 BFT has a larger bathroom than the newer ones when driving we put them in and a single soft sided Dog crate and put them in the bathroom on the floor (that way if thier was an abrupt stop they dont go flying.

When we are parked for the night the crate comes out of the bathroom and sits in the aisle by the back door and the dogs are free with us.


Now ill admit my dogs arent as big as yours so your experience may be different.

By the way our dogs are a 6 lb black Terrapoo (terrier/poodle mix) and a 4.5 lb Pompoo (Pomeranian poddle mix) So our lil girls arent much bigger than a large cat!
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