Dogs, work and van living? (1 Viewer)

[Margret Christie]

Hallo all.
Am new an currently longish term planning and looking into the possibilities and pitfalls of living in a motorhome FT with my 2 dogs ... biggish but not huge.

I am not in a position NOT to work (shame) and will need somehow to make a living. (Just mistyped 'loving' )

I am confident about dealing with the dogs in small space but concerned about leaving them unattended to go to a job.
anyone with any thoughts, experiences, or is this not on?

thanks for yr help.

 

[Allan & Loren]

We don't full time but we do take our dogs with us when travel and happily leave them in the van when out sightseeing, shopping or other places unsuitable to take them with us but I'm not sure I'd be happy leaving ours for a full day's work. The van can get quite warm so you'd need to make sure you've enough ventilation and would they be quiet in the van or are they barkers which would annoy other campers.

You could look at finding a dog walker. We used one when we were on hols in Oban as we had booked white water rafting for an afternoon and it meant leaving the dogs for about 4/5 hours. We found a local dog walker who came to the site to meet us the day before and we arranged to leave a key, etc. She was great and I'd use this service again if I needed to.

 

[MC 55 FUN]

&

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[Gromett]

Welcome, Fulltiming in a van is more than possible I have done it for 7 years....

However leaving a dog in your van for an 8 hour work day + travelling time? I don't think that is acceptable to be honest. Especially in Summer.

 

[Stagman]

Welcome, Fulltiming in a van is more than possible I have done it for 7 years....

However leaving a dog in your van for an 8 hour work day + travelling time? I don't think that is acceptable to be honest. Especially in Summer.

Agree. Even with blinds shut and all sunroofs open, your van can and will get too hot for the dogs after a while, even in the british summer weather. You could look into doggy daycare places. They are becoming very popular, although your dogs would need to be sociable with other dogs to be accepted.

 

[scotjimland]

Not a good idea... besides, some sites have rules about leaving dogs in the van alone.. and even if not, there will always be a 'busy' person ready and likely to report if you do..
we were reported for leaving our dog in the car outside our home .. I kid you not... I had just popped back indoors for a few minutes.. next day I had a visit from the RSPCA .. you couldn't make it up..

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[Deleted member 29692]

We don't full time but we do take the dogs whenever we travel.

We will leave them in the van for 2 or 3 hours, usually in the evening if we go out to eat and then they've usually been out with us all day so will just sleep.

I wouldn't leave them for much longer than that though and not at all during the hottest part of the day.

 

[scotjimland]

We will leave them in the van for 2 or 3 hours, usually in the evening if we go out to eat and then they've usually been out with us all day so will just sleep.

likewise..

 

[32143]

Would have to agree, wouldn't leave ours in van once it gets warm.
Ours love the van and get plenty of exercise before being left and will happily snooze in van for hours, but we only leave them during the day if it's cool, even in UK it gets too hot to leave them in May, spent last weekend at York and it was lovely and hot, spent days sitting outside with dogs or walking them, once sun went in left them to go to a party. No chance of leaving them in van for the days it was just too warm.

I would look at doggie daycare, used that when we worked, ours loved it.

Lin
Though of course you didn't say when you were thinking of working, I guess in the hotter months maybe evening work or early mornings might work if you are able to get the hours.

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[jonandshell]

Can you not take your MH to your place of work?
A coach built motorhome with a fan switched on gets no hotter inside than out. If you are able to check on them during your breaks it probably wouldn't be a problem.
Because we can't leave the dogs during the day at our temporary lodgings, we are doing exactly as I describe. The dogs also benefit from being checked by work colleagues also.

The dogs seem very happy and get more companionship than they did when we left them at home all day. The only problem, as mentioned by Jim, is that busy types might take it upon themselves to wrongly conclude that your dogs are dying from the heat and break into your van or call the RSPCA.

 

[Puddleduck]

What about working as a site warden? That way you could keep your dogs with you

 

[Margret Christie]

thanks for all your helpful replies.I clearly need to have a plan and think more, but really useful to get your perspective, which I will take on board

I was most concerned about the heat for them than anything so these have been very useful for me.

They are barkers too, uinfortunately. Usually briefly, not all day long yappers, but will/can bark at Anything they think is a bit dodgy, so in a van, in a strange place, that could translate to all day. I wouldn't want to impose that on anyone!

Parking at work ... not at present but job may not last forever and there may be other options, so perhaps in the future ... I had been wondering about this option.

Daycare will depend on costs, of course! noticed one round here - £20 per day. For one dog.

could think about friends etc doing possible daycare for me, but that will really be an ask and will depend on circumstances. Worth thinking about perhaps.

No rush at present, so thanks again for your thoughts on this.

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