Travelling with dogs (1 Viewer)

[Wendywuwu1968]

Hello! We are researching buying a motor home to travel the country with our three dogs. I'm sure a lot of you do this so would like tips on how to do this with minimum of fuss! Where do they sit when you are travelling? How do you keep the van clean? Can you get awnings for motorhomes in which to clean the dogs down? Do many sites allow (3) dogs?
So many questions, I hope someone can help!

 

[Zoppydog]

What size are your dogs?
Chris

 

[Wendywuwu1968]

Here they are!

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[Deleted member 29692]

We travel with ours. They're one of the main reasons we bought a MH in the first place.

They travel on the floor between the front seats in harnesses looped to the seatbelt posts.

Cleaning is no different to cleaning up after them at home. Unless they're a breed that doesn't shed hair and you never let them get muddy you just have to accept you're going to be cleaning up after them all the time.

You can get various types of awning. We don't have one and have never felt the need so can't help you with that.

Most sites do allow dogs but don't make the mistake of thinking you have to be tied to "proper" campsites. You have so many other options.

 

[Zoppydog]

Lovely, not too big then..
Our Springer travels in her crate which sits behind the passenger seats some people travel with them in harnesses attached to seat belts.
Dustpan and brush works well although we do take our Gtech with us but we have removed all the carpets.
Yes we have an awning for more space for us and the dog.
Some sites do charge per dog but you might find some that don't
Happy travels
Chris

 

[Head Gardener]

Don't know what sort of m/h you are considering, but there are a couple of panelvan conversions where the bathroom is at the back, and can be accessed both from inside the vehicle (obviously) and directly from the outside using the rear doors.

Although we have just bought a PVC which does not have that layout, we always thought it was an excellent setup to be able to take a muddy pooch directly into the bathroom and clean him/her off before being allowed into the living quarters!

As for your other questions - commonsense really, nothing complicated. In our caravan I use fleece throws or patchwork quilts over all the upholstery, and chuck them in the wash afer a trip, and one of those 'sticky paper rollers' for picking up stray dog hair. I'll warn you now, there is no stopping "puppy kisses" on the inside of the windows as they watch what is happening outside

You can buy "driveaway awnings" for m/h's but that has always struck me as defeating the purpose (which, to me, is to tour).

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[Frazzle]

We have 3 dogs they lay down between the front seats, i've only used C&CC sites not been a problem, last time we were away one chap had 5 labradors and a smaller dog.

 

[MC 55 FUN]

We also purchased a Moho so we could travel with our little dog, she has a harness & travels securely on the designated front facing travelling seats which form the half dinette.
Some places don't allow dogs but many more do in our experiences so far.

 

[Zigisla]

We bought our MH with the dogs in mind. Ours travel on the rear bunk with harnesses attached to seatbelt clipped to a running line across the back so they can move around, but not come forward.

All very relaxed. Last Picture is not in the travelling position. But you can get the drift of how comfy he can get.

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[Hollyberry]

I used a crate like this

But I'd have loved the rear bunk bed layout as @Zigisla has. Important thing is that in the event of collision or sudden braking the dogs aren't thrown around.
Use cotton throws on the seating ( I bought large duvet covers from charity shops)
A cordless hand held vacuum cleaner will help to keep dog hairs in check.
I used to motorhome with 2x cats and 2x dogs, never had a problem with staying on sites.
In France sites can ask you to produce vaccination certificates but I never found one that did.
UK sites nearly all gave a website where you can check the level of dog friendliness. I saw lots of people with 3, 4 , even 5 dogs.
to Fun.

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

One of the reasons we changed our Moho was so we got 4 seat belts so the 2 dogs could travel in safety. You have to think that in an accident loose dogs could be propelled into the back of your head, which is not good for either of you.

On sites we secure them to a ground spike on a longish wire positioned so they cannot easily get off our pitch. This works fine unless others do not obey the dogs-in-lead rule and they wander into outlet pitch. They are happy outside with us or inside with us, just like at home.

At night they sleep in their own beds, either in the floor or the bench seats

En external shower is useful if they get dirty. We don't have one any more, so a bucked and water does the same job

 

[lawry]

Hi We have an Autotrail 840 with single beds in separate bedroom
They both lay on the floor area in lounge with no problems when travelling Tried various layouts but found that with the 840 we can shut dogs away from us at night as they loved to wake us up at 5.30 by jumping on the beds when we had a U lounge MH. You can see our 2 and we find that using the outside shower attachment on the drivers side helps to keep the MH cleaner but at the end of the day spend a lot of time each day cleaning van as well.OH for the joy of dogs
I have noticed if going abroad the acsi sites tend to have a max of 2 dogs but dont know if thats set in stone but in this country never had problems and seen 3-5 dogs in 1 van
Good luck

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[obanvanman]

We don't have any problems. 8mtr home and there is room for everyone.

 

[lawry]

Mind you was not happy when this happened and used nearly the whole tank of water with shower attachment
Had to clean em as restaurant wouldn't let em in

 

[MC 55 FUN]

Mind you was not happy when this happened and used nearly the whole tank of water with shower attachment
Had to clean em as restaurant wouldn't let em in

Very soggy doggies

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[Head Gardener]

We don't have any problems. 8mtr home and there is room for everyone.

View attachment 185226

Aww, bless!!!

We used to have a dog who thought he was a paper shredder ...

 

[Zigisla]

In France sites can ask you to produce vaccination certificates but I never found one that did.
UK sites nearly all gave a website where you can check the level of dog friendliness. I saw lots of people with 3, 4 , even 5 dogs.
to Fun.

Thats a good point. We stayed on a site on lake Annecy and had to produce the dog passports before we could stay.

 

[DaveandJen]

The reason why many of us enjoy the motorhome way of life is because we can take our friendly dogs along with us so would recommend you keep on researching buying a motorhome you will not be disappointed. We only have one dog and when travelling in the van we fit him with a harness attached to the rear seat belts via the seat belt leash below.

Seat Belt Leash with Elastic Nylon Bungee Buffer about £9.00 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M1RK3C4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dave.

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[Head Gardener]

In the car our dog travels harnessed on the rear passenger seat. I will not have her in the boot area because I was once severely rear-ended whilst stationary at a roundabout (hard enough to push me across three lanes of traffic and into the path of a large artic, thankfully he had good brakes!). There was not a lot left of the back of my car after that, and if a dog had been in there it would have certainly been killed.

In our MH that will not be possible to use the harness because there are only two travel seats, so as she is happy in a travel crate I will look for something which I can securely fix down. I will probably end up having to add some fixing points somewhere in the van but that's not a problem - 23kg of Daisy flying through the van in the event of an accident would do neither her or us any good

I know you've got three pups to transport, but if crates are aceptable to them, try an Amazon search on something like "isofix dog travel crate". Lots of options.

 

[TheBig1]

there is a legal requirement that animals including dogs should be restrained whilst being transported in a vehicle so that they cannot reach nor distract the driver.

we transport our three staffies on harnesses and chains locked into rear seatbelts in the car, harnesses and chains attached to plates bolted through the floor in the motorhome

we have an external shower fitted on our motorhome for cleaning dirty smelly dogs. previous vans we put an extra long hose on the indoors shower and hung it out the window for dog cleaning

 

[celticmini]

Take your dogs to Germany, it is THE most dog friendly country. You can take dogs in cafes, shops and restaurants, we don't ask any more as we were fed up with people looking strange, as if to say " why are you asking". Germany is cheap and vets etc are really cheap, about half the price of a UK vet, not that you will need one, only for worming before return travel.

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[Kingham]

there is a legal requirement that animals including dogs should be restrained whilst being transported in a vehicle so that they cannot reach nor distract the driver.

The Highway Code only offers that as guidance, but it can't be enforced per se and any prosecution would have to go down the Careless or Dangerous Driving route, where you would have to prove that the driving was so affected by the animal.

If it was legislation, the 'should' would be replaced by 'must'.

So for example, if someone is transporting an unrestrained, but well behaved dog in the lounge area of their motorhome and the journey is otherwise uneventful, there is no offence committed.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I used a crate like this

When we first got the cocker as a pup we went away when he was still tiny, about 13 weeks and we thought we'd get one of those for him to sleep in until he got used to the van.

It lasted one night. The bloody springer somehow managed to unzip it and let him out

 

[TheBig1]

an airborne 15kg dog would become a projectile with a force equivalent to a tonne approximately in case of impact. Result would be 1 dead or badly injured dog and 1 dead or seriously injured driver or passenger if the dog hits them

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[Deleted member 29692]

On sites we secure them to a ground spike on a longish wire positioned so they cannot easily get off our pitch.

Jormax windbreaks in the pet enclosure configuration are a far better, although many times more expensive, solution than the ground spike.

It saves you untangling them every 5 minutes

https://www.jormaxwindbreaks.co.uk/pet-enclosures

 

[gus-lopez]

Don't go anywhere it is likely the dogs can get wet. ..............Like the Uk, France .

 

[Julie and Charles]

View attachment 185208
Here they are!

Beyond cute

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[32143]

We have 3 large dogs. They travel wearing pet travel harnesses which we attach to secure anchor points using seatbelt extenders. This allows easy and quick release.
We have pop up awnings for longer trips which give them a bit more space and fresh air.
In UK we often use caravan & motorhome club as there are no limits on number of dogs, same with c&cc, main sites dogs are free, some of the CLs do charge for them though and have limits, so best to check as a £1 to £2 per dog quickly adds up. We have found some independent/private sites have a two dog limit, we then ring and ask if possible to bring three, some are fine and allow, some don't.
Abroad they have travelled in many European countries with no problems. Many ACSI sites state two dog max but the majority of the time we have been ok with three, sometimes they charge a bit extra.
Our three love travelling with us.

Lin
edit forgot to say keeping van clean, we do same as at home no carpets or fabric upholstery, hard floor with some machine washable mats (for elderly choc lab as she needs something to grip at certain points) and wipe clean faux leather upholstery. Sweep floor with a little dustpan & brush, ( handy exercise) daily and we carry a little rechargeable black and decker to suck out the hard to reach fur if away long term.

 

[Peter and Julie]

We have two Jack Russell size dogs and have bought a foldaway travel kennel. It's a case of start engine and they take themselves in and don't appear till stopped. Roughly every 4 hours driving then a stop. They appear to like it so that means so do I....

 

[Jaycee3]

We have a 6 berth. Our 2 dogs travel in the dinette with our 10yo son. Usually one on the seat with a seatbelt clip and and 1 under the table with a lead fastened to a seatbelt. They both wear harnesses to travel so arent attached by their necks. They sleep in this area too. My son has the overcab bed and we have the transverse rear bed.

In the day they often lie on our bed. It stops then getting under your feet when cooking etc.

We have a wind out awning and a couple of windbreak. They have quickly got used to being tethered and enjoy lying outside. We do dry them in this area when it is wet and have some foam mats we out down.

We have a dust buster, dustpan and brush and throws for the seats.