New Cali Coast Owners - European Vacation with Dog ?

Woz959 · Jul 28, 2024

Hi, just joined this group after reading many posts on here before buying a coast.
This is our fifth VW campervan having already owned two T25s, one T4 and one T5 having sold our last van in Mar 2020. It’s been a while. Based in Chester and keen rock climbers with many trips to N Wales and the Lakes planned this year.

We are planning to go either to the south of France or the dolomites at the end of August for two weeks. Anyone who has visited either of these areas in a California I would love to hear your experience and tips. The other issue is our cocker spaniel. She is currently in a box which takes up all the space in between the front seats and rear bench. Not ideal as we can’t get to anything. Any tips on travelling with a dog while also trying to keep the van clean would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the summer everyone, see you on the road. Warren & Carmen

Californication69 · Jul 28, 2024

Leave the puppy with dog sitters / friends/ family ?
Towbar and trailer so you can pop the puppy dog in the trailer whilst you sorting the Cali out ?
Some sort of seat belt and box / cage on the backseat so you can get to the bench drawer?

Ch1pbutty · Jul 28, 2024

We leave our dog at home with friends & family when we go overseas, so he gets to have his own holiday; We tend to be on the beach when in SW France so not fair to take him, he would just overheat or one of us would have to seek shade all the time which would impact on the holiday activities.

Inka waterproof seat covers are essential. This harness is very good:

Drive Dog Car Harness

A dog car harness designed to keep your dog safe and secure during road trips to give you total peace of mind. The harness is made from strong seatbelt webbing so your dog has the same level of protection as you do and is held together using light and durable aluminium alloy D rings. Using this...

www.ezydog.co.uk

windrift-pass · Jul 28, 2024

Ch1pbutty said:
We leave our dog at home with friends & family when we go overseas, so he gets to have his own holiday; We tend to be on the beach when in SW France so not fair to take him, he would just overheat or one of us would have to seek shade all the time which would impact on the holiday activities.

Inka waterproof seat covers are essential. This harness is very good:

Drive Dog Car Harness

A dog car harness designed to keep your dog safe and secure during road trips to give you total peace of mind. The harness is made from strong seatbelt webbing so your dog has the same level of protection as you do and is held together using light and durable aluminium alloy D rings. Using this...

www.ezydog.co.uk

We’ve just had a 3 week vacation in Ireland, my partner and me plus a Labradoodle, similar size to a cocker, our dog shares our adventures and it wouldn’t be the same without her, problems are there to be solved, enjoy your holiday and bring back memories

sidepod · Jul 28, 2024

Woz959 said:
Hi, just joined this group after reading many posts on here before buying a coast.
This is our fifth VW campervan having already owned two T25s, one T4 and one T5 having sold our last van in Mar 2020. It’s been a while. Based in Chester and keen rock climbers with many trips to N Wales and the Lakes planned this year.

We are planning to go either to the south of France or the dolomites at the end of August for two weeks. Anyone who has visited either of these areas in a California I would love to hear your experience and tips. The other issue is our cocker spaniel. She is currently in a box which takes up all the space in between the front seats and rear bench. Not ideal as we can’t get to anything. Any tips on travelling with a dog while also trying to keep the van clean would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the summer everyone, see you on the road. Warren & Carmen

Why the box? Just put a soft bed down for the hound and shove her/him out of the way when required.

Ch1pbutty · Jul 28, 2024

windrift-pass said:
We’ve just had a 3 week vacation in Ireland, my partner and me plus a Labradoodle, similar size to a cocker, our dog shares our adventures and it wouldn’t be the same without her, problems are there to be solved, enjoy your holiday and bring back memories

Ireland tends to be alot cooler than France. We are off to North Wales next weekend and will take Reggie.

We just wouldn’t take our dog to a hot climate, as he would just sit panting in the shade overheating.

Enjoy your holidays!

Tycho · Jul 28, 2024

Woz959 said:
Hi, just joined this group after reading many posts on here before buying a coast.
This is our fifth VW campervan having already owned two T25s, one T4 and one T5 having sold our last van in Mar 2020. It’s been a while. Based in Chester and keen rock climbers with many trips to N Wales and the Lakes planned this year.

We are planning to go either to the south of France or the dolomites at the end of August for two weeks. Anyone who has visited either of these areas in a California I would love to hear your experience and tips. The other issue is our cocker spaniel. She is currently in a box which takes up all the space in between the front seats and rear bench. Not ideal as we can’t get to anything. Any tips on travelling with a dog while also trying to keep the van clean would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the summer everyone, see you on the road. Warren & Carmen

We take our dog always with us. She (20kg mix breed from Greece) likes the travelling and adventure. Last trip lasted 4 weeks, 5000km and took us to Portugal, Spain and France.
During the day when not driving, she prefers to climbs into the boot, and sleeps on the bedding while enjoying the view.
We also come back as a better team compared to when we left. We all connect during the travels.