Somewhere for the dog ?

[TimboG]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

 

[AlisonF]

My vango kela takes me 1-2 hours to put up on my own. But I like to ensure all guys are used no matter what the weather.
The comforzt awning room is a fraction of tbe time, but not as dog or weather tight.

 

[TimboG]

Thanks for the quick and straightforward feedback Alison. To go away for a weekend and spend nearly 4 hours putting up and taking down an awning to me defeats the object of the exercise but as i say you have been very helpful.

 

[AlisonF]

Thanks for the quick and straightforward feedback Alison. To go away for a weekend and spend nearly 4 hours putting up and taking down an awning to me defeats the object of the exercise but as i say you have been very helpful.

If you are with the family I am sure it will be a lot quicker. The video’s on youtube show more like 10 mins (but without pegging everything down). Hopefully others have got it more efficient than I have on my own.

 

[Big Ted]

I have a khyam drive way awning and screen house.
Being 6’8” tall helps, but I can get it out of its bag and up in 2 mins, with swmbo pegging it out in 5/10 mins if the ground is ok for pegs.
It’s really no hassle, a great quick erect system.
The hardest bit is drying it out if it gets soaked towards the end of a season. It’s like fighting with an octopus!

 

[BeagleMum]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

Having 2 Beagles we find the additional space with a Comfort Awning room invaluable.
The advantage of this awning is the panels are separate so it can be put up as a complete room or as individual panels. It’s a very simple system, we’ve never actually timed it but we probably have it done inside 20 minutes definitely under the half hour.

We all sleep in the van 2 + 2 Beagles. For us the awning is useful for drying off wet dogs, storing their wet harnesses towels, coats etc & for cooking in if it’s raining.

 

[Trevor Brown]

Hi TimboG
My wife and I have a California and a Golden Retriever. We have toured quite a bit in the UK and Europe, and always take her with us. She sleep downstairs while we sleep upstairs! And it works very well. She loves it too, and lies between the front seats while we are on the move.

 

[Amarillo]

4.30am in the Lofoten Islands and four people and two dogs gently snoozing.

An awning is a huge faff for just one night. We always all sleep together in the van, and if using an awning it is a kitchen/living/dining room, not a bedroom.

 

[Damon18]

We have a Vango kela 4 drive away awning, and its great for us.
It takes 2 of us about 20 to 30 minutes to put up if pegging out is easy, trying to get it aligned can be a bit of a head ache at times (practice makes perfect).
I sleep upstairs whilst the other half sleeps in the awning with our 2 dogs (1 Irish and 1 English Setters).
If we are going away for a longer period we also have a Quest Screen House 4 which is a pop up gazebo which we use for eating and general lounging.

 

[AlisonF]

If you are with the family I am sure it will be a lot quicker. The video’s on youtube show more like 10 mins (but without pegging everything down). Hopefully others have got it more efficient than I have on my own.

I think one of the reasons mine takes so long is I like to make sure there are no possible escape routes for the dogs.. so I spend quite some time pegging the sides in near the rear and front wheel arches...

 

[daz60]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

Plenty of room at the bottom of the bed for our Quinn, they find there own place.

 

[Digger]

Not for overnight but a quick and watertight kennel substitute £96 from Jacksons.

 

[Trevor Brown]

 

[Porker993]

I am also fairly new to having a t6 . With just the 3 of us Sabina, Rooney and myself we fit in fine without the need of an awning .
I remove the boot shelf and fold the rear seat flat and as far back as it will go , that leaves loads of space in the middle too.
Rooney sleeps down and Me and Sab sleep up top .

 

[CaliBear]

Hi TimboG
My wife and I have a California and a Golden Retriever. We have toured quite a bit in the UK and Europe, and always take her with us. She sleep downstairs while we sleep upstairs! And it works very well. She loves it too, and lies between the front seats while we are on the move.

Our Goldie does the same! Think he loves being close to us both rather than in the boot like he would be when in the car.

 

[Tandt]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

We have 2 labs and 2 min dax. We all sleep together with dax in cage on top of cooker and labs on floor under bed. If you start messing about with awnings you change the ethos of a camper or just don't go away as much as you would like. We prefer to manage and love to see peoples faces when we all pile out but I still think it is less than with 2 children and a lot have those. Adapt and laugh.

 

[Julesa]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

If it’s just the two of you & the dog you will be fine without the awning-we sleep upstairs & our goldie sleeps downstairs. We do have a drive away awning for longer trips but don’t bother for weekends away

 

[CSaville]

We have a big air beam awning for our two Great Danes. We set it up when we are going to be somewhere for 3+ nights as it does take about 1 hour to set up and 1.5hrs to take down between the two of us. But we have found it amazing, especially with the slightly dubious English weather and needing extra storage space for all our wet weather gear and the dog stuff.
If we are only away for 2 nights and are not planning on moving the van much then we use our wind out awning and windbreakers to set up a little area. The dogs then sleep in the bottom of the van, my mum up top and me in a pop up tent under the awning.
The major problem we had was fitting all our gear in and then having space for the dogs to travel comfortably, to solve this we had our bike rack altered to remove the bike bars and then a big canvas bag for the back, this has made life much easier as we can put the awning and all out bedding in here.
However the recent revelation has been that I now have a vw for myself, so we now take both on outings and join them together with the awning. This now means that each dog has a downstairs area to sleep and each human has an upstairs. But this is obviously a very extreme case and it was mainly due to me not having a day to day car big enough to transport both dogs, so if there was an emergency and my mum was away we would be in a slight pickle

 

[Niborn]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

Hugo our large Shollie, probably bigger than an average lab loves the back shelf, he loves it to sleep on and to watch the traffic from the rear window as we drive.
I've never used an awning and I've been away 8 weeks once around the Arctic with Hugo, totally fine.
Of course than we loose the back shelf.
Access isn't a problem he jumps over the seat and not up via the rear door.
I can also secure him that way if the law demands
Best wishes

 

[Campervanner]

Having 2 Beagles we find the additional space with a Comfort Awning room invaluable.
The advantage of this awning is the panels are separate so it can be put up as a complete room or as individual panels. It’s a very simple system, we’ve never actually timed it but we probably have it done inside 20 minutes definitely under the half hour.

We all sleep in the van 2 + 2 Beagles. For us the awning is useful for drying off wet dogs, storing their wet harnesses towels, coats etc & for cooking in if it’s raining.

Completely agree with BeagleMum here. I think erecting the awning room takes less than 20 mins. Very simple. We've not had it long and don't stay more than one or two nights but found it invaluable. Dogs sleep in with us but good to be able to use awning as overspill. One large, one small labrador, here looking at Auntie eating her lunch on a day out, they make camping ten times more fun.

 

[Cali1]

I use the awning most times in the day ,use a ground spike for each dog with vary length cords 15/17/20 m so they can move around and play when they like.
At night one dog has her own space at the front using a stretcher.
The two boys sleep on the bed and we sleep upstairs.
Here’s a pic of two of them thinking they are staying in the front of the van.
The big one is a rescue hence his silly haircut!

 

[Cali1]

 

[Elly Swanson]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

When you say “us all”, how many are you? Just 2 adults and a dog or do you have kids too?

 

[Elly Swanson]

Having 2 Beagles we find the additional space with a Comfort Awning room invaluable.
The advantage of this awning is the panels are separate so it can be put up as a complete room or as individual panels. It’s a very simple system, we’ve never actually timed it but we probably have it done inside 20 minutes definitely under the half hour.

We all sleep in the van 2 + 2 Beagles. For us the awning is useful for drying off wet dogs, storing their wet harnesses towels, coats etc & for cooking in if it’s raining.

I would agree that having an awning to dry wet dogs is a major plus (humans too). Also for storing your wet/muddy/smelly gear. Nothing worse than getting the van wet, or getting in the van wet. This is especially true if the weather’s really bad and you have to put the top down and sleep downstairs. You can always storm strap and double peg an awning and even if it broke it wouldn’t be as catastrophic as the top of the van getting damaged.

At first putting up a driveaway takes time, but once you get into a routine you can really cut it down. In high winds it’s a challenge though as the wind can get right under them.

We were pitching a Khyam quick erect once in very bad weather - you put it half up height wise and peg out wind quylines first, then put it to full height. Before we got the chance to peg the wind whipped under it and it took my hubby about 3 m up into the air. Luckily I’m pretty sturdy and had a good hold of the other corner line. It took all my strength to keep hold. When my hubby came back to earth he cracked his ribs. Luckily old parachute training kicked in or it would have been much worse. He’d also managed it so there was no damage to our van or anyone else’s (we were packed in at a rally). Amazingly there was no damage to the awning either and it went on to serve us for many years.

We’ve never had an awning room that attaches as panels to the wind out awning, not sure how that would fair in the wind and of course you can’t drive away and leave stuff stored in it.

If space allows we roll out the van awning and attach the driveaway to that, if weathers bad I use strong shower curtains to close the open sides. In very high winds I’ve set up a tarp to deflect the wind. Here’s a pic of our old Toyota, couldn’t find a pic from the other side! We didn’t have to do it last year for our Cali.

 

[Elly Swanson]

I am relatively new to the camper van world and have dipped my toe in the water with a T5 conversion. We bought the van really to see if we liked the way of life but havent used it much. We are dog lovers but dont have one at the moment and didnt think we would get one in the short term. Now a lovely Golden Retriever has come up that needs a new home but then the camper just isnt big enough to accomodate us all. I didnt really want to get an awning because of the hassle of putting up / taking it down particularly when we probably will move on or only stay a couple of days or so in any one place. Is it as big a hassle as i think ? Realistically please be honest about how long it takes to put up and take down, which would you recommend and if you can think of any other options ?

If it’s only 2 adults and a dog you can fit easily in a vdub. But train the dog to the space you want to allocate to them and don’t let them call the shots. Get the dog used to moving for you, not the other way round. I’m pretty strict, but my hubby’s a right soft-touch with the dog so I’ve had to train him too !

The dog travels on the bench seat, strapped via the seatbelt clip. When he’s in the van on his own he can sit/lay and relax anywhere “Downstairs”.

We do a lot of overnight stopovers, especially in pub car parks where we’re just in a parking space and can’t even put a chair out. The dog has his own space to sleep, on the passengers seat facing forward (in our Cali ocean it’s the seat in front of the kitchen). It stays facing front the whole time and when we’re “camped” - that’s his spot, even if we sleep up top, but also in the day if he just want’s his own doggie time - he loves it. The rest of the time he just goes where there’s a space.

Dogs are so great and easily trained. If you’re consistent they’re happy to know where they stand (or sit ). I know families with 2 kids who manage with a dog inside too.