To dog or not to dog?

[Jim2007]

My contribution is to say that we took our Reg (8kgs wire Fox Terrier) on his first trip at 14 weeks old and we would recommend starting young. Nothing now phases him on a camping trip. Takes everything in his stride because he’s grown up with it.

First few months were a bit vomity to be fair, but he’s over that now.

Sleeps on the driver’s seat in his bed. Travels on the floor secured to one of the rails.

He’s going round the Baltic in late summer. The admin for foreign travel is a pain and expensive but doable with patience and planning.

 

[andyinluton]

We now have Cockerpoo following the loss of our westie in my avatar.

We went for a westie as he was supposed to be hyper allergenic, he was, but no-one told us that he would be allergic to 27 varieties of grass, chicken, beef and goodness knows what else. Result was huge vets bills & a diet of duck & salmon.

Our cockerpoo sheds no noticable hair, was very easy to train & has a wonderful temperament. Is big enough to walk long distances & small enough not to fill the van. The wife & 2 kids have allergies but are not affected by this dog.

 

[The Merle]

Hello dog lovers.

We are considering getting a dog. I grew up with dogs (labs and retrievers) and love dogs, except that since not living with dogs over the last 20 years or so I’ve developed an allergy to dogs so I’m very carefully considering a small to medium sized anti allergy type dog and whether that can work. I’d love the kids to grow up with a dog like I did.

Anyway. Anyone on here camp and travel with young kids and dogs? We’ve got two youngish kids (6&9) and mainly do short weekends and then school holidays in our Beach sometimes combined with rented accommodation for longer ones. We like pubs cafes, walks, beaches, that sort of thing.

I’m concerned about how it would work with a dog in tow, getting in to campsites, pubs, doing anything away from the van. Plus the already very full van.

Is it just a complete pain?

Where does the dog sleep in a small van?

Thanks, just looking for some advice and tips really.

N.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dogs are good at adapting to van life, Zebedee can sleep anywhere or way especially after a long walk in the mountains. That’s now and yes he’s asleep in both.

 

[Wesel]

I would like to know how most of you do when you visit a place where dogs are not allowed.
Museum, store, restaurant for example. We have a border collie.

 

[66tim99]

I would like to know how most of you do when you visit a place where dogs are not allowed.
Museum, store, restaurant for example. We have a border collie.

We either leave together, or split and one goes in whilst the other walks the dog. We haven’t tried leaving her alone in a car. Suspect she’d bark and claw the interior to bits

 

[Johnboy Butts]

Well, there’s no question of Lola not coming with us. Crikey, my Mrs is more likely to leave me behind.

 

[toeknee]

Only dog if you have the night heater

 

[Loz2286]

We've got a 3 1/2 year old MIniature Schnauzer (though I don't think he got the Mini memo). He travels with us everywhere in our car or the Cali. He won't come in my VW Caddy van. I think he thinks it's beneath him! He rides on the back seat, restrained by the appropriate seatbelt, though if we've got passengers he's happy on the floor, secured by a D ring into the seat runner. He sleeps where he wants, usually next to Daddy, who he pushes out of bed. Being a non-shedding dog we have no allergy problems (my wife is super-allergic to most pets) and we have no pet hairs in the Cali. On cold nights he's nicer than a hot water bottle.

 

[The Merle]

I would like to know how most of you do when you visit a place where dogs are not allowed.
Museum, store, restaurant for example. We have a border collie.

Tourist shops and charity shops tend to be dog friendly, restaurants sit outside or pick dog friendly pubs. Stores if there’s two or you one in and one out then switch.
Museum, chateau and no go doggy places then Zebedee (crazy collie too) stays in van rear area with blinds down and I have a curtain that strings across the back of front seats so he can’t see out/no one can see in.
He’s happy gets a long walk first and will sleep/chill.

 

[AMH70]

We have a now 7 year old retriever, when she was a pup, she was extremely prone to travel sickness but we found absolutely fine if she travelled on an empty stomach. To this day, if she eats and travels in the car (and retrievers are food hoovers!) she will get sick - maybe worth trying if this makes a difference.

We have a fabric crate and she and our other dog (little collie type who has no such sensitive tummy issues!) are perfect in it, and hoping to use the same when we finally get our Cali.

Thank you for this! He also does number 2s in the car when he’s in the crate but if he’s on the front seat just is sick. But I feel it’s quite dangerous trying to make sure he’s sick on the puppy nat rather than the car. He is better on an empty stomach but ‘retches’ quite a bit. I wonder how many hours prior to travel he can eat...
Have you seen ‘a bus and beyond’? Their retriever goes in the boot and gets up on a ramp. I wonder if you’ll need a crate for them but just tied up in the boot?

 

[Magic Bus]

We got our little Rosie after getting the van. She’s a Havanese - the national dog of Cuba, looks a bit like a small Cavapoo but she’s a pure bred. My wife is allergic to animal hair and did lots of research about which breed to get. Havie’s don’t shed and my wife hasn’t had any allergic reaction to her. Rosie’s been away with us in the van probably 15 times and loves van life. She mostly sleeps in a fabric crate on the front passenger seat, but sometimes creeps onto the downstairs bed during the night.

She goes everywhere with us when we are away in the van. If they don’t allow dogs then we don’t go. We are members of the National Trust and English Heritage and these mostly allow dogs in their parks, gardens and ruined properties, though NT are a bit sniffy about where dogs can go. It’s worth asking whether a cafe or pub will allow a small well behaved dog, many will. We also have a Bike dog trailer so that she can come on bike rides with us.
This is her on a recent visit to Belton House near Grantham.

 

[AMH70]

My contribution is to say that we took our Reg (8kgs wire Fox Terrier) on his first trip at 14 weeks old and we would recommend starting young. Nothing now phases him on a camping trip. Takes everything in his stride because he’s grown up with it.

First few months were a bit vomity to be fair, but he’s over that now.

Sleeps on the driver’s seat in his bed. Travels on the floor secured to one of the rails.

He’s going round the Baltic in late summer. The admin for foreign travel is a pain and expensive but doable with patience and planning.

When he was ‘vomity’ did you have him in a crate so easier to cleanup? Mine is fourteen weeks and thinking it would be good to start him soon.

 

[Jim2007]

When he was ‘vomity’ did you have him in a crate so easier to cleanup? Mine is fourteen weeks and thinking it would be good to start him soon.

No, although he was crated at home, he wasn’t in the van, just seemed like a very large extra to carry around in a pretty full van.

He’s secured to the floor and we made sure there was a lot of old towel etc underneath him. Also, the co-pilot was pretty switched on to the signs and symptoms of an impending deposit and we were often able to stop and get him out to be sick.

He’s a small dog, so the volumes were manageable.

He’d grown out of it by about 6 months. We went around NE France, Germany and the Netherlands over six weeks when he was 8 months without any unwelcome deposits.

He still does his best to dart past the Cali on the drive rather than get in, but he’s slowly learning that a trip in the van generally leads to a very nice day out for a dog.

We would not be without him, nor would we travel without him. Brightens every day.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

We've got a 3 1/2 year old MIniature Schnauzer (though I don't think he got the Mini memo). He travels with us everywhere in our car or the Cali. He won't come in my VW Caddy van. I think he thinks it's beneath him! He rides on the back seat, restrained by the appropriate seatbelt, though if we've got passengers he's happy on the floor, secured by a D ring into the seat runner. He sleeps where he wants, usually next to Daddy, who he pushes out of bed. Being a non-shedding dog we have no allergy problems (my wife is super-allergic to most pets) and we have no pet hairs in the Cali. On cold nights he's nicer than a hot water bottle.

View attachment 88783

Snap!

 

[AMH70]

No, although he was crated at home, he wasn’t in the van, just seemed like a very large extra to carry around in a pretty full van.

He’s secured to the floor and we made sure there was a lot of old towel etc underneath him. Also, the co-pilot was pretty switched on to the signs and symptoms of an impending deposit and we were often able to stop and get him out to be sick.

He’s a small dog, so the volumes were manageable.

He’d grown out of it by about 6 months. We went around NE France, Germany and the Netherlands over six weeks when he was 8 months without any unwelcome deposits.

He still does his best to dart past the Cali on the drive rather than get in, but he’s slowly learning that a trip in the van generally leads to a very nice day out for a dog.

We would not be without him, nor would we travel without him. Brightens every day.
View attachment 89166

He’s lovely. It did make me chuckle when you said about him darting past the Cali. I’ve taken out Fred every day this week for his walk in the van and he’s doing the same. I think he prefers it on the floor than the seat which surprised me. Very glad to hear yours travelled so well at eight months - gives me hope!

 

[Campervanner]

Re vomiting: our first lab was travel sick as a pup. Stopped being travel sick when she grew tall enough to see out of window. Same with me; can't travel in the back of a car, need eyes on the horizon on a boat. Perhaps check your dog can see out? That might help.

 

[AMH70]

Re vomiting: our first lab was travel sick as a pup. Stopped being travel sick when she grew tall enough to see out of window. Same with me; can't travel in the back of a car, need eyes on the horizon on a boat. Perhaps check your dog can see out? That might help.

Thanks for this. It’s really strange but I put him in the footwell as suggested by a friend and he went 25 minutes on Monday night to puppy class without being sick! I wonder if the traffic whizzing by (when he was on the seat) was making him anxious then sick - maybe he feels more secure on the floor. I hope it’s not a one off!