Traveling with Dogs

Today is National Dog Day.  I'm not quite sure what that means, but any reason to celebrate is A-OK with me!

In honor of this auspicious holiday, this week's post will feature living in a RV with dogs.

Chip - our 6 pound miniature curly haired Rottweiler  (ok, so maybe he's a toy poodle)

Although, buying an RV didn't have anything to do with our dog, many people buy RVs just because they can't imagine traveling without their dog.  For people whose pets are like children, RVing is the perfect choice for travel.  After all, cruise ships don't allow dogs (I'm thinking it has something to do with the lack of grass) and few hotels do.  That means that dog owners have to spend BIG time money on boarding or find someone to come to their home for dog sitting.

For us, having someone come to the house to care for our dog has never worked too well.  I think it is harder on little Chip - maybe he misses us more because we are not there?  Having someone take our dog into their home is a little frightening to me.  Although Chip has never chewed up or damaged our furniture, what if he is stressed and takes it out on their pricey sofa???  Nightmare.  We have taken care of a dog in our home and the dog became so stressed that she began to have bloody diarrhea and had to be hospitalized.  When dogs get stressed, this is a common problem.  Chip does best when he is in a kennel at the vet.  I have a suspicion that he is very spoiled when he is there.  They all exclaim, "Chip, he is one of our favorites" whenever we visit the vet.  Either that or he is a little demon and they aren't telling me.

Best of all is when Chipperdoodle just travels with us.

Chip in the truck ready to travel.

Truly, since we live in our RV full time, it's no big deal.  He likes exploring new campgrounds and marking them. And then marking them again. and again. and again.  He loves the early morning walks and wakes us up early. Ok - full confession - in all truthfulness he wakes Scot up early.  I like to sleep through it.

I'm not sure he realizes that other houses DON'T have wheels.  He knows when we start packing up and begs to get in the truck.  He is ready to go!  We have found that it works best to keep his food and water on the floor in the back of the truck and restrict his access to the front seat.  We put his bed in the back and he rides great - until we use the turn signal.  Then he goes crazy.  I'm going to look into headphones for dogs.

Tomorrow, more tips for traveling with dogs.

What burning questions do you have about traveling with dogs?