Looking forward to talking with you all about traveling with our pets (our babies). Totally understand food/water/heat/cold etc, but what do people do when the park you stay in won't let you leave your pets inside, if you want to ...say go out to dinner, or tour a site without the dogs? Thinking of joining Good Sam Club, but most of them say you can't leave pets in the RV alone. And the big question is our cat. She is 15 years old, uses a litter box (but she is a big cat so using the pull out under the dinette won't work. In the shower maybe? Beside the bed? *yuk*..ideas?
How do you insert an image if you don't have a URL ? Tried to just paste but no luck.
-- Edited by Ateepay on Saturday 14th of December 2013 08:21:54 AM
Lucky Mike said
09:10 AM Dec 14, 2013
I find the biggest reason most parks say you cant leave a pet inside your coach is the "Barking Dog Syndrome" that disturbs everyones peace thats anywhere nearby.. think it would be better to ban those type pet owners that dont respect others..(I'm a dog owner)..I'm not sure cats are considered pets seeing that they run there own life..and only allow you to pamper them....LOL
suggestion is to ask the park before you register how that rule is enforced ...and if it is to stringent and will make staying there a bad experience....find a friendlier park.
SnowGypsy said
09:36 AM Dec 14, 2013
What we do when staying in RV parks is to take the dogs along. Our dogs are bigger and will stay quiet in their travel cages in the van when we shop, etc. This is based on it being weather permitting. When staying longer term, sometimes a neighbor/friend there will help out but that requires a lot of faith being put in the other person. Some places have doggie daycare available especially in the snowbird areas of the country. When we were living in Pima County, AZ (Tucson-area) it was against the law to have a pet confined alone in your car, tied outside or in a fenced yard unless the fence was dog proof so you need to be careful of local laws not to mention that a lot of people had complaints because they put their small dogs on the long leashes and coyotes, well, we all know what they do and cats need to stay confined also.
We didn't full-time with a cat but we did extended stays with a cat but a smaller one. I can't remember where we kept the litter box but we kept it very clean and used the liners so it didn't present a major problem. I know at one point, the cat had a travel cage that was large enough to have a smaller litter box in the back of the cage which worked out well.
And, yes, barking dogs are the problem and getting two dogs doesn't give them company so that they don't bark. Many people think their dogs don't bark. I once recorded the sounds in our house when we were away and found that our dog had sounds I had never heard before. Another reason dogs are being banned is because people don't clean up after their pets.
el Rojo and Pam said
10:18 AM Dec 14, 2013
We have three dogs. Only one time did we get a note on our door that we had barking dogs, never mind the neighbor across the way had one too, probably got ours going. But that was the end of it. Now we just take them with us and roll down the windows a little when we shop or dine.
Terry and Jo said
10:18 AM Dec 14, 2013
Patti,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. You have definitely joined a group of very knowledgeable folks with answers to all kinds of questions on RV's and the RV lifestyle. Glad to have you as part of the family.
As for pictures, I've not discovered a good way to insert photos without using a photo hosting site. I happened to choose Photobucket for my hosting site, largely because they are free to join and post photos. The site isn't perfect in that although they give one the option of preventing someone from "stealing" one's photos by the "right-click, save-as" method, I found a way where the photos can still be stolen by that very method.
Anyway, in the "Guidelines and Suggestions" category of the forums, I posted a thread that describes the process of embedding photos into the body of one's message. Here is a direct link to that thread:
Thank you everyone for your helpful (and funny) ideas. As all dog owners know, the "kids" become the family you can't or don't want to be without.
I know we will figure this out when we start our first trip. We did a shake down only 3 hours from home and stayed in my uncle's driveway overnight LOL
Looking forward to chatting more when we get our coach back from the dealer (putting a new dashboard in).
Ateepay said
10:39 AM Dec 14, 2013
Got photobucket, and tried to upload just one pic, it didn't work....
We just have one cat. But we have ignored such rules our entire RVing time and not had a problem. Our cat will talk if we leave the windows open, so we leave with the air conditioning running.
el Rojo and Pam said
11:38 AM Dec 14, 2013
We have also found that leaving the TV on for the dogs tends to keep them quieter. It's a catch 22, if the dogs add to the security of the home they need to able to bark to let an intruder know to pick a different coach. LOL.
WestWardHo said
11:41 AM Dec 14, 2013
Welcome! We have only been in one park where there was an issue with leaving our pup unattended in our rig and it was our fault. We were in a state park in AZ and went out for lunch, not putting the pup in her "box". Got back to the park after being gone a short time and had a Host note on our door. Our bad! If we had put her in her box where she feels very safe, she wouldn't have barked. Since she is 45 lbs her box does take up a lot of space in our living room. (It's a collapsible one and ends up as a convenient spot to dump odds and ends when we're static. :(
We do find traveling with a dog restrictive. This morning we were talking about taking a boat to tour Catalina Island but we can't leave our dog that long. In our S&B, we just called our dog sitter when we wanted to be gone for the day. We've never gotten her a kennel cough vaccine as we've never boarded her but I think we will so we have that option.
In our rig there is just enough space between one of the bath doors and the shower to put the litter box. And we just use the second door.
We've said that we wouldn't get another cat and dog should something happen to one of ours because of the restrictions and because it wouldn't be fair to a pet given our ages. They do make us laugh every day and bring us great joy.
Sherry
Jo and Ben said
12:15 PM Dec 14, 2013
This is a great thread. We will be full timing in 2014 and have two dogs and a cat as well. We are not sure what to do with the cat--she gets car sick :( and there is no place to put a litter box in our 5'er. We are trying to find her a new home, but I feel an obligation to care for my animals for life. All three are rescues, and are part of the family. We will both be working, so the dogs will be home alone for some hours a few days a week. I was not even aware that some parks have this rule about not leaving them alone in the RV. There are some doggy daycare places that might be an option. I have used the Petsmart Pets Hotel daycare in the past and it worked well and the dogs had a good time and were well cared for. If we have to do that every work-day it will sure add up to a large expense quickly though.
Clay L said
01:35 PM Dec 14, 2013
We had two dogs and a cat for most of our eleven years of full timing. We ignored the rules and left them in the motor home with the shades down so they couldn't see out. We left the TV on and ran the AC if necessary. We had one complaint from a woman in a park model a couple of sites over and across the street from us. The woman next door said the complainer was full of crap and the dogs had briefly barked once when the complainer and a friend had walked through our site and the dogs heard them talking.
Due to health and age issues both dogs had to be put to sleep a few years ago and we decided not to get any more until we were finished RVing.
Our first cat passed away two years ago - an aneurysm the vet thought. We have two cats now (from shelters). We have a covered litter box that sits in front of our closet in the hall when we are stopped for a while.
I have seen openings cut into the space under dinettes with an opening inside that goes down into a basement compartment with a litter box there.
Other people have posted that they keep one in the shower.
-- Edited by Clay L on Saturday 14th of December 2013 01:36:02 PM
2riker2go said
04:12 PM Dec 14, 2013
We have two cats. When we leave for the day, we leave the a/c on if it's going to be a warm day. Otherwise they just hang out with the windows open. We adapted a cupboard near the tv for the litter box. We leave one door open and you can hardly tell it's there.
manycats said
05:21 PM Dec 14, 2013
We had two cats in several different RVs when we full-timed. Since we never boondocked and used park showers, we used a shower curtain to line the tub so no litter would go into the drain, put the litter box in the tub and, while we were parked kept the door ajar. Our cats were also used to going outside with us and doing their "thing". I cleaned the litter box frequently and had no problem with odors.
Before we met, my husband traveled with his mini "wiener dog" and she would howl when he left her. His solution was to ask for the site farthest away from other RVs and also, if he had neighbors, to explain to them that she would howl for a few minutes and then be quiet all day long.
Since our pets are our children we make small sacrifices to keep them healthy happy. It's worth it.!
Terry and Jo said
06:25 PM Dec 14, 2013
Ateepay wrote:
Got photobucket, and tried to upload just one pic, it didn't work....
It didn't work because you inserted the above as a "direct link" from the Photobucket "menu" but you didn't insert it into the body of the message using the "link" function. Those instructions are in the "Forum Tips" category of the forums with a thread title of "Inserting Links into Forum Posts." In your post that is "quoted" in this comment, you will notice that I "activated" your link using that method. Have patience as it takes a bit to learn all of the little tricks to the forums.
What you want to do to embed a photo into the body of the message is us Photobucket's "img" link from the menu instead and then just "paste" that where you want the photo. As mentioned in the instructions at the link in my first post, one needs to watch the size of image posted on Photosbucket for hosting. If it is too large and doesn't fit on one "forum page" then it causes the page to expand horizontally, making it necessary to scroll right and left just to read the postings.
Terry
SnowGypsy said
07:09 PM Dec 14, 2013
Just a reminder that some people do work the night shift when full-timing and there are those that travel to an area in order to receive treatment for an illness, babies/toddlers trying to nap, etc. A barking dog or two can be a real liability in those circumstances and those that don't follow the rules and leave their dogs there alone and barking are the ones that contribute heavily to pets being totally banned.
Additionally, there can be limits on weight often 20 lbs or less or the number of pets and, of course, some have fees for pets. Some RV parks don't allow certain breeds and the list of those breeds is growing due to insurance issues. There is also Breed Specific Legislation in play with some cities/counties that do not allow certain breeds, generally pitbulls, and often including English Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Ah, "The Golden Rule", I guess I wouldn't leave my dog to bark and disturb others even if there wasn't a rule against it.
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 15th of December 2013 05:28:30 PM
jrzygrl64 said
08:54 PM Dec 14, 2013
We have camped with a dog and two cats for years. I have always taken the "do not leave pets unattended" to mean OUTSIDE the RV, liked tied up or in one of those temporary fences or something. I mean, how could you even go for a shower or to the pool? Based on that, we leave them in the RV alone when we need to. I would rather leave my dog in the RV with the a/c on then in my car. We have, on several occasions, parked a few sites down and quietly walked up to the RV to see if she was barking, and we only heard her once, and that was when there were kids playing in the street right near her. So far, we have had a Class C, so it was very hard to keep her from getting in the front with the ability to look out. In our 5er, I think she will be ok b/c we will keep the shades down and so she won't be able to see out, and also leaving the TV on is a great idea, or even a fan for white noise.
Cats are easier, they don't need to go out for their "business" and as long as you scoop at least once per day, you should be fine with that. In the Class C we didn't use the shower (too small, not enough hot water) so we kept the litter box in the shower (just covered the drain hole with a stopper). In the new 5er, I am still thinking about where it should go. I kind of like the idea of a cabinet in the entertainment center but my fear is that the door would get shut and then, well, there would be a mess. Thinking cap is still on for that one.
I have read that introducing yourself to your neighbor and letting them know you have a dog inside and maybe leaving your cell phone number in case of severe barking can go a long way to keeping everyone happy. Not fully sure how I feel about leaving a stranger my cell phone, but maybe.
hawhawmomma said
08:19 AM Dec 15, 2013
Hi & Welcome Patti,
Still in the class as "Wannabe Full-timer", I know my opinion isn't probably as important. But, I work nights and sleep days. Barking keeps me awake, loud music or TVs. Weekends are the hardest because people don't realize that not everyone is a 9 to 5er. I respect people when I am awake at nights and I would hope others would take into consideration of others that don't live their lifestyle. Besides, you want me well rested, I might be caring for your loved one in ICU. Helen
el Rojo and Pam said
09:58 AM Dec 15, 2013
jrzygrl64 wrote:
I have read that introducing yourself to your neighbor and letting them know you have a dog inside and maybe leaving your cell phone number in case of severe barking can go a long way to keeping everyone happy. Not fully sure how I feel about leaving a stranger my cell phone, but maybe.
We have left a cell phone number with a neighbor and have never received a call. I think doing that goes a long way in the courtesy dept. We also ask to be put in the back forty in case we miss a pile, but we try hard to keep the area clean.
Cindy T said
05:40 PM Dec 15, 2013
If you're traveling with pets & need a pet sitter or dog walker, I always recommend www.petsit.com. You click on the Locate a Pet Sitter button, type in the zip code of your location & sitters who cover that area will be displayed. People who are registered on that site are usually pet sitters who pet sit for a living, not just as a hobby. You can expect that they are bonded & insured, although I would always verify that. You could also call local veterinarians offices or grooming shops for a referral, as they often know who the good sitters are in the area.
Jo and Ben said
07:10 PM Dec 15, 2013
Cindy, thanks for posting the Pet Sitter link. Helen, I am a former ICU nurse and have done my share of night shifts also, so I'm very conscientious about my dogs being quiet. The only reason I used the Petsmart Pets Hotel for day care was while I was living in an apartment for a year completing a doctoral internship and worried that the dogs would bark and disturb my upstairs neighbor. Have others found that there are sometimes people at the RV parks who are working as pet sitters or willing to help out fellow campers with this?
NWescapee said
09:00 PM Jan 1, 2014
Just saw this thread and thought I would post regarding the location of the litter box. Due to the narrowness of many of our cabinets, that wasn't an option, however as we removed furniture and made our 5th wheel into a living / office / workshop we ended up with the litter box in the back window area, right next to the kitty pedestal. I posted pics in an earlier thread on RV Furniture if it helps. We use the top entry litter box that we bought at one of the big pet stores (PetSmart or Petco, can't remember which) and found that helps keep the mess to a minimum. rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t54733672/another-step-getting-rid-of-some-of-the-furniture/
We had very few options on where to place the litter box and this worked best for us.
Looking forward to talking with you all about traveling with our pets (our babies). Totally understand food/water/heat/cold etc, but what do people do when the park you stay in won't let you leave your pets inside, if you want to ...say go out to dinner, or tour a site without the dogs? Thinking of joining Good Sam Club, but most of them say you can't leave pets in the RV alone. And the big question is our cat. She is 15 years old, uses a litter box (but she is a big cat so using the pull out under the dinette won't work. In the shower maybe? Beside the bed? *yuk*..ideas?
How do you insert an image if you don't have a URL ? Tried to just paste but no luck.
-- Edited by Ateepay on Saturday 14th of December 2013 08:21:54 AM
suggestion is to ask the park before you register how that rule is enforced ...and if it is to stringent and will make staying there a bad experience....find a friendlier park.
We didn't full-time with a cat but we did extended stays with a cat but a smaller one. I can't remember where we kept the litter box but we kept it very clean and used the liners so it didn't present a major problem. I know at one point, the cat had a travel cage that was large enough to have a smaller litter box in the back of the cage which worked out well.
And, yes, barking dogs are the problem and getting two dogs doesn't give them company so that they don't bark. Many people think their dogs don't bark. I once recorded the sounds in our house when we were away and found that our dog had sounds I had never heard before. Another reason dogs are being banned is because people don't clean up after their pets.
Patti,
Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. You have definitely joined a group of very knowledgeable folks with answers to all kinds of questions on RV's and the RV lifestyle. Glad to have you as part of the family.
As for pictures, I've not discovered a good way to insert photos without using a photo hosting site. I happened to choose Photobucket for my hosting site, largely because they are free to join and post photos. The site isn't perfect in that although they give one the option of preventing someone from "stealing" one's photos by the "right-click, save-as" method, I found a way where the photos can still be stolen by that very method.
Anyway, in the "Guidelines and Suggestions" category of the forums, I posted a thread that describes the process of embedding photos into the body of one's message. Here is a direct link to that thread:
Guidelines Regarding Embedding Photos into Forum Posts
Terry
Red
Thank you everyone for your helpful (and funny) ideas. As all dog owners know, the "kids" become the family you can't or don't want to be without.
I know we will figure this out when we start our first trip. We did a shake down only 3 hours from home and stayed in my uncle's driveway overnight LOL
Looking forward to chatting more when we get our coach back from the dealer (putting a new dashboard in).
Got photobucket, and tried to upload just one pic, it didn't work....
http://s1328.photobucket.com/user/Patti_Bradfield/media/brianandkids_zpsb553499e.jpg.html
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
We do find traveling with a dog restrictive. This morning we were talking about taking a boat to tour Catalina Island but we can't leave our dog that long. In our S&B, we just called our dog sitter when we wanted to be gone for the day. We've never gotten her a kennel cough vaccine as we've never boarded her but I think we will so we have that option.
In our rig there is just enough space between one of the bath doors and the shower to put the litter box. And we just use the second door.
We've said that we wouldn't get another cat and dog should something happen to one of ours because of the restrictions and because it wouldn't be fair to a pet given our ages. They do make us laugh every day and bring us great joy.
Sherry
We had two dogs and a cat for most of our eleven years of full timing. We ignored the rules and left them in the motor home with the shades down so they couldn't see out. We left the TV on and ran the AC if necessary.
We had one complaint from a woman in a park model a couple of sites over and across the street from us. The woman next door said the complainer was full of crap and the dogs had briefly barked once when the complainer and a friend had walked through our site and the dogs heard them talking.
Due to health and age issues both dogs had to be put to sleep a few years ago and we decided not to get any more until we were finished RVing.
Our first cat passed away two years ago - an aneurysm the vet thought.
We have two cats now (from shelters). We have a covered litter box that sits in front of our closet in the hall when we are stopped for a while.
I have seen openings cut into the space under dinettes with an opening inside that goes down into a basement compartment with a litter box there.
Other people have posted that they keep one in the shower.
-- Edited by Clay L on Saturday 14th of December 2013 01:36:02 PM
Before we met, my husband traveled with his mini "wiener dog" and she would howl when he left her. His solution was to ask for the site farthest away from other RVs and also, if he had neighbors, to explain to them that she would howl for a few minutes and then be quiet all day long.
Since our pets are our children we make small sacrifices to keep them healthy happy. It's worth it.!
Patti,
It didn't work because you inserted the above as a "direct link" from the Photobucket "menu" but you didn't insert it into the body of the message using the "link" function. Those instructions are in the "Forum Tips" category of the forums with a thread title of "Inserting Links into Forum Posts." In your post that is "quoted" in this comment, you will notice that I "activated" your link using that method. Have patience as it takes a bit to learn all of the little tricks to the forums.
What you want to do to embed a photo into the body of the message is us Photobucket's "img" link from the menu instead and then just "paste" that where you want the photo. As mentioned in the instructions at the link in my first post, one needs to watch the size of image posted on Photosbucket for hosting. If it is too large and doesn't fit on one "forum page" then it causes the page to expand horizontally, making it necessary to scroll right and left just to read the postings.
Terry
Just a reminder that some people do work the night shift when full-timing and there are those that travel to an area in order to receive treatment for an illness, babies/toddlers trying to nap, etc. A barking dog or two can be a real liability in those circumstances and those that don't follow the rules and leave their dogs there alone and barking are the ones that contribute heavily to pets being totally banned.
Additionally, there can be limits on weight often 20 lbs or less or the number of pets and, of course, some have fees for pets. Some RV parks don't allow certain breeds and the list of those breeds is growing due to insurance issues. There is also Breed Specific Legislation in play with some cities/counties that do not allow certain breeds, generally pitbulls, and often including English Bull Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.
Ah, "The Golden Rule", I guess I wouldn't leave my dog to bark and disturb others even if there wasn't a rule against it.
A good article: http://rvservices.koa.com/rvinformation/rvtraveltips/traveling-with-pets.asp
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 15th of December 2013 05:28:30 PM
We have camped with a dog and two cats for years. I have always taken the "do not leave pets unattended" to mean OUTSIDE the RV, liked tied up or in one of those temporary fences or something. I mean, how could you even go for a shower or to the pool? Based on that, we leave them in the RV alone when we need to. I would rather leave my dog in the RV with the a/c on then in my car. We have, on several occasions, parked a few sites down and quietly walked up to the RV to see if she was barking, and we only heard her once, and that was when there were kids playing in the street right near her. So far, we have had a Class C, so it was very hard to keep her from getting in the front with the ability to look out. In our 5er, I think she will be ok b/c we will keep the shades down and so she won't be able to see out, and also leaving the TV on is a great idea, or even a fan for white noise.
Cats are easier, they don't need to go out for their "business" and as long as you scoop at least once per day, you should be fine with that. In the Class C we didn't use the shower (too small, not enough hot water) so we kept the litter box in the shower (just covered the drain hole with a stopper). In the new 5er, I am still thinking about where it should go. I kind of like the idea of a cabinet in the entertainment center but my fear is that the door would get shut and then, well, there would be a mess. Thinking cap is still on for that one.
I have read that introducing yourself to your neighbor and letting them know you have a dog inside and maybe leaving your cell phone number in case of severe barking can go a long way to keeping everyone happy. Not fully sure how I feel about leaving a stranger my cell phone, but maybe.
Still in the class as "Wannabe Full-timer", I know my opinion isn't probably as important. But, I work nights and sleep days. Barking keeps me awake, loud music or TVs. Weekends are the hardest because people don't realize that not everyone is a 9 to 5er. I respect people when I am awake at nights and I would hope others would take into consideration of others that don't live their lifestyle. Besides, you want me well rested, I might be caring for your loved one in ICU. Helen
We have left a cell phone number with a neighbor and have never received a call. I think doing that goes a long way in the courtesy dept. We also ask to be put in the back forty in case we miss a pile, but we try hard to keep the area clean.
If you're traveling with pets & need a pet sitter or dog walker, I always recommend www.petsit.com. You click on the Locate a Pet Sitter button, type in the zip code of your location & sitters who cover that area will be displayed. People who are registered on that site are usually pet sitters who pet sit for a living, not just as a hobby. You can expect that they are bonded & insured, although I would always verify that. You could also call local veterinarians offices or grooming shops for a referral, as they often know who the good sitters are in the area.
We had very few options on where to place the litter box and this worked best for us.