I think that what you need to plan on for walks probably depends on the dog. Our dog, Sage, spent her first 5 years on the road with my dad who was a long distance truck driver. From the time she was a puppy he had her on the twice a day plan. She went out for a walk once in the morning and once in the evening. She is the most house broken dog I have ever seen. She would rather die than go to the bathroom in the house!

Of course now that she is 13 I try to take her for walks more frequently, but if it's too hot, too cold, raining or any of a dozen other reasons that don't make conditions perfect she is just as content to stay inside!

You might want to to start weening them off the doggie door now. Sort of ease them into the transition of full-timing. The chihuahua probably won't notice he's on a leash all the time, but the golden is probably more used to stretching his legs. Start taking them for regular walks now so that becomes the norm for them rather than running loose -- even in a fenced yard.

Sage is very much a creature of habit. She goes out in the morning, eats after we do in the evening, takes her meds, goes for a walk and goes to bed. That's her routine. My guess is the dogs will be happy so long as they are with you. Just don't make too many changes at once!

We have two medium large dogs.  We have both always worked so they were used to going out once in the morning and for a walk in the evening. The problem with ours is that we had 2 acres of yard and we would just let them out and they had room to roam.   I was a little worried, but they have adjusted just fine. 
CKERR is right...as long as they are with us, they are happy.

Our dog is 14 years old.....loves traveling.  Has been traveling in an RV of some kind her entire life.  We are now fulltimers....she gets up in the morning and has a walk.  She is content on sleeping most of the day, but lets us know when she wants out. After dinner, it's a walk and then again before bedtime.   When traveling, she knows when the truck stops, it's time to take care of business. 
Hope this helps.

Walking the dog actually serves a dual purpose,exersize and relief for the dog and it's a great conversation starter with your fellow campers.

I agree with all the posts here. One other adjustment that was necessary for our dogs was the continual socialization with other dogs in the park. Our back yard dogs had not had much occasion to meet and greet anything other than the occasional squirrel or cat in the yard. Since they were used to chasing things out of their territory, we had to work with them to get them accustomed to seeing other dogs on walks and in the nice dog runs in some of the parks. After a couple of weeks and several understanding RV park neighbors that could see we were working on the training, the dogs were just fine and now behave well on walks.

We have now been in our RV full time since July 2008.  Our dogs were used to the doggie door also and were never walked before we moved into the RV.  There was a little bit of adjustment but they are great now.  They go for a walk when we first wake up and then again around 6:00 p.m.  One dog is 12 and the other is 4....I think they have adjusted very well!!!

Sage is 13 years old now and weights about 55 lbs. She has a bit of arthritis that makes her kind of stiff some days. Every now and then she has a hard time getting up in the truck. But she also loves to travel so much that she is always anxious to get in the truck and finds a way to make it happen. 

A couple of things we do that seem to help.

1) We got her a Samsonite seatbelt harnass to wear when traveling. It does 2 things. It keeps her on the seat if we have to make any sudden stops in the truck. It also has a large "chest plate" and a center strap on the back. When it's time to get in the truck we grab the back strap and give her a little help getting in on those days when she's stiff.  Let me see if I can figure out how to add a picture.


2) We've also been giving her Osteo Bi-flex and Fish Oil at the direction of our vet. It really seems to help her with the arthritis and it has a lot fewer side effects than the Rimadyl the vet did have her taking.



-- Edited by Ckerr on Saturday 21st of August 2010 04:08:29 PM

Update to my original post;

Our days kind of go like this-wake and feed Golden and kittycat. Golden and kitty go outside (Golden poops/pees right on cue-such a good boy!), then wait for the chihuahua to get out of bed. Feed him, then walkies with Golden and chihuahua about an hour later (only way the hua will poop-not as good a boy as Golden when it comes to elimination).

One thing we found out is the need to plan this routine into our day before adventuring if we are gone for the day. Their record is 8 hours inside without any accidents (good dogs!), but this was totally unplanned/unavoidable and I felt awful about it.

We recently went to Las Vegas, and boarded the animals so that we didn't have to worry about the poop schedule. Although we will never use that particular boarder again (Paws-n-Claws in Henderson,Nevada. Not impressed), this was definitely the way to go for all concerned.

Hope this helps!

I have enjoyed reading this thread about taking our doggies and cats on trips and full timing. My boxer is 13 years old...has arthritis. She cannot jump into the truck and refuses to try to climb the steps of the 5th wheel. We have to physically put her into both. She's not extremely big...but heavy enough. She does like riding in the truck. However, when I put her into the trailer she seems freaked. I hope she will adjust since we have to take her with us next month for the month long trip to Florida. We will be in one place for most of the month and hopefully she will enjoy being with us enough to get into a new routine. She sleeps most of the day...so we are hoping when we go out she will not try to scratch out of the door! We are thinking of bringing her cage and putting her in there while we are away. She is so set in her ways I cannot even imagine what she will do.

I would love to know where to get the truck seat harness....I am worried about her traveling "loose" and also the idea of a ramp into the trailer is interesting. Any links or etc. would be appreciated.

Mel

Here is a link to a variety of pet stairs. We got the plastic ones that fold up and weight about 5 lbs. 

Since you're headed to Pets-Mart, ask the folks there. The sell that brand kennel. Good luck.

Well today is my day!!!!.....I was Gifted with a 6 yr old Klee Kia (alaskan Miniture Husky) , She is a beauty and has definitely figured out that walking is a must for me!!

She has decided what parts of the coach she is going to let me use and submitted a list of demands and an update on the menu...( there goes my bachelorhood)

I know I need a road pal but all this playing and outside for walks is really messing with my exercise program and is cutting into my nap time......I think this dog has been talking to my doctor...

Well they have at least let me out of the hospital and I can rest up and get thru the rest of this nightmare,Should be back on the road by march of 2013...........simple quad bi pass and getting caught up in the Nightmare at Exeter hospital in NH , Im doing well....miss all my friends and am going crazy out here in the woods......(Purpose For Dog ,I think)

 

So when you see me on the road and I look better , please blame it on the dog..........

 

Who the heck invented pink poop bags, it's embarrassing gotta find me some camo ones!!!!!!

Wow, Mike, congratulations onthedog & your return to health! Love your humor.

Please, all who travel with pets use a harness or carrier. We also tie down the cat carrier in back seat of crew cab as we dont want flying missiles in case of sudden stops and we want them to be safe too. After all, we use our seat belts. We use a regular harness & a caribiner (?sp) the seat belt for the dog.

Loved the lightweight stairs, Lenore. Thanks!

Carol & Kevin, great suggestion for the harness that you can also lift.