Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
so my husband and I are looking to start rving full time next year (we want to wait until our youngest two children are 2 yrs old). We have a number of pets currently.
Australian shepherd who is 5 years old. She was hit by a car a few years ago and while we saved her leg, she doesn't run like she used to and is content to just chill out on her bed most of the time now. She will bark at strangers though. When in public, she's extremely friendly with no issues, shes just very protective of her home and her kids (our kids). She is medium sized.
we have 2-3 small dogs. We have a rescue pom right now that if we don't find a home for, she'll be staying. They are all small, almost teacup size and oddly do not bark much at all. Even when people come to our house, they let out one yip and they're done. They are a chihuahua, the Pom, and a Ratcha. None of them like to be outside unless they have to and prefer our laps or our beds to sleep on.
4 cats. Yes, 4 Lol. They are older and do not run and play and pretty much just lay around 24/7
We are looking at the Jayco North point 375. It has a bunk room where there's room for our aussies bed, and there's a space for our small dogs kennels with some modification under a table when we are not in the RV. It also has a second bathroom that we will convert to a room for the cats with their cat tray and tower.
Am I fooling myself?! All of them tend to hang out in our bedroom already. They've all traveled well except for the cats, who we've never taken out. While driving, the Aussie will ride with my husband in the truck and the other dogs will have their car seats in my van. Unsure of what to do with the cats besides leave them in the fifth wheel. We know we will either stay at RV parks with a dog yard, or boondock with a portable kennel/fencing and because of our kids, we will stay places for at least two weeks before traveling again so most days they will get plenty of walks. I do not plan to drive more than six hours at a time.
Our pets are a part of our family so leaving them behind is not an option. However, it may mean we can only RV part time instead of full time. Our plan is to travel full time next summer to see if we are cut out for year round. I'd love to hear from others who have several pets and RV full time.
Many private RV Parks/Campgrounds have pet limits, breed restrictions, and size restrictions. All campgrounds have various rules about picking up after pets, having pets on leashes, not leaving pets outside without human supervision, barking, and more. In some parts of the country and certain RV parks you may have to have documentation of rabies vaccinations or other documents.
Many RV parks have dog walk areas, but I haven't seen a high percentage that have "dog yards". We've seen many places that don't allow dog fencing.
We don't travel with pets, and I don't know of too many full-timers with more than three dogs, but perhaps some folks can chime in with their experiences.
While RVing is pretty pet friendly overall, I can certainly imagine an RV park turning you away or asking you to leave due to so many pets. Just be prepared for that possibility.
Your idea to try out full timing is a good one to better understand the dynamics of 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 to 3 dogs and 4 cats living in an RV.
__________________
Winnebago TT 2101DS & 2020 Silverado LTZ Z71. 300 watts WindyNation solar w/MPPT, 2 Trojan T-125s. TALL flag pole. Prefer USFS, COE, BLM, USF&WS, NPS, TVA, state/county camps. 14 year Army vet-11B40 then 11A - old MOS 1542 & 1560.
We actually have a total of ten kids lol. Pretty sure we've lost our minds a bit. I'm prob worried more about the dogs than I am the cats because they really do just lay around 24/7 either on someones lap or bed. Dogs need to get out and about though, even our small ones. I'm concerned about being turned away due to restrictions as well plus I've seen a lot of camps charge per animal not to mention we will already have to pay extra for the amount of people we have most of the time. I'm also thinking of parking the RV on our land and living out of it for a bit to see how we do. even if it doesn't work long term, we still plan on rving, it just may for vacations.
