Traveling With Dogs

Traveling With Your Dog

Traveling with your pets and in our case Zoey a 75 lb. Yellow Labrador was one of the primary reasons we wanted an RV. Boarding Zoey every time we wanted to take a vacation or just a day trip or two was just not working. Once we committed to the RV lifestyle we learned rather quickly that this would call for some advance planning. Our new challenge would be preparing for a month or longer trip.

We have put together a shortlist of some tips and suggestions we have for traveling with your dog, big or small. This certainly is not a definitive list and we would love to hear from you regarding your preparation. So let’s get started with some of the basics:

• Documentation

Always carry in tow vehicle: a current Rabies Certificate and record of vaccines that your dog is up to date on, plus a copy. I use the copy when checking in at our site so if I happen to misplace it I still have the original. We keep this documentation in the glove box along with the name & number of our veterinarian. 

• Identification

Current Photos of your pets with copies available. Quick and easy way to get the word out about your pet in case they stray. 

• Truck Prep

We use a caddy in the tow vehicle to hold a Nalgene water bottle, leash, dog waste bags, and a towel for those rainy/muddy conditions. The caddy makes everything easy to find and keeps it tidy. We, also, use a “No-Spill” water bowl we have found it works very well. Plastic, lightweight, and easy to clean. Available at Walmart and most pet stores

• Seat Belt

We use a safety harness and seat belt tether keeping Zoey safe just like her humans’ seatbelt.  The manufacture is Kurgo and here is what they have to say……Some say opposites attract. We say comfort and safety don’t have to be opposites in the first place. Engineering based on rock-climbing harnesses for world-class security. Five points of adjustment for a custom fit. And a padded chest plate for comfort. Oh, and one more thing: this harness is fully crash-tested, and yes we used crash test doggies, and yes they’re just as cute as you’d imagine. So, safety or comfort? How about the best of both.

Here is a link to their site for more information: Kurgo

• Fresh Water

Water sources for both human and animal consumption are a challenge on the road. The water quality is suspect at best at most sites. Here is our program, instead of single-use water bottles, we fill our reusable wide-mouth Nalgene bottle with filtered water from our Travel Berkey Purification System. Less plastic waste and water quality are as good as any bottled water we would buy.

Link to my Berkey site: Berky Purification Systems

• Dog Business

Our favorite dog waste bags are Bow Wow Waste. They are big enough to put your hand in like a glove, pick up waste, pull the bag up and over dogs business, tie off, and dispose of in the trash.

We know we are going to use them so we buy a case of single dispense bags at a time. (They, also, sell as rolls if you prefer) It saves money and we stock the truck and RV. Link: Bow Wow Waste Bags.

• RV Preparation

A supply of dog waste bags, water/food bowls, grooming tools/nail trimer, dog shampoo, & EpiKlean ear cleanser, 2- towels for bath or rainy/muddy conditions, all medications (enough for planned trip plus extra for that just in case scenario). Basically, if you use “it” at home you should have “enough of it” with you for your trip. As an example, we ended up staying longer than planned out of state before going home. At home, I had 6 months supply of heartworm preventative medicine. However, it would be 10 days later than when the monthly dose would normally be administered. Too long! So….I had to have my vet ordered and express ship a one-month dose to keep her on schedule.

Before you ask… I did go to a local veterinarian’s office to see if they could help me. Answer: Yes, if I want to set up an appointment for a full check-up for medication to be prescribed $$$. Otherwise, NO even if our home vet faxed/emailed confirmation that Zoey qualifies for medication. The bottom line saves you money, time, and disappointment: If you use it at home bring it with you.

• RV Pet Safety Temperature Monitor

We can’t always take Zoey along with us when we need to leave the RV. Traveling in the south and southwest during the summer and early fall months means very hot temps. Leaving her in the truck with windows down can still be deadly or problematic. Compound that with staying in the RV with suspect power supplies or even worse an air conditioning failure and you have big problems. 

The solution for us has been the Nibble RV Pet Monitor. This monitor connects to the Verizon 4g network and can transmit to our cell phones if a problem arises. We get Temp, humidity, and power alerts every 10 mins if there are issues against present parameters.

They now offer 1 year, 6 months, or monthly subscription pricing. Frankly, this is new and I for one am glad they listened to suggestions from me and other users. The system is reliable, but I have had my share of outages that were addressed rapidly. The network upgrade to Verizon should be an improvement in coverage and service reliability based on my travel patterns. I would recommend this monitoring system over the wifi-based systems given the reliability and RV Park wifi. If you are carrying your own wifi then that another story.

Here is a link for more details. Pet Safety

• Animal Emergency Kit 

Dog-specific emergency kit (ie: tweezers, thermometer, vet wrap). Here is a great link for you to print out of AVMA Pet First Aid – Basic procedures. This will serve you well when you are camping miles away from the nearest vet. You may save their life until they can receive veterinary treatment.

Link: Pet first aid – Basic procedures 

This will get you started when you are building your emergency kit.

Link: EmergencyCare-Checklist

• Dog Food Storage 

Dog food and a cooler big enough to hold dry dog food bags. We have noted while traveling from place to place that in the heat of summer the temps in the RV can raise significantly. It is not good for the food to get overheated as it can become rancid. (we have had this happen to a 40lb. bag of food that had to throw away :(( The cooler helps the food maintain a safe temperature and I have even placed an ice pack or two in the cooler (outside of the food bag) when I know we will be pushing the limits.

• She Has A Place

We do bring along one or Zoey’s dog beds from home for a familiar place and smells. Like home, she likes to understand where her place is, the same is true in your RV. This makes the stress of travel for her light or non-existent.