Traveling in an RV is one of the best experiences. It is far better than when you travel in an ordinary car or van. Traveling in an RV allows you to take a complete apartment along with you.
You can park at any time you feel like it and rest in the RV on a real bed before you continue on the journey. An RV makes the journey a lot more interesting than ever and you will never want to travel via another method again. Traveling in an RV is like having a vacation on wheels.
When you travel in an RV, you will have access to a bedroom, a living area, a kitchen, and even a restroom. You can travel with all these to your desired location and back. It gives you freedom while traveling and also adds a lot of comfort to the journey.
Traveling in an RV also makes it more interesting to bring your family members along on the journey. The RV is designed in such a way that there will be adequate space for many people at the same time.
You can also decide to bring your pet along with you since it is a bona fide member of the family. Most dogs are not accustomed to traveling in an RV. As a result, the dog may display all manners of irrational behaviors in transit.
If need be, you may have to also have some camper parts should there arise a situation where you have to fix minor issues with your RV yourself.
If this is the first time you will be planning to take your dog along with you when traveling in an RV, then the information we provide in this write-up can help you to make the right choices in this regard.
Before you bring your dog on board the RV, you need to first create a space for the dog to travel in the RV. You can decide to place a crate for the dog in the RV in case the dog does not want to lie on the seat like many other dogs prefer to do.
The crate traveling arrangement is the best for a dog that has anxiety issues. Experience shows that many dogs do enjoy riding in cars. So, it should not be much of an issue to bring your dog on board an RV.
Your dog may express signs of nervousness if you are traveling in a motorhome. This is because the feeling of traveling in a moving car is different from that of traveling in a vehicle that looks like a moving house.
Since the experience is strange to the dog, it may require some time to recover and adjust to this new and uncomfortable experience.
One of the best things to do in such a situation is to place the bed of the dog close to where you will be sitting while driving the motorhome. This will encourage the dog and help the pet to adapt faster to this new reality.
Being close to the dog will enable him to relax and overcome his anxiety faster while riding in the RV. Make sure that the dog is comfortable all through the journey.
Do not also forget that the journey can take hours sometimes. You want to be sure that the dog can keep calm all through the length of the journey.
To make things even better, you can stop driving after every few hours for a break, water, and food as this can help the dog to get used to the experience faster.
This is yet another arrangement you need to put in place when taking your dog on a ride in your RV. Your dog is accustomed to sleeping outside the house. So, you should bear this in mind when taking the dog on a ride in the RV.
The best thing to do in this regard is to create a scenario similar to that in the RV for the dog. If the dog shares your bed with you at home, you should also allow the pet to share your bed with you in the RV.
In case your dog has its own bed at home, it will not be a bad idea to bring his bed along with you onboard the RV. This will help the dog to sleep better while onboard the RV.
When the dog is restful, other occupants of the RV will also be peaceful all night long.
You must never forget to make adequate provision for food and water for all occupants of the RV, including your pets.
Additionally, you should make provision for a lot of toys for the pets so that they can have something to keep them busy and in high spirit while on the journey.
Make sure that the water supply is available all the time so that your pets can easily access it. When packing toys for the dog, make sure you only pack its favorite toys.
Dogs need exercises at all times. The case should not be different when they are onboard an RV. So, you should also make provision for that.
Regular exercise will give the pet adequate mental stimulation and put it at the best of its games at all times.
You should make provision for exercise both when in the RV and when at the campsite. The beauty of it is that there are campsites that are fenced in.
Such campsites will provide security and ensure that the pet does not stray.
Always insist on visiting an off-leash dog park so that the dog can get adequate exercise without the fear of straying. If such a park is not accessible in your immediate environment, you can simply park the RV and take your dog for a jog or walk until it wears out.
If the journey will be long, you should consider parking from time to time to allow the dog to exercise some before you proceed on the journey.
Vacation is good, but dogs do not really see why a vacation should stop them from exercising. They rarely consider rest as part of any plan for any day.
There are times that you may want to engage in certain activities that will require you to leave your pet behind at the campsite.
In such a situation, you should always keep your pet secure so that it will not stray in your absences.
One of the best things to do is to look for a restaurant that is dog-friendly in the area.
Your pet can be kept secured there when you are not available until you come back. You can even lock the dog up in the RV in your absence.
This is cool if the dog will only be left alone for a few moments. Do not forget that you also leave the poet alone at home when you have to step out for any length of time.
So, locking the dog up in the RV until your arrival will not be a strange thing at all. If you have to lock the dog inside the RV, make sure there is soft music paying ad also draw the blind.
The soft music will help to drown any noise from outside the RV.
Drawing the blind, on the other hand, will help to cut off extra light from outside the RV. This way, the dog will be encouraged to snooze and will not bark in your absence.
To make things easier, you can even hire a dog-walker or pet-sitter to keep the pet company in your absence.
You must have an emergency plan in place when taking your dog RVing. This way, you will know what to do if things go south.
Emergencies do happen even if they are not likely. You still must be adequately prepared for them.
When going on camping, you must make up your mind that anything can happen. It will help you to get ready psychologically for eventualities; you should avoid allowing your dogs to leave the RV interior while you are on the move yourself, except if you plan to take the dog along with you on your trips away from the RV.
Make sure also that your dog carries an ID tag at all times. This way, anyone that sees the dog will know how to lead him home.
Most dogs do not have any experience with riding on an RV. So speeding things up can get them even more confused and agitated.
If you take it one at a time, it will help the dog to get more accustomed to this method of traveling in the RV.
For example, you can start with a short trip and then take them along on a longer trip. The dog would have understood how it works by the time he has to go on a long journey on the RV.
You can also allow the dog to come into the RV while packed at home. This will allow the dog to get to know the interior of the RV and familiarize itself with the interior.
This way, it will look that strange by the time it is ready for a long journey. It will equally not be a bad idea to spend a night with your pet outside the RV.
Dogs differ one from another. The tricks that work on one dog may not work on another. You need to prepare for this according to the need of your pet.
As we have mentioned earlier, you should pack adequate food, water, and pet toys while taking your pet along with you on your RV.
However, the things you need to take along are not limited to just foods, water, and toys. You also need to prepare several other things. Some of the things that must be getting ready are:
Taking the bedding of the dog along will help the dog to sleep in its familiar sleeping space. The items we have mentioned above are so important and your pet must never travel without them.
The items above are even roe important if you will be traveling for a very long distance. In fact, you may need to take along the proof that your dog is vaccinated.
However, this depends on the area you are traveling to or where you are coming from.
Before you head over to any of the campsites in your locality, you should first find out if that campsite is dog-friendly or not.
This is very important if you are taking your dog along with you on the RV journey.
You do not have to wait until you reach the location to find out. It is better to call ahead and ask if dogs and other pets are welcome on the campsite or not.
You should never assume that the campsite welcomes pets. You will never know until you ask the management of the campsite.
Aside from how dog-friendly the campsite is, do not also forget to find out about any other rule that the campsite may have. This will get you adequately prepared for your arrival.
Before traveling to that campsite with your dog tagging along in the RV, you should first find out if there is any local vet in that area. If the campsite is pet-friendly, then it will be very easy to get a local vet.
You will find the local vet useful if your pet sustains an injury while on the trip or suffers any health problem.
Even if there is not going to be a vet at the campsite you are going to, find out if a vet is not too far from the area.
You can also plan your trip in such a way that you will drive by a local vet. While a vet is an important professional because of the pet you have with you, you too should learn all the basic first aid for different pets.
