My husband and I are very seriously considering buying a RV and traveling around the US. The only thing we are worried about is our animals. We have 3 dogs, one is 85 pounds (he is 1/2 dalmation and 1/2 lab), one is 30 pounds (she is 1/2 hound and 1/2 lab), and the other is 13 pounds (he is a chihuahua). Can anyone tell me how it is to travel with big, medium, and small animals? Do parks have a animal number restriction or weight restriction? Thank you for all your comments in advance.
As of late, some campgrounds/parks in the Northeast are limiting the breed, and or the size, (weight) also the number of dogs per unit. Some are allowing one while others are allowing two. Then there is a small number that do not allow any. So, I guess the answer is, be well informed of their rules, before committing to make any reservation. Good luck and safe travels.
We have been checking out rv parks for 2 trips we have coming up, one to San Antonio and Corpus Christi and the other to Bryce Canyon and then over to the California coast. The majority of them we have contacted that do allow dogs, have a 2 dog limit, so your choices of places to stay with 3 dogs may be somewhat limited.
Welcome to the forum, I hope we can be of some help. We are full timers and travel with 2 dogs, 1 about 90# and the other about 20#.. I couldn't tell where you are from. I think the further west that you go the less likely they will both you about having 3 dogs. Most National parks don't have limits. I think it will depend on where you want to travel more than any thing, and the classier the park the more likely they are to be more restricted.
My wife and I are full-timers and we have a 60 pound dog. Like they said, check the rules! Lately I have been noticing a trend toward a two animal limit at most places. I think that if you just make sure you never have more than two out at the same time than it would not be a problem. They cant control what goes on inside your rig. The bottom line is that most places don't bother you if you don't bother them or your neighbors. hey cheryl, if you come through San Antonio stay at BLAZING STAR rv resort.....im there for three months right now and it is an excellent park.
I have traveled with as many as three labrador retrievers. As long as the dogs are on leashes and are not bothersome to other campers, I don't think you will have any difficulties. Most campgrounds have rules about leaving unattended dogs. If you leave your rv, the dogs must either be with you or in the rv itself. My experience comes from traveling from Florida to Upper Michigan with a travel trailer and a quadcab truck. The vast majority of campgrounds are very pet friendly, but almost all have regulations about pets.
There are some campgrounds that require proof of rabies inoculation so you might want to carry this as a matter of course. There also seems to be more campgrounds that charge extra for pets. Recently I noticed one that charged $5.00 per pet per night. As one of the other posters mentioned, ask specific questions about pet rules before placing your reservation.
I just wanted to add that along with proof of vaccination you should also carry a picture of each pet just in case one manages to get lost. Safe travels. /\_____/\ | . . | |_ ^ _| ( ) /\ _/( )/ _/ \_
My wife and I are also "Brandie new" at this RV experience and just last night returned from our weekend "Shakedown Cruise" with 2 med/large dogs. One of our biggest concerns was how the dogs would react to the new environment. We have a 65lb Greyhound/Dobie mix that is rather protective of mamma and a deaf Australian Shepard (40 lbs) that can be a bit skittish. To our amazement they did terrific!!!!!!! They were well behaved and not a problem. This was very encouraging as they are family and I don't think we could do a great deal of RVing without them. As to your question. I'd check out the various RV Park Review sites and then go the the individual Park links associated with the review. In most cases an RV Park's policies are posted there and you will get some idea. It takes a bit of time and persistence but I think that you will, in general, be encouraged. In the past few weeks since we bought our new 5'er I've literally checked out 1000's of RV parks, just to get a good idea. When in doubt, ask the question of the RV Park you are considering when you make your reservations.
We just returned yesterday from a trip to the Gulf Coast of Texas. The rv park we stayed at in Corpus Christi had a weight limit of 40 lbs. for dogs. As our dog only weighs 7 lbs., I don't think the weight restirctions will ever apply to us, but wanted to pass the info along.
Campground fees charged for dogs. I do not see where the fee is warranted as their do not walk, clean up after, and or baby sit the animal. So what is the fee for?? Just an added charge to increase their profits, or am I paying for the clean-up that another "pet lover" choose not to do. Whatever the reason we have now refused to stay at a campground charging the fee. If in fact the charge is to discourage one with dog(s) from using their campground, they are accomplishing that end as far as I'm concerned. Why not just state,"no dogs allowed".
Glad to see so many dog lovers here!! We travel with 3 American Pit Bull Terriers and a Chow Chow, so I guess fancy resort parks are out for us! LOL. It didn't even occur to me that RV parks would have weight limits or extra fees like a hotel. I want the parks to enforce leash and cleanup laws, because I don't want my dogs to be attacked by and off-leash dog, and I don't want to step in poop. We are used to expecting a hassle because of their breeds, so we are extra careful. They have their kennels, and we pick up all the poop even if it's way out in the middle of nowhere. I check the layout online and pick the site that's most private and isolated. That way, there is less chance of noises that might make them bark, or that they might disturb others. But, they are very quiet. On the first day, we walk them and swim them on-lead for hours and hours so that they sleep like babies. All but one are seniors, so it doesn't take much to wear them out. We bought the trailer for them, actually. They love it! It's a hybrid, so we made one of the pop-out platforms into a dog condo. We also plan to take them to dog shows in it.
We just came home from a campground in N.C. that is dedicated to dogs.You can check it out at www.4pawskingdom.com or www.gocampingwithyourdog.com .We have a hyper 11 month old puppy that was worn out every night from all the running and swimming everyday.
Yeah, fellow dog lovers! We rescue/adopt special needs dogs, so our pups are various mixed breeds and most are not people friendly. We will be traveling with them in a travel trailer for the first time this weekend, so I am a bit nervous. Two of the four have camped with us before (in a pop up) but two have never been. (We actually have 7 dogs but 3 will remain at home with my father). I agree they should not charge extra for pets unless they also charge extra for furless children. I wish our dogs were not so afraid of people. That would sure make traveling easier. But their life experiences were such that they have little reason to like humans. One of our dogs is a mix of chow chow and sheltie (sounds funky, I know, but she's beautiful!) and she is very friendly, or she is now that her health problems are under control. I knew some places didn't permit pit bulls and certain terriers, but I didn't realize chows were among some of the restricted breeds. I live in N.C. but unfortunately the "caters to dogs" campground is too far away for us. It sounds great. Would love to hear more about your experience there. So glad there are people who travel with their furry kids! Wish us luck this weekend!
Great thread. We travel with 2 dogs over 50 lbs and 1 cat. Have had no problem and as said as long as no negative attention drawn to them, having 3 should not be a problem. Walking them in all kinds of weather then quick clean to get them back into small quarters took some getting used to for us. At home they have the run of half acre fenced. Glad to see Lucydog an upbeat post by member traveling with Chow and Pit Bulls...in past we have had a Doberman (milder than our cat )and also lovely, sweet Shepherd. People should not force a pet into a social situation like a campground if they do not have the disposition for it. jmo
If we discover our dogs don't/won't take to camping, we absolutely would not force them to go. I would never do anything that was bad for them. They've been through enough without that. If they are miserable, we will sell the trailer and chalk it up to experience. We plan to find a campground with private sites, go in the off seasons, and keep them inside with us except when they need to potty or to exercise (on a leash, of course). We also would not force them on fellow campers. If they bark a lot, we will take them home just like I would take a child having a temper tantrum out of a store. There are people who don't care if they are bothering others...people yakking on their cell phone in a restaurant or talking at a movie theatre or just not caring if they are loud. If my dogs make noise, we will just come back home with our tails between our legs. :blink: Got our fingers crossed that won't happen as the travel trailer was a big expense for us. We spent today driving around looking for a suitable campground. The first couple were okay but not a good situation for the dogs, so we kept looking and found something we hope is going to work. We are renting a site that has dense woods on one side, lots of space on the other side so even if someone else camps there, the dogs shouldn't see them. We'll put a small fence around the camper which will serve two purposes - keeping the dogs in should one of them push past us and out the door and making people aware there are dogs there so they don't take a shortcut through that site (which people shouldn't do anyway). I guess we will find out tomorrow how the dogs do! My husband is there now setting up the camper and me and the dogs join him tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
QUOTE(Crittercove @ Oct 20 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]5307[/snapback] If we discover our dogs don't/won't take to camping, we absolutely would not force them to go. I would never do anything that was bad for them. They've been through enough without that. If they are miserable, we will sell the trailer and chalk it up to experience. Hope your dogs do well on the camping trip, Crittercove. That could be an expensive lesson if they don't. We had camped with our dogs in a pop-up before we bought our travel trailer so we new the did well before hand. Our blue healer/australian shepherd mix took at little longer to get used to camping than our other 3 dogs. The first couple of times she was a little wary but she does a lot better now and likes going camping. If your dogs don't do as well as you hope the first trip I wouldn't throw in the towel right away. Take them a few times and they may improve as they get used to camping. I also wanted to add a bit of advice to other people looking to buy a RV. It may be helpful to rent a RV before buying. If you have pets that have not been camping this is a good way to try them out and you only risk the cost of the rental. Also this is a good way to try out several styles of RV's to see which style fits you best.
We have traveled with our golden puppy for over a year now and she loves it. We still leave her in her crate when she is not with us ( Don't trust her yet ). We have a sign in one of the windows stating that there is a pet inside in case of an emergency. My wife got them from some website. After seeing a camper catch fire, we thought it might be important to stick the PET INSIDE decal in the window. I suggest everyone else that travels with a pet do the same.
We would never consider going anywhere without our 2 girls, yellow labs. We even sold our smaller 25' TT to buy a larger 35' because there wasn't enough room for all of us in the smaller one. www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel/guides/camp/campstateCA.shtml This is a web site we use other than this one to find places to go. I have only come accross 1 park that had a size limit, most though do mention breed or agressive type limits. They have been pretty much from coast to mountain and love everything and have been traveling with us since they were 8 weeks old. I believe the only rule is to be respectfull of other campers. We won't go to places that people mention in the reviews as having dogs running loose.
