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Gillpine · 10-04-2015, 11:47 AM

We are going to camp in a campground 30-40 miles from our real destinations -- each in opposite directions. We want to tour New Orleans for a day trip and don't want to have the two Boston "Terrors" with us. My husband wants to leave them in the trailer during the day and I want to take them to a day care, if available, in the city for the day, worrying that something could happen and they would be alone in the trailer without anyone. What do you dog folks do? The campground is in Slidell. They are fine if together, so the trailer would be ok if we were going to be closer (IMHO), but I worry about being to far away.
This is our first long distance trip with them.
Thanks for your input,
Worried Fur Parents,

KJRitchie · 10-04-2015, 12:02 PM

We've left our dog for hours at a time but if you find your tour in New Orleans lasts from morning to late night then it might be better to find a kennel. You may have to leave them overnight in a kennel and pick them up the next morning. If you plan to be back at 6pm then it shouldn't be any different than leaving them at home when you are both out for the day. As long as the dogs are good at staying in the Airstream they should be fine. You can always talk to the campground staff about leaving your dogs.

Kelvin

Al - K4GLU · 10-04-2015, 12:27 PM

In virtually every campground I've stayed in in the past 15 years leaving pets in the RV when you aren't there except for short periods is against the campground rules.

AWCHIEF · 10-04-2015, 12:42 PM

What is the difference between leaving them alone at home and in the trailer? Personally if they are barkers I say leave them at home or at a kennel as a courtesy to your park neighbors.

Wayne&Sam · 10-04-2015, 01:18 PM

Depends on the dogs. Ours are happy to sleep in the camper when we leave. we make sure that there is proper cooling and backup ventilation if needed.

I was recently at a campground where a dig was left alone and it cried all day. it was the wrong choice for those people.

Denis4x4 · 10-04-2015, 02:05 PM

We've stayed in several campgrounds where there were dog walkers that would check the water and walk the dog. Twenty bucks usually made everybody happy. I do ask when making reservations if there are dog walkers/sitters.

Glenritas · 10-04-2015, 02:09 PM

I had to leave my dog in the trailer last month for over 5 hours so I put her in her cage with water and toys . A/C on and vents running. She was fine and glad to see me and head for the nearest lawn

I had to do this several times on that trip.

On other trips we take the dogs with us in the truck when doing short stops. We leave them in the truck cab with the windows cracked and with the remote start the A/C on for up to 45 minutes, then restart if longer. Of course they have water.

On several Trips we used doggy daycare for all day outings.

nrgtrakr · 10-04-2015, 02:42 PM

We rarely go anywhere our teacup pomeranian cannot go, even though sometimes he is in a shoulder bag. When we do go somewhere he cannot, we go for a walk both before and after, park in the shade, leave the windows cracked open, and try not to be gone for more than an hour.
No kennels for our little buddy thanks.

Silverbee · 10-04-2015, 03:04 PM

Hi,
We have 2 mini-schnauzers that we leave at the campground in the trailer on occasion. We try to take them everywhere we can, but going to a restaurant, historical buildings, etc. is not always possible. Our boys can be barkers, but this has not been a problem in the Airstream. We just make sure that if it is hot we have the AC on and the Fantastic fans open. They also enjoy having the TV on. We never leave them for more than 4 hours and make sure that the last thing we do before we leave is to give them final potty breaks. They are best buddies and will often go get in the same crate or doggie bed to take a nap.

When traveling with our boys through Yellowstone, we left the Airstream at a family members home and spent 2 nights in hotels that were pet friendly. One hotel required that you sign a statement that you would not leave them unattended in the room. So much for pet friendly. We found Yellowstone doable with them. Just had to tag team sometimes, with one person staying with the dogs while the other person went to certain buildings and park areas.

I think the bottom line is to observe how them behave when you leave them for awhile. Leave them like you would if you are headed out, but go for a walk and come back and listen to see if they are behaving.

JudySherrod · 10-05-2015, 10:31 AM

I have used CampBow Wow in New Orleans for several years now. My puppy loves it and I am worry-free.

SteveSueMac · 10-05-2015, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudySherrod

I have used CampBow Wow in New Orleans for several years now. My puppy loves it and I am worry-free.

We're fans of Camp Bow Wow as well though each site is independently owned.

You have to know your pooch. Daisy is fine being left alone at home if needed - even up to 8 hours though that rarely happens. 5 minutes alone in the trailer and she starts to panic. So we do a lot of planning with this in mind - trails she can walk with us, pet friendly sites/attractions, etc. And on occasion, we put her in her own "camp" (bow wow) where she gets to play with buddies all day and she loves that. Have only had to do that a few times but it's a better solution for us. Everyone's mileage varies here...

For those whose pets love their crates - I'm jealous but happy for you. We adopted Daisy when she was 2 so I don't know about her puppy years but clearly something went wrong with the crate training because it's oil and water for sure.

But even if she did - I'd personally be leery about long alone times in the campground. We've had hot summers where the CG electricity wasn't stable enough for all the AC units running- and I can imagine in some cases, a power outage - even from something like a car accident in the area that wipes out a pole - could jeopardize her health.

Safari Streamer · 10-05-2015, 10:58 AM

Our dog has separation anxiety! If we leave him alone in AS, we come home to torn screens and chewed blinds. This summer we wanted to bike around Mackineaux Island. We found a great kennel that took the dog and was open till 8PM. We weren't out that late but it was comforting to know the dog was OK and we had a relaxing, no worries, day! When we took the boat tour at the Soo Locks they had a free kennel there for pets. A great idea!

Bayou · 10-05-2015, 11:09 AM

When we go back to our native land, we use Fairview State Park in Madionsville or a park in Kenner for the Airstream and check our standard poodle into Zeus Kennels in New Orleans for day care or a couple of days and nights if we are going to stay over in the city for some time. We can check on him and/or check him out for time with us during the kennel stays. Good place. We never, ever leave him alone in the AS.
Charlene

paiceman · 10-05-2015, 11:09 AM

We leave them in the trailer for brief periods - up to two hours. Longer than that we take them with us to where ever we are going. In places such as National Parks, one of us hikes a trail and the other walks around the parking lot with them and then vice versa, or I don't hike the trail at all as most of the time it's of little interest to me as I'd rather be with my dogs anyway.

Never used a Camp Bow Wow while traveling but might give it a try, nice idea.

jdalrymple · 10-05-2015, 11:14 AM

We have done both.

We have been very lucky with the day care route. A couple of the centers even had cameras one can log into and check on the dogs.

We leave our dogs at home for the work day, so they are usually alone for 8-9 hours every day. But, at home they have a pet door and spend a lot of time outside in the fenced back yard.

They tolerate the trailer for a couple hours, but seem to enjoy the day care more.

Regards,

JD

kdickinson · 10-05-2015, 11:18 AM

with our three small dogs (all under 7 pounds each) we still haven't figured the "traveling with the dogs thing" out. We just got back from a quick weekend trip which we took them on and they drove us crazy at the campground. We came home a day early partly because of them. We usually have a dog sitter watch them at our house which works out the best for everyone. I will say we have been annoyed by dogs barking non-stop that are left in trailers all day long - not fair for the dog, the neighbors, and really also the owner because they probably don't know their dog is barking non-stop and everyone looks sideways at them when they finally get back to their trailer.

Gillpine · 10-05-2015, 12:24 PM

Thank you all for your help on this. I have reserved a place for one day at a Day Care in New Orleans. Just thought it would ease my mind more. We are still new at this and the pups aren't very acclimated to the trailer yet. They're getting better but still pant a lot and go stand by the truck when let out. Think we'll take it slow.

Glenritas · 10-05-2015, 12:45 PM

Be sure their shots are up to date and they have had their kennel cough treatment.

Bring their papers also, the kennel may ask for them.

Have Fun in N'Orleans .

Glenritas · 10-05-2015, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gillpine

We are still new at this and the pups aren't very acclimated to the trailer yet. They're getting better but still pant a lot and go stand by the truck when let out. Think we'll take it slow.

I hope the dogs are not in the trailer when under way !

Our dogs love the trailer and can hardly wait to go inside when we get to the campground.

Be sure to keep them on leash anytime outside.

Safe Travels

sallye · 10-05-2015, 01:32 PM

"In virtually every campground I've stayed in in the past 15 years leaving pets in the RV when you aren't there except for short periods is against the campground rules."

My "interpretation" of those rules is that you can't leave them alone outside where they might be a problem. We leave them inside our trailer every day, for usually no longer than 6 hours. They sleep all day anyway. If, for some reason, the area is noisy, I leave the radio on so they hear less of the outside noise.

We set the heat / AC as appropriate and have a gizmo that calls us when / if the temperature gets to a certain point that we set. That is in case the campground electricity should go off, etc. And of course we walk them before we go and leave water, etc.

Personally, I'd be just as happy in a hotel when traveling, and it would be less expensive in the long run. The hotel pet rules caused us to buy our trailer in the first place. I've heard this same thing from many people, including our trailer salesman.

IMHO, pets drive the RV industry. Any campground that doesn't allow pets to be left in the trailer where they don't bother anyone doesn't understand their market. Of course, if the pet were to be traumatized and cry all day, then it would be cruel to the pet and that would be a different story.