What do you think?

[Ssmookler]

My wife and I are considering getting our first AS and looking at a 16'. We have an 85 pound 5 year old mostly German Shepherd mutt who is the sweetest dog ever. He would be traveling with us and I wondered if folks with experience have an opinion about the 16 footer being too small for the three of us. Thanks for your opinion.

[leopattie]

Hubby and I travel with our dogs in a 22' -- which can seem too small when they are wet and smelly from rain. Or having rolled in deer poop: but I'm not sure there's an airstream large enough to save us from that nightmare.

[NWGreyhound]

We have a 25 FC and travel with two greyhounds (have had three) and it works out ok. Your bed becomes their day couch with a full cover and they sleep on the dinette made down at night. I'm not sure if your sixteen will have all those options.
My wife's cousin bought a 19 Bambi and camped with two Borzois and a Chow. After five or six trips they traded it in on a new 27 FC which works great for them.
My personal opinion is that it is easy to fall into the charm of a smaller and less roomy AS so I recommend you think seriously about a larger one.
Lou

[TanCanMan]

First off, welcome to the Airstream community. This forum is a wealth of information and support. Regarding your choice of A/S for traveling with an 85 pound dog - well, you make it work. We travel with two medium sized dogs (1 45# & 1 50#) and I can tell you two adults and two dogs will take up every available inch of a 6.0 Meter Minuet, a 19 ft trailer. We have two cats that have to stay at home till we get a bigger trailer. That's probably OK with them

Life in a small trailer is something you adapt to: life without our pets is not something we care adapt to. A weekend trip will be easy, a two week trip will require a routien of feeding/sleeping/walking that corresponds to your cooking/ eating/ sleeping. One thing we have eventually learned to live with as we all get older is the need to adjust. The midnight visit to the w/c requires skill to not step on a sleeping furbaby.

I am looking forward to someday getting maybe a 23 to 25 foot to make it easier. But untill then the "togetherness" will not stop our adventures.

You are about to have a great time!

[gandttimes]

We started with a 19 with a Sheltie and a Samoyed. The dogs were supposed to sleep in the back of the truck. Ha. Guess how long that lasted. So we upped to a 20. Then our old cat needed meds every day and could no longer be left with the house sitter so the descision was made to move to a 25FB for our last trailer. Turned out to be a great move as we acquired another Samoyed and the cats get the back of the truck. There is so much more room in the wider body 25.
GM

[mstephens]

Depends on how much you love your dog!

My guess is most people don't mind sharing their space with their beloved pets. We don't. So, if the space works for the two of you, adding the dog is no big deal. Dogs adapt to just about anything. We are two adults and a small dog, and our 25 Flying Cloud seems like the minimum we would want. But if you think that size will work for you, I'd say no worries on the pet.

Welcome - and good luck!

[m.hony]

If you are set on getting a 16' trailer do not even walk inside some of the longer trailers...

[RangerJay]

I think you probably already know what you need to do to answer to that question positively - if your dog is a high energy dog that says something - if he is a calm dog then that says something else. Our pooch is a high energy Border Collie that loves to go camping in our 19' footer - we've never found it too small to accommodate her - but she needs her daily exercise .... and if she doesn't get it ..... well .....

.... we make sure she gets that daily exercise with a lot of "fetch" activities and then "tag teaming" her walks ....

Attica is as much a part of any camping adventure as our Airstream is .....



Jay

[RangerJay]

I should add .....

..... if your pooch enjoys the luxury of sharing your bed then it just ain't going to work ..... a 48" bed is tough enough for two ....

..... we put Attica's bed underneath the dinette - and she loves it ....


Jay

[adonh]

"Those people can stay in our Airstream as long as they don't get in our way, Right Duke" (Duke is on the Couch). I don't have a problem with that Duchess (Duchess is on the floor) but they have to feed us and take us for walks to". You are right Duke, do you think we should let them come in now its almost dinner time. I guess so Duchess, the things we do for these people. Make sure they wipe their feet.

[StreamNTyme]

We love our '07 25'FBSE, had larger but this works for us and our cat. Just enough room to throw balls down the hall for her run after. A larger queen bed, a full shower, a decent kitchen, enough storage, all things to look for. We have never bought new.
What ever you end up with you will enjoy. Just make sure you seriously consider your needs and how you will live in your Airstream.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Our tent's were considerably smaller that either of our AS's......that didn't didn't stop us from camping with any of our dogs....

100lb OES in one of these cross-country....fun wow!!


Bob

[bwoodtx]

My opinion. A 16 footer to me would be too small for me. We have Great Pyrenees(avatar) that range from 85# to 160#. We camp in a 31' wide body. Our dogs are affectionately known as furry speed bumps. They will lay wherever they want to and since they a guardians, it will be by the door or in the middle of the trailer where they can see everything. Would not work for us, even in the 31' it doesn't work.

I'm sure your dog has better manners about where you would want him to be than mine do.
Mine are going to lay where they want so they can do they're job.

[Luigi123]

Ordered a 30 ft FC because I need space our 85 Lab-Sophie , just sleeps where ever she wants and we learn to fit around her. Always go bigger, it's like the secret to a long marriage, " start out by over marrying"

[Ssmookler]

Thanks for all of your comments. It's been a couple of months since my initial post and want everyone to know that my wife and I decided to purchase a 25 '. We are still looking for one. We will be purchasing a used AS and am checking the internet sources we know (RV Trader, and Airstreamclassifieds) We ideally would get one from 1995-2007. We think the bigger size makes more sense for us after actually being in several models at Ohio dealers in Troy and Columbus Ohio. Moses, our 85lb mutt (mostly Shepherd) is happy about our decision.
Will keep you posted.

[m.hony]

Get it soon and go camping.
We are coming to Ohio in September for a service appointment at the mother ship.
I am so excited about the trip I am just about to bust...

[boxerteam]

we have three boxers in sport 16, which is perfect proof my wife and i are nuts!