Is my dream crazy?

[p_flamingo]

Originally Posted by TBRich

We do leave our Standard Schnauzer Abbey in the Bambi sometimes, but never for very long. If it's so warm that AC is required to keep it livable inside we don't leave her, period. Even in cool enough weather, we always leave the fantastic fan on to bring air in. Even when it's cool enough without the fan on, the vent is open.

We do a lot of rallies with friends...at those times, if we need to be gone for very long we either leave Abbey with friends or leave keys and ask someone to check on her periodically and/or take her for a walk. We do the same for them. Because we often camp with friends, we happen to know that she doesn't bark excessively when we are gone...but like when we are home, if someone knocks on the door, etc, she will "acknowledge" them. (She's our doorbell and intruder alarm. )

If you are a long-term resident in a park you may be able to make arrangements with the management or someone you know in the park to check on your dog periodically if necessary...some will do that and some won't but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Good luck...the fact that you are worrying about your dog in advance signals that you are a good pet-mama!

Thanks - actually the dog is the key decision point for whether or not to try this idea. If it is just myself in a situation, I am usually able to make it work. We are very cautious with the pets in our brick and mortar home - only use a pet sitter when needed, pay for the most attention we can (such as overnights if the trip means we are gone for any length of time), the pet sitter sends daily photos and calls with any questions, etc.

[p_flamingo]

Thanks to all who have replied. Many good options and ideas! I am going to look into pet sitting to start. I would welcome any other comments if anyone else has the time and inclination. Thanks!

[Northerngirl]

Originally Posted by p_flamingo

questions I have not considered!
- is it safe to leave the AC on for pets and go off to work a standard, 8 to 5 work day?
-.

Something to think about when you leave a dog on their own in a trailer with the AC running. AC's can fail, Power breakers can trip.

There where two well publicized cases in the show dog world this summer that resulted in multiple deaths of dogs.

A party was showing their dogs this summer and staying at a hotel with a specially equipped truck with an air conditioning powered by an extension cord plugged into the exterior of the hotel. A circuit breaker in the truck tripped in the midst of a heat wave and the dogs all died.

Another similar situation happened when a van specially equipped with an AC also powered by an extension cord plugged into an exterior plug at the show grounds failed while the handler was in the ring showing a dog. All the dogs in the van were lost in less than 2.5 hours.

[p_flamingo]

Originally Posted by Northerngirl

Something to think about when you leave a dog on their own in a trailer with the AC running. AC's can fail, Power breakers can trip.

There where two well publicized cases in the show dog world this summer that resulted in multiple deaths of dogs.

A party was showing their dogs this summer and staying at a hotel with a specially equipped truck with an air conditioning powered by an extension cord plugged into the exterior of the hotel. A circuit breaker in the truck tripped in the midst of a heat wave and the dogs all died.

Another similar situation happened when a van specially equipped with an AC also powered by an extension cord plugged into an exterior plug at the show grounds failed while the handler was in the ring showing a dog. All the dogs in the van were lost in less than 2.5 hours.

That dog show situation sounds horrible! I feel very sorry for all involved.

I am looking into doggie daycare in the area. I have a recommendation and am thinking I should visit this daycare once or twice to make sure I like the place and that my younger, more anxious dog would be ok temperament-wise per this daycare's "standards" before going down this road.

Can I even keep the trailer cool enough for myself to manage in the summer? I don't mind indoor heat up to about the high 80's. The dogs seem ok when it is hot here, though it is very uncommon.

Is it safe to go to the grocery store or other quick errands and leave the dogs in the trailer for less than an hour? I'm not a big shopper and would probably spend most of my time hanging out with the dogs or doing work from home when I was not at the job site.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, a lot of good information so far. We took our dogs traveling with us and only left them alone in cool / cold weather. We hired pet sitters or we took turns going out with our dog in the trailer. Never happened to us, but a few camp grounds will unplug your trailer if they see you leave and your air conditioner is running. [trying to save electricity] At home, and in my trailer, I used a voice activated recorder to hear what happened when we were gone and how long our dog barked when left alone.


A trailer won't get hot as fast as a car, but way faster than a house.

[p_flamingo]

Thanks for all the responses and ideas. I am going to try to visit the local Airstream dealer this Saturday to get a better idea of options. I have been in Airstreams before but not when I was trying to envision actually owning one!

[HarryN]

There are a few (expensive) battery backed air conditioning options out there to make a single point of failure, like a failure of the power through the cord, less likely to be devastating.

You can think of them like a UPS (un interruptible power supply), sized for air conditioning instead of a computer.

When I say expensive, I mean on the order of $25K for 4 hours, and $40K for 8 hours.

None of these are considered "medical grade", meaning that they are technically not rated to sustain life, which is a very special, even more expensive setup.

Nonetheless, having a backup is better than no backup.

[stowaways]

We full-timed in Texas during one of the hottest summers on record without any trouble. Granted, our site was in an rv resort with plentiful shade and reliable utilities, and we have two ACs. Gratefully, we also made a lot of friends at the campground who kept an eye on them and our AS throughout the day. We officed close by, which made it easy to check on them during lunch, etc.

Doggie day care is a great idea... and with today's technology, a wifi cam aimed at the AC thermostat (or some variation on the theme) might be worth checking out too.

In my book, best advice is to always pursue your passions, honor your dreams and cherish those around you because you can't afford not to! Sounds like your concern for your pups means you're already barking up the right tree. Good luck whatever you decide.

[johare22]

Airstream's are not cars and they have power even if the mains fail. The 12v system will run fantastic fans for hours they are also thermostat controlled on the newer AS. Get a surge protector low voltage protector they will switch off automatically if shore power goes low or high, the good ones will also switch back on when power normalizes. Protecting your circuit breakers from tripping. The 12v system will work regardless of the park (shore) power situation. The fantastic fans will kick on automatically when temperatures get high. You have to set the level on the the thermostat control on the fan(s) but that is easily done. The fans are powerful and will keep the airstream from becoming a hazard to your pets they may get warm, but they won't be in any real danger. Also, get the zipdees. Awnings will help keep temperatures down. Live the dream! It's a beautiful dream.

[Boxite]

Vent fans only work if there's an adequate source of fresh-air-INlet. (keep a fwd window open unless you like the smell of your black and grey tanks.)

[Magnet18]

The dog problem is one of the major worries we have with full timing in our airstream.
At the moment she stays with relatives during the day, but while on vacation this summer we returned to the fairgrounds and they had lost electrical to 1/2 of the 50A circuit, fortunately that left one of our 2 ACs on, but it could have ended much worse

I have heard of couples that both work full timing in Tucson, the KOA there has shaded spots, so they left windows open and fans on with the AS in full day shade, and all was well


The issue is power failure with no redundancies. Even in a house, if the power fails, depending on the situation, it can get unsafely hot if you leave your dogs for the day and the power fails, but we still do, because it is unlikely.

I think in order to feel comfortable leaving my dog for the day I would do the following
1. Airstream in full day shade
2. 2AC units on separate breakers (Done)
3. Remote temperature monitoring and an automatic alert if either the power is lost or the temperature gets above 75
4. If both breakers lose power, a reliable backup generator wired to automatically kick in, preferably dual LP/Gas
5. If all those fail, there is an open window and 2 fantastic fans to keep it from getting out of hand

I think that's enough redundancies...

I have the tech skills to make all this happen, but even after all that, I would still worry

[LU86Guppy]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0Tuk...xm9Wrn1lo_7HxQ

Leave the dog in the camper, she’ll be fine, they said.