Discover How to Make RV Life Work with a Dog
Tips for successfully helping your pet adjust and thrive during full-time travel.
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📍- Home-on-Wheels
My husband and I like to say we are a full-time traveling family of three, although only two of us are technically human. That’s right, the stowaway who completes our pack is none other than a four-year-old, mixed breed, small but spunky pup who we have the pleasure of calling our furry compatriot, Charlie.
Aside from being travelers, Drew and I are dog people, through and through. This is true, so much so, that the fact that we even had a dog was almost enough to make us rethink our whole plan of traveling the country in our Class A RV. How was Charlie going to handle it? Would he adjust to full-time travel? Would all of this become a terrible, terrible idea?
I know that we are not alone in this. For many of us, our dogs are as much a part of our families as any two-legged member, and we find it just as important that their needs are met alongside our own. This is why we made it a priority to make sure that Charlie adjusted and thrived when we took our life to the road. Now, after nine months of travel, I can confidently say that Charlie is one travel-loving dog, and we accomplished this by implementing a few simple techniques.
So, if you’re looking to find out how you too can live on the road with your pet, keep reading to uncover our top tips for successfully helping your dog adjust, and thrive during full-time travel.
Shown above is myself, Drew, and Charlie in front of our home-on-wheels. As you can see, Charlie sports the largest grin out of all of us!
Before You Leave
Introduce them to the space
Hopefully, you will have access to your new home-on-wheels before it’s time to roll away in it. If this is true, you’ll want to use this time to introduce your pet to their new space. Let them sniff it out. Give them a few meals in it. Maybe even spend a night or two in it. This will reassure your pet that your new home, as small as it may be, is still a suitable den that will keep their pack safe and sound. Then, when you officially call it home, it won’t be as big of a shock to your furry friend.
We had a month with our RV and we spent that time gradually introducing Charlie to our new home. By the end, he knew he was king of the castle.
Get a dog monitor
Admittedly, we spend a lot of money on Charlie to make sure that he’s happy and safe, but one of the best investments we ever made was in our dog monitor. Having a device that can keep track of your pet’s well-being from afar will ease your mind while you are out doing adventures that your dog can’t tag along on. There are a lot of dog monitors to choose from, and many of them can be pricey. However, if you have an iPad and iPhone, a cheap alternative to these fancy gadgets would be to install a dog monitor app. We chose Dog Monitor, which was $6.99 to download and gives us a live video of Charlie in the RV as well as an option to communicate with him over the iPad speaker.
Keep their vaccination records handy
Before you say goodbye to your trusted vet, stop into their office and ask them to print out a copy of your vet records. Better yet, ask them to print out a copy AND to email you a copy because things will inevitably get lost during your downsizing journey. Many campgrounds require your pet to be up to date on their main vaccinations and will even ask to see their records during check-in. You’ll also need specific vaccinations if you ever plan to use doggy daycares or kennel services, so ask your vet what you may need to do in order to get your dog kennel-approved if this is on your radar.
Let them keep their favorite things
If you’re moving into an RV, van, or skoolie, chances are that you’ll be purging a lot of items, and yes, your pet will have to go through this as well. I know that for some, it is hard enough having to squeeze everything we want into a vehicle and we may not want to even think about sacrificing some of our precious space for our pet’s belongings. Still, you must do so. Make sure that your dog has a comfortable spot to lay, an outdoor bed, and their favorite toys and bones in your new home. Just like you, they’ll give up a lot of amenities during your travels, and they deserve to have their favorite things in their new space
One of Charlie’s favorite things is his outdoor, water-resistant bed which is perfect for days like this one! As a side note, if you ever take your dog on the water, don’t forget to practice safety first and have them wear a life jacket.
Choose a common food
While you are traveling, you will realize quickly that there are not a lot of constants from one location to another. Your favorite grocery store may not be easily accessible, the weather will drastically change, and you’ll travel through time zones. If your dog is currently eating dog food from a small local company in your hometown, you can probably assume that you won’t be able to find this on the road. Since suddenly changing a dog’s diet can be very hard on their digestive tract, it’s best to transition them to an easily accessible food before you start roaming. Charlie is on Iams Small Breed, which treats him well and can be found all over the country, but since I’m no expert on canine nutrition, the ultimate choice is yours.
While You’re Traveling
Teach them commands related to your travel
Think about all of the commands that your dog knows. They know they have to sit at the door to be let outside and they know that they should walk beside you instead of pulling you down the road. The consistency that you used to teach them these commands will be necessary when you teach them new commands related to your travels as well. During our RV explorations, Drew and I taught Charlie what it means when we tell him we are going to “roll in the slides” and “pull up the jacks”. Now, whenever we do these actions, Charlie is comfortable in this bed, ready for them to occur, instead of being startled by them.
Here, Charlie and I are working on his “heal” command, a very important one for keeping your dog close when you are out exploring nature!
Take them on your adventures
Remember how I said I buy a lot of stuff to make sure that my dog is happy? A great example of this is our Charlie-approved, dog bike seat, The Buddy Rider. Besides being the best dog bike seat on the market, The Buddy Rider helps us take Charlie on a ton of adventures! As we travel, we’ve learned just how important it is to take Charlie on our explorations with us, and by doing so we can easily observe improvements in his energy levels and mood.
If you’re unsure of whether your dog needs a good adventure, a good rule of thumb is that they are probably feeding off of your mood and will feel similar things that you are feeling on a day-to-day basis. So, if you have cabin fever and need to go out for a hike, you can bet that your dog does too, so why not bring them with you?
By bringing Charlie on our adventures, we learned that he loves the beach! This is something we had no idea about back when we were still living in Pennsylvania.
Give them structure
Even for humans, the traveling lifestyle can be a strange way of life. The lifestyle calls for constant transitions and frequent changes in the environment. This is why we find it so important to give your dog structure when you can do so. Even if your backyard is different, we recommend making sure you give your dog a reliable bedtime routine so they know when it’s time to wind down for the night. Doing so will help make sure they get a good night’s rest, which is good for everybody.
Time your activities wisely
It’s truly an inevitability that there will be things that you want to do during your travels that your four-legged friend will not be able to come with you on. This means that you’ll have to face the dreaded reality of leaving your pet in your mobile home by themselves. One of the biggest concerns during this time will be that the climate in your tiny home is comfortable for them. Pay attention to how your RV or van heats up during the day and what temperature the interior typically reaches depending on what the weather is like outside. This way, you can look at the weather forecast, and monitor any changes in temperature while you are out exploring, knowing when it is best to return home to your pet. During the summer, when heat can be a problem, try to plan your activities as early in the day as possible, ensuring that you can be at home with them when the sun is highest.
Keep them leashed and tagged
While you are living on the road, it will be more important than ever to keep your pet leashed and tagged. For our little family, we move locations every 7 to 14 days, meaning that Charlie is always in unfamiliar territory. If he were to get lost, he would have a much lower likelihood of finding his way back to the RV because of this. This is why we keep Charlie attached to a leash the majority of the time that we spend outside. Depending on the variables, we do like to let him off leash so that he can have an opportunity to run around, but we do so while staying vigilant about our surroundings and about Charlie’s behavior.
In the terrible circumstance your dog does wander off, his tags and/or microchip will be your saving grace. Ideally, your dog will be microchipped while you are traveling, giving any vet or shelter the ability to trace your pet back to you and contact you if they happen to find them. At the very least, making sure they always go outside with a tag on their collar or harness will mean that anybody who finds them will be able to call you.
Even when Charlie is enjoying some off-leash time, we like to leave him in this red harness which is easy to spot against the natural colors of the wilderness.
Keep up with vet visits
Many vets will send annual reminders to their customers about the upcoming vaccinations or wellness exams that are due for their pets. However, all of this will stop when you are on the road so it is important for the health of your pet that you keep up with these appointments by yourself. We recommend adding reminders to your cell phone calendar, and then looking a few stops ahead on your travels so that you can call vets in the area and set up any necessary appointments.
Research your local environment
While traveling, you will come across parts of the country which have drastically different climates, flora, and fauna. With each change of scenery, you should invest a bit of time into researching what types of dangers each environment poses for your dog. You should be able to identify poisonous plants so that you can keep your pet away from them while you are on a walk, and know what types of large, predatory animals are common in your area. Educate yourself on how to respond if you encounter any of these dangers during your adventures so that you can save yourself the precious seconds that often save lives.
In New Mexico (where this picture was taken), rattlesnakes are a real threat. Knowing this, we keep Charlie away from rocks, and holes that he may want to put his nose near.
Have you ever considered full-time travel with your pet? Maybe you have some awesome tips to share that I may have missed. Be sure to comment down below so that we can inspire future travelers together!
Thank you for joining us at Discovery Detour, where the destination is always unknown.
