RV Camping with a New Puppy-What You Need to Know

There are so many horror stories we have heard of things that have happened to pet owners who take their dogs RV camping for the first time. Believe me, we get it! We currently have 6 chihuahuas ranging from 2 years to over 4 years old. Furthermore, we have had Chihuahua’s who lived to be up to 18 years old. Undoubtedly, we have seen it all from the puppy stage to elderly stage. For this reason, we KNOW RV Camping with a New Puppy and What You Need to Know!

We have had these little puppies URINATING ON OUR BED, GET LOOSE AND RUN FOR THE ROAD, and GET ILL all while RV Camping! Not only have we had our more elderly pups make accidents, but also circling from stress, and even seizures. When you have had over 10 Chihuahua’s in your immediate family over the span of 20+ years, you do learn first-hand what works and what doesn’t work when you go RV Camping with a new puppy and that is what we are going to share with you.

 

 

 

Common Problems When RV Camping with a New Puppy

First, let us address the problem areas of RV Camping with Puppies. Then we will share our proven ways of how to fix those problems while Training Puppies for RV Camping!

 

Here is a list of issues we are going to focus on while RV Camping with a New Puppy:

1. Potty Training Your Puppy
2. Puppy Walks and Rides
3. Puppy Freedom
4. The Safe Puppy
5. The Destructive Puppy
6. Proper Formalities of Puppy Life While RV Camping
7. Puppies and Winter
8. The Barking Puppy
9. Consistency is Key to Get them out RV Camping!
10. Conclusion-Trials, Errors, and Success!

 

 

#1 Potty Training While RV Camping with a New Puppy

The Problem-Puppy urinating on the bed, Puppy urinating on THEIR bed, and Puppy urinating everywhere else!

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-Train your puppy to use bells or doorbells to go outside.

This is a new idea we got from our neighbor who recently adopted a new puppy. They trained her to use a bell and then a doorbell to alert them when she needs to go outside!

WHAT?!?!

Yes! She does it and we are currently in the process of training our Chihuahua’s to do the same! So far, it looks promising! We have been training for only 2 days and they have already rang the bell MANY times!

We started with ordering a Dog Doorbell. Another option is to use an adjustable door handle bell for puppy training to hang on your door handle. Totally up to you and what you prefer!

 

How to Train a Puppy Using a Dog Doorbell While RV Camping with a New Puppy

The first step is to “install” the dog doorbell. This is remarkably simple since they are wireless! The doorbell comes with 3M double-sided adhesive tape on Velcro to easily place the doorbell where you need it. We attached ours to the wall at an appropriate level for our pups to use either their nose or paw to TOUCH (not press thankfully). A day later we decided it would be much easier for them to use their paw to touch it if it were on the floor. So, we moved it to the floor.

You simply chose a specific word(s) that works best for your family and pup(s) to train them. We use “Ring Bell” because we have one indoors and outdoors to alert us when they want to go outside and come inside.

We use treats which is working much better now that the activator is on the floor!

The first step is to show them a treat. Next, say “Ring Bell” or whatever your specific word(s) is going to be. Finally, press the bell with their paw, say “good job” and then give them a treat. Continue doing this until they pick it up. It usually will take a day or two up to a week at the most if you continue the routine. Consistency is the key!

 

#2 Going for Walks and Rides in Vehicle or Bikes

The Problem-puppy is all over the place while walking and riding

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-Proper collars/leads/harnesses/vehicle safety belts and Bike Stroller for your Puppy

 

Going for Walks Around the Campground While RV Camping with a New Puppy

Taking walks around the campground is something we do every RV Camping Trip. We enjoy it and so do our pups. Teaching a puppy to walk with a leash and collar on can be difficult when RV Camping because there are so many distractions for a puppy. It can be people (especially fun kiddos), other dogs, and wildlife. Using a proper collar, leash, and harness can affect the results of your walk in positive or negative way.

 

 

Training with a good HARNESS is the BEST advice we can give with puppies and or older dogs who tend to pull and tug at their owner to go where THEY want to go. It is up to the owner to show proper guidance and tell their pup where THE OWNER and PUP are going to go! Additionally, training the puppy to walk on an appropriate length LEASH (rather than one that is incredibly long) is always a good idea! You must only allow a puppy enough leash to be guided by you, so start short. Simply correct their behavior by giving them a very slight “tug” on the leash and they will be walking beside you in no time. Eventually you can get a longer leash when they have been trained.

 

Going for a Vehicle Ride

Have you ever taken a new puppy for a ride in your vehicle and let them roam free in it? If you have, we bet you learned your lesson like we did! THEY RUN ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! We found that it is safest to have the pups all sit in a seat (for us, they get the entire back bench in our mini van). We use pet adjustable car seat belts for them all now and have no worries about them getting hurt or getting out of the van and running off when we open the doors.

 

Going for Bike Rides While RV Camping with a New Puppy

Going for bike rides is fun family entertainment while RV Camping. However, we always felt guilty leaving our dogs behind. We decided it was important enough to us to take them along, so we researched the best way to do so. Some ideas we found seemed dangerous to us, yet we always came back to the idea of a trailer for them. We found the perfect 3-in-1 Luxury Pet Trailer that has many options!

This Pet Trailer gives you the option to use it as a Bike Trailer, a Jogger, and as a Dog Crate! It was a perfect fit for our pups and keeps them safe on rides!

 

 

#3 Adventures in Freedom While RV Camping with a New Puppy

The Problem-Puppy Needing to have freedom to run but not run off

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-You will need to consider getting a Portable Dog Run and Tie outs for outside and allowing a puppy to explore and have their own adventures while RV Camping

 

Portable Dog Run

We have discussed these Portable Dog Runs in many of articles. They are a huge help with puppies and older dogs. It allows them the freedom to have their own adventures without harm.

 

Tie-Outs

The Tie-Outs are another good option for allowing a puppy to explore their surroundings. It gives them a little more freedom than the Dog Run however, it also creates an opportunity for people and especially children to have closer contact with your puppy. Making sure your puppy is ready for a tie-out first is important. If you have not trained your puppy not to bite or nibble on people, make sure that is done first!

 

 

#4 Safety First While RV Camping with a New Puppy

The Problem-Safety for dogs while RV Camping if you need to leave them alone

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-Video monitoring systems work well

 

 

We talk a lot about how we keep our puppies safe when we need to leave them in the RV alone in one of our best articles. While we do not tend to leave our campsite very often without them in tow, we do need to run errands occasionally and this always created a concern about what to do with them. We are happy that we have a fix for that problem now. You can read all about that in our article How to Safely Leave Your Pet Alone in an RV.

 

#5 The Destructive Puppy

We went out for a walk and ended up stopping to chat for awhile with some friends of ours at their campsite. We had left two of our puppies in the RV (very new RV I might mention). I started thinking about it and then started to panic so I ran back to the RV and sure enough, I found those two little sweet girls completely tearing up the bedroom carpet! Strands of carpet were pulled everywhere and they were having so much fun! It was not their fault, completely our fault for leaving them when they were so little, by themselves un attended and in a new environment. So, we decided they must be crated whenever we leave the RV for any extended period of time.

 

 

#6 Proper Formalities While RV Camping with a New Puppy

The Problem-Not having Proper Formalities for RV Camping with Puppies

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-Training your puppy to “sit pretty or handsome”

 

All the ideas we have shared with you should help make your puppies RV Camping experience a much better one. It also should help YOUR experience be better and not so stressful dealing with a puppy! One last idea we have is training your puppy to “Sit Pretty” or “Sit Handsome”. This will help when people are walking by your campsite and show that your pups have proper formality while RV Camping! To do this, use the same format as you do with training to use the doorbell. Treats and consistency are the best reward!

 

 #7 Puppy Training in the Winter Months While RV Camping

The Problem-Puppy Boredom

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-Keep that Puppy Entertained!

Training a puppy in the cold, winter months can be an even harder struggle than training them when there’s great weather for them to be outside exploring. However, many families adopt puppies around the holidays and then are forced to train their new friend in the cold. Consistency is the key even in in the cold. The above steps can all be included in their daily routine, just make sure you are consistent in rewarding them (maybe even a little more than in the nice weather months).

Continue the potty-training regiments above, give them their freedom as they learn, and even continue daily walks. These puppies NEED exercise daily!

 

 

#8 The Constantly Barking Puppy

The Problem-The Constantly Barking Puppy

What You Need to Know to RV Camp with a New Puppy-An Ultrasonic Dog Training Anti-Barking Aid

UGH! Puppies can be so LOUD when you first start getting them out in public! PLEASE get them out soon and train them. Learn from our mistakes! We kept ours inside a lot at first because they are such loud barkers. However, training them as they are getting older is proving to be much harder than as young pups. All our pup’s bark when they see other dogs and people. It is normal! But we have one specific puppy, little Miss “Lovie” who is a constant barker. Once she gets started, she just will not quit! Now, we understand and know that dogs bark. They just do. It is just their nature. BUT when it disturbs other people around OR YOU, it must be addressed immediately.

 

We had researched many ways to stop barking but nothing seemed to work. We had always been very hesitant about the idea if using a barking aid because we were concerned about it harming our pets hearing. However, we knew we had to do something to discontinue this bad behavior. We finally gave in to the idea of using an Ultrasonic Dog Training Anti-Barking Aid. It has worked with all of our dogs, however, “Lovie” is still in training. It will take a while to train her, we know, but we see that it has worked with the other 4 so we are hopeful and are continuing the training. Again, consistency is the key.

 

#9 Consistency is Key to Get Them Out RV Camping!

Keep in mind that consistency is ALWAYS the key to successful puppy training! When you train your puppy from their very first RV Camping trip and you consistently continue that training, you will be so glad you did!

 

#10 Conclusion-Trials, Errors, and Success!

To conclude, you will have many trials, errors, and successes in Training Puppies for RV Camping! We certainly have! If you are interested in any of the products that we mentioned in this article, you can find them list below. Have a great RV Camping Trip with your puppy!

 

 

5 Best Products for Training your Puppy for RV Camping that you can buy Today for Under $40.00

 

1. Dog Doorbell

 

2. Adjustable Door Handle Bell for Puppy Training

 

3. Ultrasonic Dog Training Anti-Barking Aid

 

4. Pet Adjustable Car Seat Belts

 

5. The Best Harness and Leash for Teaching a Puppy to go for walks

 

 

BONUS Product Suggestion:

The 3-in-1 Luxury Pet Trailer!