How to Go RV Camping with Dogs and Must Haves

Camping with dogs, SIX chihuahuas to be exact, sounds SUPER FUN doesn’t it! It doesn’t have to be difficult and we have found quite a few ways to keep them ALL HAPPY!

 

 

RV Camping with Dogs

There are many helpful ways to get your furry friends out RV Camping and doing it in a safe way for your pet, your family, and others around you at the campground. Here are our ideas and what we use!

 

Tie-Ups

For many years we had 4 older chihuahuas and we would simply tie them up outside with rope to their collars. Then the rope got too heavy as the puppies got older, so we decided to try Tie Outs. We purchased these BV Pet Extra-Small Tie Out cables. Using the tie out cables worked great for allowing them to run all around if they wished. They were a pain for us when they got tangled up together. When 2 of our dogs passed away, we ended up getting 2 puppies (still had 2 other older pups). This meant 2 were running wild and getting tangled up with the 2 older ones who couldn’t care less about running around outside. Then came the 3rd puppy and we knew we had to do something different and fast!

 

Exercise Pens

We found these great Exercise Pens by Midwest Homes for Pets from Amazon and they’ve worked out very well for us. Storage space in any RV has its challenges but these fold completely flat! Another great option is that you can attach them to a crate!! It has one door per pen (so we have 2 doors when we attach these 2 pens together). They come in a wide variety of sizes (5 height choices) which is great because height was a big issue for us and our climbing/jumping puppies. We got an 8’x10’ tarp for the top for shade and attached it with mini bungee cords. Works GREAT!

I also want to mention that if ONE pen is large enough for your pet(s) there’s another great option of purchasing the Pen Cover that is a wire top or you can purchase the Sun Screen both made by Midwest Homes for Pets! BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! You also have the option of purchasing a crate (or use one you have already) and this Pen will attach to it to create a Personal Den with room to exercise or rest! Like I said, that’s only if you need the space provided with one pen, we wanted two with 6 dogs so that wasn’t an option for us. Side note-we plan on using these at home in the winter months to allow them outside time in a confined area (out of the mud hopefully)!

 

 

Collars, Harnesses and Leashes

As you can imagine with all the Chihuahuas we have had and do currently, we’ve been through MANY collars, harnesses and leashes. One, because puppies like to chew them up and two, because we couldn’t find just the right ones we really liked. We finally did find the right ones for us!

Here’s what we use for Collars… Blueberry Pet Collars, for Harnesses EcoBark Pet Supplies the Original Control Dog Harness Luxurious Padded Vest and for leashes we use EcoBark Pet Supplies Comfort Padded Dog Leash. These all come in matching colors, which is great when you have many pets to size them once and then they’re color coordinated to easily find whose is whose! It is VERY important to know the leash laws in the state you are camping in. Also, make sure you know the rules at the specific Campground you’re staying in!

PLEASE ALWAYS HAVE YOUR DOG ON A LEASH TO PROTECT THEM AND OTHERS AROUND!

 

 

Pet Identification

Make sure you have the proper information labeled on your pet. It is SO IMPORTANT if they ever get lost! We use CNATTAGS’s Stainless Steel with Enamel Round Pet ID tags. We also use the Divoti dog tag/pet id quick clips. They allow us to move their ID’s back and forth between Harnesses and Collars depending on the activity. Super convenient!

 

Safe Travels

Driving with a pet can be stressful, especially when you have more than one! Finding a way to keep our puppies from running freely all over our vehicles was a challenge. Then we found these AWESOME Dog Harness Vehicle Seat Belt Safety Leash Leads by OMORC! We use them with these 3-way Guardian Gear Tangle Dog Leash Coupler. You can have 3 on one lead if you need to but we decided to give them more room to move a little and to use each one separately. The Leash Coupler works great to take 3 dogs on a walk on ONE LEASH as well! Quadruple-purpose! Who doesn’t love THAT! Please make sure that when you use these that you measure the distance the dog can move. You don’t want them so loose that they could fall off the seat they’re in!

 

Cleaning Up After Your Pet While Camping

Cleaning up after your pet when they make a mess is as important in Campgrounds if not more than at home in your yard. In most Campgrounds, it’s a very strict policy! For picking up on our campsite, we use the Dogit Jawz waste scoop for grass. Works great! When going for walks, dog waste bags are a MUST. I went to my sister, J, for suggestions on the best bags because she has tried many different ones with her dogs. She recommends the ones made by Originalpetbags called Easy Open & East tie-handle Leak-proof Bags. They are made in the USA. She said she “has never had one tear.” “They have great handles and tie up nice and easy like a grocery bag.” Also, “very affordable and come in fun colors”.

 

Exercise

Dogs need exercise, especially puppies! What better way than to get OUTSIDE! We have found a super fun way to include the young and not so young ones! The best purchase we have made is this Sepnine 3-in-1 Luxury Large sized bike trailer/bicycle pet trailer/jogger!

I have seen many people who take their pets for “walks” in strollers and always thought “that’s so ridiculous”! Yes, that was me… but I wouldn’t have done it any other way with our older dogs. The older pups so badly want to fit in and be a part of our camping fun. However, they don’t get around like the younger pups obviously, so going for long walks isn’t physically possible.

 

 

The Trailer

The Trailer works great for our older pups and whenever the young pups get tired (not often) they can hitch a ride too! Using it as a Bike Trailer was hilarious for us! Mark took all 5 (at the time) in the trailer at one time and I was pulling our son in his trailer behind my bike. We were quite the sight I’m sure and the dogs decided to bark at EVERYTHING they saw while we were riding.

People at the campground thought it was just the coolest thing; we do too! We did purchase the Bone-Dry DII Faux Fur Pet Cage Liner to use inside the trailer. It makes it a little more comfortable for long travels. Remember to pack water bottle(s) and a bowl for them to have a drink while riding around!

 

 

Food/Water/Toys

Don’t forget to pack whatever food your dog likes as well as their favorite treats and chew bones! I forgot to pack the new puppies’ toys one time and had to send Mark home

to get them! Silly pups must have their security toys.

 

Remember their food and water bowls! I had to use paper plates and plastic bowls once. It became a game to see who could tear it all up first! Here’s what we use but I know all dogs have their certain kinds of food, treats and bones they like so this is just FYI.

Plain Rawhides by Lucky Premium treats natural dog treats made in the USA. Purina Mighty Dog in Gravy Wet Dog Food variety pack.  Purina Moist & Meaty burger with cheddar cheese packs.

 

Beds

Our puppies sleep in our bed in the RV as well as at home. The older ones must sleep in their own dog beds because they can’t get up and down from our beds anymore.

We purchased these AWESOME beds by Best Friends by Sheri! They’re luxury Shag Fuax Fur and quite honestly, I would sleep in it if I could! They’re SO SOFT!!! PLUS, their machine washable AND they have Water-Resistant Bottoms! They’re beautiful too! Of course, they all have to have their blankets that are super soft as well. We got them the HappyCare Textiles printed dog paw flannel reverse to Sherpa throw blankets. WHO doesn’t LOVE THE SOFTNESS OF SHERPA!

 

Safety, Safety, Safety:

First Aid Kit

We heave an Emergency First Aid Kit for our dogs. It is just as important as having one for us. We recommend the New Market Squared Pet First Aid Kit for dogs & cats. It’s a 45-piece FDA approved kit that gives us a feeling of relief if we ever had the need for one in an emergency.

 

Inclement Weather

Besides accidents, another thing to be concerned about is the safety of our pets in inclement weather. We have had a few very strong storms and even a couple of Microbursts that came through while we were camping. I had Aiden (our son) and 4 small Chihuahuas at the time, that I had to get gathered up VERY QUICKLY to seek shelter.

It was a disaster trying to get them all to our vehicle on leashes. Fast response was necessary. There wasn’t much time to seek shelter after trying to get our son, who is in a wheelchair, out of our camper entrance by Wheelchair Lift.

We decided something had to be done to keep us all safe and have a much faster response time. That’s when we purchased the SturdiBag Extra Large flexible height pet carrier divided! I can fit all 5 dogs in it and carry it by the handle. This avoids me trying to rush around to find their collars, leashes and/or harnesses! I do keep all of those in a bag near the pet carrier if we are expecting hazardous weather but sometimes you just don’t get much warning.

 

 

 Leaving Pets in the RV

The last thing I want to mention is my concern for leaving our pets in our RV for very long…we just can’t. These adorable, sweet puppies can destroy things very quickly when left unattended!  We bought a brand-new RV last year. Left the 2 puppies (at the time) out in the RV while we went to visit friends a few campsites down.

After being gone 45 minutes, we came back to shredded carpet. SO, we knew we had to do something.

 

We decided to purchase a dog crate. It is only used if we know we will be away from the camper for awhile because it does take up space. However, it also folds completely flat so very good to store! Remember how I told you about the awesome Exercise Pens by MidWest Homes for Pets and the option to purchase a crate that attaches to the pen? Yep, that’s what we did and it works GREAT!!!

 

 

Dog Monitoring

I would always worry about leaving our dogs alone in the RV for other reasons beyond them destroying the carpet. For their safety. We tried different ways but this App I found is what works best for us. It’s called “DOG MONITOR” and can be found in the App Store.

How the DOG MONITOR App works

You must have 2 IOS devices connected to the internet. One device is the Dog Station (iPad for example)  and the other is the Person Station (my personal cell phone). It provides us with a video and sound feed. We are able to see the dogs at all times and can communicate with them as well! It works great for me because I also worried about what would happen if the electricity went out and we had no idea!

We put the puppies in the crate and then we also put a small temperature gauge on top then use the Dog Monitor App to monitor them as well as the temperature in the RV. I have only used this App a few times because I just found it recently so if there are any issues I find I promise to let you all know!

Conclusion of How to Go RV Camping with Dogs and Must Haves

That’s How to camp with dogs and must haves inside your RVs and Outside.

Most importantly, all you need to get your pets from home to your home away from home in your RV safely! Happy Camping!