Some Problems when Wandering with Pets

We have pets and have wandered around to places far from home, as I would think that a lot of you have done, too. We have traveled with dogs with and without an RV.

Our first adventures traveling with a dog was way back when we had a pop-up camping trailer, two young boys, and a Basset Hound. That was our first taste of RVing and although there were times when we had problems, overall, we enjoyed it. One Basset Hound was not too much trouble and we had two young boys to keep her occupied.

A tornado put an end to that camper while we were living near Justin, TX. It got flipped end over end and pretty much came apart except for the box part. That ended our RVing for many years, 23 or 24 years at least. We still traveled with dogs, but had to stay overnight in motels. Some allowed pets, some charged extra, and some; well you just had to sneak them in and out. Either way, staying in motels with pets is not a pleasant experience. Taking them out when they have to go and keeping them quiet is quite a chore.

Had our three cats in a motel room once, and that was not fun. They did not like it at all and told us about it by yelling their heads off. Tried to keep them quiet but that was impossible. Thought for sure we would get kicked out that night, but didn’t.

The subject of grass burrs, sand burrs, etc came up with Gypsy the other day. These kinds of things can be a huge problem, especially with long haired dogs that have under-coats. Yep, you guessed it, like ours do.

Grass burrs and sand burrs are tough to get out and they are really sharp – OUCH!! Hate them and they seem to be in every road-side park and RV park that we have ever stopped in, except a few in climates where the burrs don’t grow.

Pecan trees leave a lot of debris that get tangled up and embedded in the fur of our dogs. We stopped at an RV park that used to be a pecan orchard. Spent hours and hours trying to get that stuff out of them.

Another tree that is a huge problem is cedar. My one dog ran out in a grove of cedar trees and just stopped moving. I called her and she still didn’t move, just turned her head and looked at me. She always did everything I asked of her, so knew something was wrong. When I got to her, her whole underneath, from belly to all four legs and tail, was tightly packed with old cedar needles. Again, it took hours and hours to get them out.

When you travel with pets, make sure they keep getting the same food and water as they do at home. Some dogs get upset when they drink strange water. We always carry bottled water for our dogs. You also have to be careful when they go out. Do not let them eat or drink anything out side.

We went from pop-up camper, to a bumper pull travel trailer, to a class-C motor-home, and I believe the dogs are much more comfortable in the motor-home. They have more room to move around and like to lay on the couch and on our laps. They also give me exercise. I get to walk them one at a time every time we stop.

They can be a problem and a lot of extra work, but the pleasures and love that they bring us is well worth it all. All my pets have been a large part of our family.