Susana2809 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Some advice from you experts out there. We are in the process of looking at M/Hs which we will use to save kennel fees, by taking the dogs with us on holiday. We have 3 dogs, one large, one medium and one small, plus the 2 of us. We want to use the M/H in the UK but also to travel around Europe. We have the issue of floor space etc for the dogs when we are in the UK in contrast to probably needing less space in the warm climate , when we are in the Med. At present we are not fully retired and therefore the number of weeks using the M/H full time is likely to be 10-12 plus some weekends. I admit to being nervous about driving a 7.5m vehicle on my own, without another to help in reversing if I get stuck up a lane! I drive a Shogun so I'm not unused to a large vehicle but another 2 metres plus seems a lot. Should we sacrifice some space and but a smaller M/H. I know I am asking 'how long is a piece of string' questions but some ideas from those of you who travel with dogs would be great. Oh, another thing....I'm not sure I want to climb in to bed every night above the cab!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 MelB (who hasn't been on here lately) had three dogs (or was it two?) and has the same 6.4m panelvan as me. Reversing up lanes is no problem once you are used to vehicles, you don't lean out window or look over shoulder, you use the mirrors. Reversing into parking spots when you need to judge where back of vehicle is, is more difficult.but a reversing camera should solve that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet1956 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I'm no expert Susana and we only take one dog with us but we met some Germans that had three dogs in the Alps during winter when night temperatures were below freezing. Their dogs happily slept in a small awning. I wonder whether your dogs would be just as happy in a small awning with their own body heat keeping them warm at night and extra cosy bedding leaving the floor space in the van clear? Depends whether curling up together is their thing I suppose and what breeds they are. Keeping them secure in the van whilst travelling would perhaps mean having just three extra seatbelt points to clip in the special harnesses they make for dogs travelling in cars. Even a lap belt point that many consider highly unsuitable for a person would do for a dog. Hopefully someone who takes three dogs with them will have some rather more helpful observations about their arrangements/size of van and will post a reply soon. Oh and be prepared to shell out a significant amount of money for their passports if you don't have them already- I paid £120 for one for our beloved pooch. Best of luck in finding what you need. Veronica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 We used to travel with 4 Whippets and 2 Pugs (nowadays, 2 Whippets, 2 Pugs and a Jack Russell). The medium and small dogs could possibly travel in a cage, which means only the big one will need to be considered. Our small ones do and we store the cage under the van when we are parked up. A lot will depend on the layout of your van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Whether you can be comfortable with three dogs in a motorhome which is not much bigger inside than your bathroom at home will ultimately depend on how much you can enjoy relatively intimate company with them, even if you can erect additional accommodation such as an awning, to ease the pressure. Some people can enjoy what other people would regard as unacceptable slumming and the viability of your plans might depend on which camp you belong to. Likewise motorhoming rarely turn out to be cheap unless you are effectively slumming it, so don't get too starry eyed about saving £50 per day in kennel fees; by the time you have paid for campsite fees (which sometimes include charges per dog) and above all the depreciation costs of your motorhome, you might not save any money at all. Indeed overall you might end up spending more. But it can be done with multiple dogs, even with quite a pack of them and we have seen people taking several large dogs. We have a 7 metre A class MH and one medium sized dog and that works very comfortably for us. But I cannot see us coping comfortably in the same vehicle with three dogs unless maybe they were three really quite small dogs which would happily curl up together in one dog bed to sleep. Consider hiring a MH to try the idea out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I cannot think of anything worse than hiring a M/H after someone has used it with 3 dogs. Its as obnoxious as cigarette smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet1956 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I agree with Stuart-not likely to be cheaper than kennels but much more fun for the dogs. Add in the vets fees for the adminstration of Drontal for all three every time you go abroad which may be in the region of 100 Euros per return trip. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Slumming it? . In fact some of them sound rabid. Depreciation? There seems to be some very vehement anti dog members on here. Susana, I would be happy for you and your pets to park alongside me, it sounds a better option than certain OAL members turning up. Although they would not stay long in the slummy area. Oh no, they are far too grand for that sort of thing. A large percentage of motorhome owners have dogs, that is probably why they got one in the first place. The more moronic members don't realise that we use seat covers to keep the dog hairs away from the seating and we carry dog towels and have external showers for muddy feet. This thread is turning into an episode of Keeping up appearances. :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susana2809 Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 Thanks for the postive responses and ideas, excepting the dog hater. Why bother to reply if you can't be pleasant? The dogs already travel well and are fully "passported" as I lived in Europe for many years and still have property therre. I can assure everyone that at £30 plus a day for kennels I intend to make savings on holidays in a motorhome. I reckon kennels have cost me £1000 this year....that's a lot of camping, plus I like being on holiday with my dogs. Small and medium travel in fabric crates for safety and big lab will be anchored down to stop him becoming a missile. My only reluctance to sleeping them in an awning is noise. If anyone is about at night, they may bark as they would consider themselves as "guarding" the van. Lots to think about here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Hi Susana and welcome to the forum, We have only taken our dog, a Chocolate Lab, away with us once and have to agree that they do take up quite a bit of space! How about looking for a garage model of MH where you normally get a 'door' into the garage from within the MH. The space above the garage is then usually a double bed. You could add a stair gate style door so the dogs can see you but be kept secure in their own 'kennel'. I'm not sure what age you are considering or even what your budget is but have a read of this review to give you an idea what I am suggesting... https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/reviews/motorhomes/details/auto-trail-cheyenne-696g/898469 Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Good evening all. Having grown up with dogs and other farm animals all my life doesn't outlaw me from passing an opinion on the hiring of a M/H after a previous user had occupied it with a selection of dogs. Just make sure the agent is aware of its occupants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 We have a panel van conversion and a boarder terrier who is quite happy to sleep on the foot of our bed and travels on a seat with a travel harness. During the day if fine she sits outside watching the world pass by or comes on long walks with us if wet she sleeps on one of the seats. We were talking to one elderly lady who had a pack of assorted dogs in a small rather old motorhome. I asked her where they all slept. Werever they can find a space was the answer. One serious bit of advice for you. The most difficult part of dogs in motorhomes is converting a wet dog into a dry one. Dry them off out side and you'll be wetter than they are. Let them inside to dry them off and they'll shake dirty water all over the inside of the motorhome long before you've even got the towel ready. Give some serious consideration to a small awning. Our dog loves coming on holiday with us and we love having her we'd never even consider leaving her in kennels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheer lunar-see Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Hi Susana, we have four dogs, two setters, one collie cross and a springer spaniel, we have a Lunar Roadstar 780, 2002 model, and we travel all over France and Spain in all weathers with them all. They love it and have a good time, it can be a bit tricky at meal times but sleeping arrangements are o.k they all have their places and they just get in place and settle down. The bigger the better but whatever your confortable with. Good luck !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet1956 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Susana2809 - 2016-09-23 4:54 PM Thanks for the postive responses and ideas, excepting the dog hater. Why bother to reply if you can't be pleasant? The dogs already travel well and are fully "passported" as I lived in Europe for many years and still have property therre. I can assure everyone that at £30 plus a day for kennels I intend to make savings on holidays in a motorhome. I reckon kennels have cost me £1000 this year....that's a lot of camping, plus I like being on holiday with my dogs. Small and medium travel in fabric crates for safety and big lab will be anchored down to stop him becoming a missile. My only reluctance to sleeping them in an awning is noise. If anyone is about at night, they may bark as they would consider themselves as "guarding" the van. Lots to think about here! I wonder whether your fears about them barking in the awning could be met by being careful about choosing your pitch and whether you reverse in or go in nose first and keep the awning well away from access roads Susana. If you prefer to keep them inside the van then I would think you would benefit by choosing an A class which are generally not so cramped at the front as many coachbuilts. That said I think you will find that the traditional British caravan - settees-non fixed table, full kitchen coachbuilt vans seem to offer more floor space that the fixed bed, dinette set up which you probably have worked out already. You have to make the bed up every night but if any of your pooches like to share a sofa with you then bingo everyone will be happy. If you are worried about the comfort when sleeping I have read some great advice on here about slim foam toppers that transform such sleeping arrangements. Watch out for how much space can be taken up if the table is a fixed one with limited adjustment. The one in a our current van gets on our nerves a bit and is not very dog friendly either. I suppose that if you will be stopping on aires frequently then an awning won't solve the problem of space you might have in the van. I still think a smallish awning idea is good for storing all their toys, bowls, towels, other gear and not forgetting the copious amounts of food three dogs (one of whom is a lab!) will consume if you set up "home" for any reasonable period of time. Best thing to do is to purchase only after you've tried travelling without one though. Many barely used second hand ones can be found cheap on auction sites because people buy them and then find they can't be bothered setting them up. Be sure to get a van with a payload that can cope. Most experienced people on here tell newbies like me that the first and most important consideration when choosing a van is payload. I think three dogs and all their gear and food could easily reach 50 kilos probably more. You add that to the weight of you and your OH, even if you are slim beans, and bang goes a considerable amount of your allowance. Hope to see you and your three pooches one day on our travels. I've found that Motorhomers tend to be dog friendly in the main because like you many chose it as a convenient way to travel with their best friends. Plump for the pitches nearest dog walking areas and you will find like minded folk. One would hope that as dog owners they understand that even well behaved dogs sometimes have little lapses. :-) Veronica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Colin Leake - 2016-09-23 7:41 PM We have a panel van conversion and a boarder terrier who is quite happy to sleep on the foot of our bed and travels on a seat with a travel harness. During the day if fine she sits outside watching the world pass by or comes on long walks with us if wet she sleeps on one of the seats. We were talking to one elderly lady who had a pack of assorted dogs in a small rather old motorhome. I asked her where they all slept. Werever they can find a space was the answer. One serious bit of advice for you. The most difficult part of dogs in motorhomes is converting a wet dog into a dry one. Dry them off out side and you'll be wetter than they are. Let them inside to dry them off and they'll shake dirty water all over the inside of the motorhome long before you've even got the towel ready. Give some serious consideration to a small awning. Our dog loves coming on holiday with us and we love having her we'd never even consider leaving her in kennels. These are ideal and work very well. https://www.amazon.co.uk/DoggyBag%C2%AE-Microfibre-Doggy-Bag-Medium/dp/B00CORP0EI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1474671288&sr=8-5&keywords=dog+bag+towel There are cheaper versions on Amazon but they may not work as well as the Doggy Bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevina Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 The original owners of our 7.4m island bed motorhome sold it after only a few nights use as there wasn't enough room for their two large dogs to sleep in an out of the way location. They changed to a van with a UK front lounge to gain extra floor area rather than have long narrow passageways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susana2809 Posted September 24, 2016 Author Share Posted September 24, 2016 Once again, many thanks for your ideas and tips. I think a fixed bed is less likely than a front diner plus u shaped lounge. Another thought was a tranverse bed, putting the dogs in the garage and having a grill put into the 'wall' facing the inside of the MH , effectively using it as a kennel. I guess this might get a bit hot in warmer climes and therefore could be of limited use. The dreaded mud problem is an issue for all us dogs owners. I have my walls pebble dashed quite often after a muddy walk. Here I guess an awning is useful in order to dry them off and wipe feet etc. We are borrowing an older, 7.5m MH next weekend. It has the rear lounge and front dinette configuration. I'm determined to make it work. If it doesn't work out spacw wise, I'll have to leave the other half at home (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Susana2809 - 2016-09-24 2:33 PM The dreaded mud problem is an issue for all us dogs owners. I have my walls pebble dashed quite often after a muddy walk. Here I guess an awning is useful in order to dry them off and wipe feet etc. This is where a garage model would win hands down! You could 'load' them into the garage through the external door and a ramp and then towel dry them in the doorway. You could even carpet the garage with a large off-cut if you so desired. There would be no requirement to let them into the habitation part of your MH so it should remain clean. Food for thought? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Go on any motorhome forum or caravan forum and any site and you will find a considerable amount of anti dog feeling and a strong pro dog message from others. The more dogs, the more adverse the reaction. On the upside, the majority love well behaved dogs and responsible owners. Just enjoy yourselves, be considerate and do not worry about moaners. A motorhome will save you kennel fees but will not save you money. Depreciation on almost any motorhome will outweigh the savings before you consider other ownership costs. A 7.5m motorhome will probably weigh in at over 3500kg when packed for a trip away. If it does, you will need a C1 licence entitlement. Motorhomes can be fitted with a reversing cameras which, with the large wing mirrors, should ease your reversing concerns. There are an increasing number of firms offering driving lessons for over 3500kg motorhomes and horse boxes. The Caravan Club and Caravan and Camping Club offer less intense courses. We have motorhomed in 6m vans with 2 boys and a well behaved collie, a 6.3m van with just one boy and an excitable springer. I would aim for floor space/layout that suits you and then work out how big the van needs to be. I would be surprised if you went sub 7m. We have an a-class and would prefer not to climb upstairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Don't go too big something around 6.5 mts is plenty big enough , if you get one that you have to make the bed up in will give you plenty of room to settle the dogs while travelling, we have a pvc now but started of in a coach built which was roomier widthways, we have chihuahua,s though, if they were bigger we would find it tight. Have a good look around before you buy. Ignore people that just like the sound of their own voice well you know what I mean. >:-) Mel has moved up a bit since on here she hasn't the Accent now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonaldson Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 I think what I am about to say will be a recollection to dog owners. We were placed at Aramanches on the actual camp sit up back of the Aire, think people will remember this Aire. It wasn't Hot, was about 1900hr when we went for dinner at a feeding place. Our two dogs settle down ok when we do this, like going to shops, supermarket as well. We got a complaint when we returned about 40 minutes later of our dogs barking after two people started talking outside the Motorhome. Now if they had just moved away they would have stopped, but no they tried to calm them by moving closer to the van...They were hence acting as guard dogs. Do people not get it in their heads if you approach a car with a dog in it, it barks...So they reported us. Did we see them when we returned, no, good thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 gordonaldson - 2016-09-24 9:07 PM I think what I am about to say will be a recollection to dog owners. We were placed at Aramanches on the actual camp sit up back of the Aire, think people will remember this Aire. It wasn't Hot, was about 1900hr when we went for dinner at a feeding place. Our two dogs settle down ok when we do this, like going to shops, supermarket as well. We got a complaint when we returned about 40 minutes later of our dogs barking after two people started talking outside the Motorhome. Now if they had just moved away they would have stopped, but no they tried to calm them by moving closer to the van...They were hence acting as guard dogs. Do people not get it in their heads if you approach a car with a dog in it, it barks...So they reported us. Did we see them when we returned, no, good thing... That's why we take our dogs wherever we go, you just have to make adjustments, we either eat in van alfresco or dog friendly places, but we don't mind as they are part of the family and their SPOILT. 8o| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 We have a technique for netting a wet dog into a motorhome based on the natural order of things. 1. Wife opens door, goes inside and closes door, takes of wet shoes and clothes, puts newspaper down on floor, switches low wattage kettle on then opens sliding door. Dog and i are outside getting wetter! 2. Wife opens door and I throw dog in, before her paws even hit the floor she is enveloped in a towel to dry her and prevent her shaking. I'm still outside getting even wetter! 3. Wife opens door and I'm allowed in wett clothes get removed and hung in shower, wife is settled down with Telegraph cross word, kettle boils and I make tea, If it's raining hard when she needs to go out we have an alternative strategy called Thers no sense in us both getting wet. No prizes for correctly guessing who does get wet I'm afraid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oor Wullie Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 Hi Susana Using the garage as a kennel is the way to go. As for getting hot in warmer climbs, I'm sure you can find an inexpensive catch that would allow you to leave the garage door open slightly to admit some fresh air. We have always had a dog and would never travel without them, "if the dog can't go-we can't go!" In the early days we even toured England living and sleeping in a mark 2 escort with two dogs for company. We loved every minute :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmbell Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Only just joined the Forums and seen this thread. We have two collies, one weighing 16k and the other 27. Sleeping arrangements are: the smaller one starts off at the front of the van and then jumps up onto the swiveled driver's seat. The other one sleeps on a foam mattress type bed in the gap between the two settees (usually manages to block the heating vent!) When they come in wet, we use Dogrobes (Google their site) to cover their bodies, leaving just head, tail and legs to be dried off with towels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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