Officially: Bonzo should be either tethered in a proper harness or in a proper secured dog box/cage etc. Both ideally sited at floor level.
Not good having 20kg of doggy flying through the van at 30mph. (or more?)
Unofficially: We see many vans on road with one or more doggies sitting looking out of side window or even worse on the co-drivers knee!
In practice our well behaved spaniel travels in her comfortable bed under the table - usually loosely tethered with a harness.
------------- The older I get the better I used to be.
Our little terrier only weighs 7.5 kg, but I still wouldn't like to have him flying around! When we are in our tow-car he travels in a cage in the back, and he loves it. It's his "home on the move". It shouldn't be too difficult to secure a cage in a motorhome.
To get him used to the cage we just left it in our living room at home with the door open. Didn't take him long to "explore" it! Soon he was sleeping in it of his own accord. Then we tried closing the door. Just a few minutes at first, then gradually longer and longer. Then, once he was used to that, we moved it to the car. Now he always travels in it willingly. I just open the back of the car and he just walks in and settles down, knowing he is going for a drive with us.
Angel: I guess OK so long as it is designed for dogs and can be fixed to vehicle ; the fixing should be appropriate for the weight of the dog. E.g. A 7kg pup is much easier than a 40kg big chap!
Good advice from Colin above btw re getting pooch used to a cage - especially so that dog associates the cage with going on nice trips! We only used our cage when she was a pup - now she is a 5 year old 16kg lady she rides happily in the rear boot area (which is similar size to a large cage) of our car alongside her water bowl and a few toys! And in the MH tethered under the table as said earlier, but just behind the passenger seat so that she can't move far under 'serious braking'.(?)
Our spaniel gets excited as soon as we start putting bags etc by the back door; and when we open the door she sits by the motorhome door and gives that look "you are going nowhere without me pal!" She goes everywhere with us - 4,000 miles touring France, Spain and Portugal last Autumn.
------------- The older I get the better I used to be.
Get a proper dog cage. They're the safest way to transport a dog, and can be secured to any suitable anchoring point with bungees.
If you're in an accident, you really don't want to have the worry of the dog escaping, they're handy if you need to rest a dog after injury or surgery, or even keep them out of the way while decorating. An old sheet draped over the top can give them shade out of doors on sunny days when on site, and they're handy for keeping them off the van's upholstery when they're wet or muddy.
When not in use, they fold flat and take up very little room.
Quote: Originally posted by iggycamper on 26/2/2015
Officially: Bonzo should be either tethered in a proper harness or in a proper secured dog box/cage etc. Both ideally sited at floor level.
We got a great travel cage from Amazon, sits between the lounge sofas in the back and our dog is more than happy, he did sleep in it the first few trips but now just sleeps on his blanket on the floor. Travel cage folds away and is stored in our rear garage when on site. Is really useful for him to sit in outside on a sunny day as well
Have fun with the puppy
My dog used to travel in a small cage strapped to the passenger seat but now I secured her to the seat belt with a proper car harness and she settles down in between the front seats. She will sometimes get on my lap if I'm the passenger but she's still strapped to the seat belt.
My last dog would settle on the side-facing seat but he'd be secured to the seat belt socket or to a D-ring on the side of the cupboard.
I'm a firm believer that dogs should be secured to something and not travel loose.
Our previous Springer travelled happily asleep on the couch or the floor, but the current Cocker is a rescue and we assume something bad happened in her past 4 years as she is frightened of travelling - not sick, thankfully, but frozen rigid to the floor for the entire trip, nose in the corner, eyes wide (and attached to a handle with a long lead). We've tried Adaptil, but it makes no difference. It's a lesson to start your pup early - we can only hope that ours will relax in time with positive experiences. We'd like to get a soft crate in case that makes her feel more secure, but finding one that fits in the MH, that's also not too small for her, has held us up - she sleeps happily in a huge crate at home that's too big to take camping.
We take both our dogs travelling in our motorhome. I cover one of the bench seats with a purpose bought, rubberised picnic blanket and then a bath sheet. Then the dogs have a soft bed each. My dogs wear a harness and then are clipped to a dog lead which I have cut to the length needed for them to attached at one end to the struts of the bench seat and then brought up the back of the seat cushion and clipped to the harnesses. The bench cushion has a length of non slip matting underneath it to prevent it from slipping off.
At night my dogs sleep in the canvas, fold up type dog boxes, one each which travel folded and placed one behind one cab seat, the other behind the other cab seat. The dogs are always, safe, happy and secure. One dog weighs 10kgs one is 6.1 kgs.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: barking mad
