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Post by dadsdahlia on Jul 29, 2009 9:28:39 GMT
:-/Can anyone offer advice about travelling and camping with our dog? We intend taking her for her first romahome trip and are not too sure how to secure her safely as we travel, and where to let her sleep once we pitch....We think she may be spooked if we put her in a small tent behind our van but are not too keen on sharing our 'bedroom'. We have a G reg C15 and the dog (Bella' is a 5 year old lurcher...). Any advice would be very very welcome.
Many thanks. Dadsdahlia,Bella and the 'Nettle'.
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Post by jayjay on Jul 29, 2009 10:31:58 GMT
Hi - I have a 12-13 yrs old lurcher, but she'd pretty laid back and just sleeps on one of the seats in the roahome while I drive. (I have a D reg Bedford Rascal+demountable romahome). I did have a gripper handle screwed in on 'her' side at the top end, so that I could secure a travelling harness, but she hated it and so that's been abandoned and I have to just trust to luck  She's very quiet though and not at all excitable (except when I stop!) so it's not a problem for me. She sleeps on one side, I sleep on the other, so I'm not much help there either! I do know of one couple who made a board for over their driving seats and their dog slept on the driving/passenger seats at the front at night, on the board with a dog bed. If your seat belt clips will push back and you can use a cushion in the middle, then a dog bed/duvet on top of the seats, she should be ok there. Another possibility is you using the single beds and letting her sleep down the middle, but I think the best option is the bed over the driving seats. Give it a try with her before you go and see if she's ok with it. My lurcher would just run for it in a tent, she can get out of anything and with the amount of rabbits about at night, I'd probable never see her again, even tho she's too old to catch them these days! ;D |
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Post by dadsdahlia on Jul 29, 2009 10:38:17 GMT
Thank you for your highly prized advice!!
I suspect that Bella would also escape the tent to chase, and probably catch rabbits!
I think the suggestion of a board over the front seats is definitely worth a try...will let you know how it works out! Thanks again.....
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Post by jayjay on Jul 29, 2009 10:52:29 GMT
You're welcome, Dadsdahlia! You might not need a board, if you can just pad the bits between the seats and then throw an old duvet over them for her! The board bit was used in a Ford Transit type van/campervan with a huge space in between the seats. You might have fun with the handbrake and gearstick, but I bet these can be overcome. You didn't say how big she is, mine is a deerhound type lurcher, so the size of a small greyhound, she'd need both seats, but if yours is a small one, she might just like to curl up on one of the seats with a few cushions.  |
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gill
15+ posts.... a Uni wheeler!
Posts: 18
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Post by gill on Jul 29, 2009 19:23:37 GMT
Hi Dadsdahlia- and everyone else with dog passengers.
I ventured out for the first time last week in my new (well, new to me, Romahome) with my pal Gwilym, my springer spaniel. I made up a double bed thinking he would keep to one side and me on the other. No such luck - he is very "clingy". So next time, it will be two singles with him on one and me on the other - I hope! But, what the heck! He's the reason I bought the Romahome in the first place so we could go places together.
I do worry about his safety when we are travelling, though. I bought a harness type thing from Pets at Home which clips onto the seat belt on the front passenger seat. it worked for a while but he really was restless and I reckoned it was more of a hazard as I kept taking me eyes off the road to see if he was OK and not strangling himself. In the end, he seemed happier on the back side bench without a harness. He just lay there and watched the scenery passing by. I hope he'll be OK if I have to make an emergency stop. He should be as the back of the front seat should prevent him from going forward. It certainly makes me drive more carefully so perhaps that is not a bad thing!
If ever I venture on a long journey, particularly motorway driving, I will have to secure him in the harness again, though, and resist the urge to check how he is!
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Post by niloc on Jul 29, 2009 19:49:06 GMT
We had two labradors when we had a Romahome High top, in the days before we knew that a 50lb dog could become about the same mass as an elephant in a head on crash. They used to lay on the seats with their muzzles on our shoulders looking out of the windscreen. Luckily we didn't hit anything.
On our previous coachbuilt we had a mesh fireguard between the front and back that fitted behind the driver and passenger seats. Now we have a van with rear seat belts the dog wears a harness with an attached lead that lets him move about but would stop him hurtling up the front in an emergency.
But then thinking back we had many vans where our children had no seatbelts either, makes us squirm now but they weren't fitted and we didn't know the risks.
Colin
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Post by Barbara and Graham on Jul 30, 2009 8:49:14 GMT
We also used to carry our children without belts in the back of a camper, asleep on the double bed on long journeys. A couple of years ago , though, one of them , now an adult, was nearly killed in an accident involving a driver with an unrestrained dog. We think the dog distracted the driver who crossed onto the wrong side of the road (he admitted responsibility) and hit our son's car almost head on. The dog was thrown out and killed but fortunately both drivers survived. A cautionary tale! Barbara We had two labradors when we had a Romahome High top, in the days before we knew that a 50lb dog could become about the same mass as an elephant in a head on crash. They used to lay on the seats with their muzzles on our shoulders looking out of the windscreen. Luckily we didn't hit anything. .... But then thinking back we had many vans where our children had no seatbelts either, makes us squirm now but they weren't fitted and we didn't know the risks. Colin |
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Post by jayjay on Jul 31, 2009 8:02:46 GMT
I made up a double bed thinking he would keep to one side and me on the other. No such luck - he is very "clingy". Lol same with mine! I now just use the table to make up a top end of bed (stops my pillows falling off) and use the back cushions, side on - so that there's a ridge) to create a small barrier so that we have separate beds. ;D |
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jan
15+ posts.... a Uni wheeler!
Posts: 15 
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Post by jan on Aug 1, 2009 10:45:04 GMT
I've been worrying about this as my dog chewed her way through both a dog seat belt and the ordinary one it was attached to - it took her about 10 mins to do both. Very expensive!! Like others I just take the risk now and leave her on the back seat, but it does concern me. She's pretty calm unless she sees another dog outside when she barks and jumps around a bit, though never comes into the front. I like the fireguard idea, it seems worth a try, at least it will stop her coming forward if there's an accident. I wish there was some sort of armour plating for the seatbelts though, I've noticed a few little bite marks in another one too, dreading the MOT!
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She's very quiet though and not at all excitable (except when I stop!) so it's not a problem for me.
