Forums

Lizzybeth

Hi everyone, we are planning a trip through Europe this year with our pooch and are wondering how everyone copes with their pets when they want to go and look around a museum or any other non dog friendly activity. Is it feasible to leave a dog in a motorhome for a couple of hours or is it too hot as in a car? Would appreciate any help or guidance on long term travelling with dogs, I have got all of the chipping and rabies vaccine sorted but just a general idea of how to find dog friendly sites and living generally in a van with our furry friend is what I'm getting at.

barrosa

Hi Lizzybeth.
We have recently come back from france it is very dog friendly when we wanted to visit places that did not take dogs we left them in the motorhome top vents open and closed the curtains all round,try to park in the shade if sunny.What we did was sit in the motorhome for about ten minuets and if it felt like it was getting to hot then we did not leave them!We where over there september to november but even then some days it was to hot to leave them.We are going again april through till june Very Happy

nukeadmin · Site Admin

Hi Lizzybeth

as motorhomes exterior design is much more insulated than a car, plus their isnt such a huge expanse of sunlight enhancing glass it does leave scope for leaving your pet for a few hours to go sightsee.

It all depends on your own comfort levels i would say, obviously park in the shade if possible, depending on the area you are in it may be possible to leave a skylight open a bit for ventilation but be aware of security aspects of this, also if you have AC perhaps leave this running (dependant upon battery drain etc and length of departure)

if you have sunshades or curtains then if it is sunny then put these down as well

And finally it also depends obviously on the ambient temperature. If its absolutely steaming hot outside then you will know how hot it gets inside your motorhome as different models vary enormously and then you can use common sense to ascertain firstly whether its ok to leave your pooch and secondly for how long Smile

Julie and I did a lot of sightseeing whilst travelling around Europe some with, and some without our Labrador Bradley (If it was non dog friendly), he must be one of the most travelled/worldy wise labs around Smile

fieldsofgold

Well done Lizzybeth, I have been hoping to ask something on this subject too - can Nuke, Helen B or any of the other experienced motorhoming Dog Owners advise if Silver screens help with keeping the heat out and if a small fan, which could be accommodated without draining the electricity too much improves the situation for a dog. I intend to do a lot of dog show trips in my van during the summer, possibly not such a challenge as trips on the continent, but still gets very hot. One of my hounds is not shown and it would be nice to leave him quietly for a few hours in the van if safe to do so. Dog Show sites are mostly wild (ie no hook ups!!) many thanks Smile

nukeadmin · Site Admin

one thing we found helped a lot is the small devices that you find in leclerc hypermarkets etc on the continent which is a small air cooler i.e. a fan powered off 12v cigarette lighter socket (hardly drains battery at all) and it has a water filler compartment and some mesh material that draws the water up into it and then the fan blows air through the mesh, ours also had an icebox that you put in the fridge overnight which worked very well Smile