Traveling with Pets - Season 1

Aside from making sure your pet is up-to-date on all their shots and having their medications on-hand, there are some other considerations and items that you should have packed in your RV. In this session, we will review many of those items as well as talk about some resources for getting great pet-friendly information.

A big concern many RVers with a pet face is what will happen if their pet slips its leash or runs off accidentally while they're on the road. Pet identification is an essential step when traveling with your pet. In this session, we will discuss the types of pet identification that RVers should consider using to help find your pet should they become lost.

There are a lot of people that just want their pet to sit on their lap or the front dash, but your 10-pound animal in a 50 mile-an-hour crash will become a 500-pound projectile, and that is dangerous for not only your pet but also for the people inside the RV. In this session, we will review some of the available methods of pet containment that can be used in an RV to help keep everyone safe.

Before you take your pets on the first RV trip and just throw them into the truck or in the RV and expect them to go down the road and not have anxiety or be confused, you should take some time to get them acclimated to the RV and the RV lifestyle. In this session, we will discuss some of the steps you can take before you hit the road to help ease some of the anxiety and make it more comfortable for everyone.

Another concern when traveling with your pets is food and water. You may not be able to find the same food they are accustomed to while on the road, and especially if your pet is on a special diet or has a sensitive stomach, you don't want to experiment with another type of food and experience stomach upsets while traveling. In this session, we'll talk about the various food and water considerations you should take when traveling with your pets.

One of the challenges when traveling with your pet in your RV is finding a good place for them to go to the bathroom. When you first started training your pet, you spent a lot of time teaching them where to go to the bathroom and how to let you know at home that they needed to go out. When traveling, you are putting them in a different environment that may be confusing for them. In this session, we will discuss the various considerations so that you can safely plan for your pets next bathroom break.

Most state national parks have regulations on where you can bring pets. These restrictions can be things like having them contained or having them on leashes or not being allowed at all. These rules and regulations are often developed not only to ensure the safety of the general public from pets but often are there to keep your pet safe from the wildlife that is in the area that might try to attack your pet. In this session, we will discuss some of the regulations and where to look for the information so that you can be prepared

Hopefully, nothing ever happens where you will need an emergency kit, but it's a good idea to have a pet first-aid kit just in case. They come in handy even for some of the smaller things like bug bites, ticks, and minor injuries. In this session, we will review the items that should be in your pet's first-aid kit.

Before you pull your rig into the campground spot, it is recommended to look at the site and look for things that could be harmful or dangerous for your pet. You will most likely already be getting out to look for things that might affect the RV - taking an extra bit of time you can look for your pet's sake. In this session, you'll learn what to look for to help keep your pets safe while at the campsite.

One of the challenges that pet owners and RV owners are going to have during the summer months is keeping your pet cool, both inside and out. Inside we could rely on the air conditioner for a while, but what happens if the campground power source goes out? In this session, we will discuss tips to keep your pet cool, both inside and out of your RV.

One of the hardest things for dog owners when RVing is to keep them from barking. You have a lot of activity at a campground such as people walking nearby, people talking and laughing and having a good time, other dogs that are going to be around, and a lot of traffic. In this session, we will review some tips and products to help keep your pet from barking while camping.

More and more people are traveling with cats. Cats have some unique needs, and in this session, we will be focusing on many of the considerations to take when taking your cat with you on your RV trip.

In this wrap-up session, we'll talk with our friends at GOpetfriendly.com, who have been traveling for many years with their pets and hear about some of their traveling experiences.

Dave Solberg is the Managing Editor of the RV Repair Club. For over 25 years, Dave has conducted a wide range of RV maintenance and safety seminars, developed dealer and owner training programs, written RV safety and handyman articles, authored an RV handbook reference guide and logged over 100,000 miles on the road in an RV.