Dear Open Road: Traveling with your pets can be fun and hassle free if you plan ahead and acclimate beforehand. Let’s look at some of the travel basics for a good foundation for your travels. Depending on where you are going, do a little homework and find out what types of tick-born diseases may be lurking in different parts of the country. To be on the safe side, use a general tick preventive to keep the parasites off the dog that could cause a devastating illness.

Update Key Vaccines

Also, take you dogs to the vet and make sure they are up-to-date on all regular vaccines such as the annual booster. If certain diseases like Lyme are common where you are traveling; consult with your vet to see if your dog is at risk and needs this vaccine.

One updated booster you may want to consider is Bordatella or Kennel Cough. If you will be traveling to RV parks where many dogs may congregate, you want to protect your pets from this highly contagious and potentially devastating virus. And as always, keep you rabies vaccine current, not just to protect your pets from a possible run in with infected wildlife, but all states require some rabies protection, some as frequently as one-year boosters, but most mandated the protection once every three years.

And for your legal protection, make sure you keep all you dog’s paperwork, proof of rabies vaccine and other inoculations in the RV. If you are going on a long trip you may want to have your vet prepare a health certificate for travel between many states.

To keep your pet happy and stress free while on the road, try to maintain a regular schedule of feeding and exercise. Dogs thrive on routine and will look forward to daily playtime and meals while on the road. To safeguard against other possible illnesses, always give your dog bottle water. Letting your dog drink water from various sources increases the likelihood of intestinal problems. That includes drinking out of the RV toilet! Keep the lid down.

Visit A Dog Show

If you want the best advice about how to leave your dog in an RV while sightseeing visit a dog show and talk to the experts. There is an entire community of handlers and owners who travel in RVs from show to show around the country. Any one of these can give you helpful hints as to how to leave the dogs unattended in the RV.

If you leave a dog in a car in the summer heat, even with the windows open a crack, the inside of that car can reach up to 120 degrees in a matter of minutes. It’s not an option in warm weather over 75 degrees. RVs are much bigger and like you pointed out come with climate control options not available in the family car. Check with the RV dog show experts, but one helpful hint is to seek out shade when parking the RV. Having the sun beating down on the vehicle increases the temperature inside. Purchase some of those silver reflective windshield guards that keep the sun (and heat) outside. In addition to keeping the fan running with screened fully open windows might delay the warming process since the RV is a large area.

To be really sure, do a test run. Set up the RV and sit with the dog and see how long it takes to get too warm. You’ll know the dog is at risk when he starts to pant, a sign he is trying to cool his body. Another option is to get a crate or exercise pen and set it up outside the RV and create a shady area with one of those silver reflective tarps. Keeping out of the sun with proper ventilation will help keep your pets cool this summer.

            

Lisa Peterson, a long-time breeder of Norwegian Elkhounds, is the Director of Club Communications at the American Kennel Club. Contact her at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.