Road Trips With Dogs California – Living in a van with a dog is great. If you follow me on Instagram, you know our dog Charlie (who has his own Instagram account – @charlietheadventuredog). He is a Border Collie/Mini-Australian Shepherd who is very intelligent, a bit neurotic (for his breed) and has incredible energy. It has spent most of its life on the road with over 50,000 miles on our Sprinter van, traveling from Southern California to New York.
I get a lot of emails. letters with questions about living in a van with a dog… like what to do when you have to leave your dog in the car? Or how to find dog friendly places?
Road Trips With Dogs California
Living in a van with pets is totally possible, and I truly believe that living in a van is best for dogs. They spend most of their time running around outside, meeting other dogs and occasionally grabbing food that falls off your stove.
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Regardless, there are definitely some considerations to keep your dog or other pet as happy as you are. I also know people who live in vans with cats, so if you’re a cat person, know that you can take your cat with you.
Here are my top tips and advice for living in a van with a dog and living in a van with pets in general.
You may be surprised to learn that some camps require vaccination records from the person bringing the dog. While this has never happened to me out west, it has happened at many campgrounds in New York, where scattered free camping tends to be more limited. So keep a copy handy on your phone or somewhere in the van so you have it with you. It’s also great if you have health issues with your dog and need to visit the vet during your trip.
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You want your dog to be comfortable on those long trips. If they spend time on the floor, it’s best to give them something to hold on to. Bring a dog bed, yoga mat, blanket, or a Thermarest foam sleeping pad that you can fold in half. These foam pads are also useful for cold outings when you want to insulate your pup a bit from the ground. When we’re on the road, Charlie usually sits in his dog bed between the two front seats.
Charlie eats a big bag of dog food every month. This means that you have to replenish the food of street dogs more often. Changing food is always difficult for a dog’s stomach, so you want to make sure your dog’s food is readily available at a large grocery or pet store so you can easily find it when you get into town. Fortunately, stores like Petco and Petsmart carry good brands of dog food these days, and they are everywhere. If your dog is looking for something special that you can’t find at a large pet store, visit the dog food brand’s website to see if they have retailers in your current location.
Living in a van can be complicated with a dog’s feeding schedule. Our dog Charlie doesn’t like to eat while the van is in motion, so it’s important for us to make time for him to eat in the morning before we drive…otherwise his whole schedule for the day is messed up. Every dog is different, but pay attention to their eating habits and try to stick to a routine so they don’t get hungry or dinner ends in the middle of the night and you’re forced to get up and let them use the bathroom. We also like to keep a water bowl for him 24 hours a day. We found that these collapsible dog bowls are great for driving and don’t spill water even on bumpy roads.
When living in a van with a dog, you need to think about your dog when planning your trip and day-to-day activities. As pet owners, we learn to prioritize places where our pet is welcome. After a while, you learn to plan your van life around the ability to do things with your pet. Maybe that means avoiding really hot spots during peak summer, or bypassing national parks and choosing to walk dogs on other types of public land.
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Before you head out to explore that amazing place you’ve heard about, check the dog rules first. The last thing you want is to find out where you want to live that it isn’t as dog friendly as the Enchantments in Washington or the Wasatch section of Salt Lake City. This also applies to visiting national parks, some of which are more dog friendly – see my guide to the most dog-friendly national parks. Doing a little research first can save you headaches later.
If you’re looking for a bite, first check to see if they have a dog-friendly patio. Or if not, take it out and find a great picnic spot that you and your dog will enjoy!
I’ll start by saying that Charlie is a medical service dog for Ryan’s type 1 diabetes, so we rarely leave him in the car…but to share some tips for living in a dog van that works for most dogs is important.
Wondering if it’s okay to leave your pet in the van while you go out to eat? What do you do when you visit a national park or hike that doesn’t allow dogs?
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Whether or not you can leave your pet in a van depends primarily on temperature and safety, as well as local laws that may prohibit leaving a pet in a vehicle.
When it comes to temperature, if it’s too hot for you to be comfortable in the van, it’s too hot for your pets. Use common sense. Dogs can die in cars, they can die in vans, and you don’t want to lose your best friend because of carelessness.
It can take a while to realize how hot your van gets after sitting in the sun for a while. Our van has two sunroofs, one near the kitchen and one above the bed. If we turn them and open the windows next to our bed, we get a really nice breeze. We have insulated curtains to keep the van cool even on hot days.
Also, we are still very careful and always consider when we leave our dog in the van. We also avoid traveling to the hottest places in the summer – you won’t find us anywhere in Arizona or southern Utah from June to mid-September. We are usually comfortable leaving Charlie in the van
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When it’s not too hot, like in the evening if we want to go out for dinner.
If it’s something that isn’t pet friendly and you really don’t want to walk, don’t leave your dog in the van all day. If it gets hot enough, at best you’ll have angry, dog-loving neighbors nearby, and at worst, it could be very dangerous for your pet.
No matter where you are, dog daycare is always an option. There is also Rover where you can find a dog sitter for a day or two.
A few years ago, Ryan and I went to Havasupai, which is not a good place to bring our dog because of the tribal dogs and the stairs at Mooney Falls. We found a great dog boarding place in Flagstaff with great reviews and Charlie went on vacation with the dogs while we explored the waterfalls of Havasu Falls. It turned out well.
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A restless dog is naughty. We spent many days on the road with Charlie. Although we are in a hurry to reach our goal, our priority is to give Charlie the exercise he needs. Resorts are great because they have large fields or areas for pets. You can also use BringFido.com to find a dog park in your current location. Bring a frisbee, ball, or other toy (think dark for the night) and let them run outside the van, because even those little bursts of exercise every once in a while will help keep your dog calm on long rides.
Most established camps require your dog to be on a 6-foot leash
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