Conestoga Chuck here. Today we have a guest human who is going to write about how she makes it so nice to travel for us. First let me introduce my animal companions who travel with me. Myself, a 60lb one year old collie mix. Lil bit a 20lb mini pinscher chihuahua four year old mix. Miss kitty who is shy and quiet but loves to play fetch and toys. Lil bit is a trained service dog and I am in training and miss kitty is trained to wake up the humans in the morning and stay off the furniture and countertops. We eat home cooked meals which my human will share some recipes in future blogs. My human is retired from the US Army and we travel and do historical demonstrations for fun which will also be talked about in future blogs. So enough about us…
Hello everyone. Human here. I do the dictation for Conestoga Chuck because dogs don’t have opposable thumbs duh (lol). Today’s topic is traveling with pets. And with the variety of companions… we have quite a few items to discuss.
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Let’s start with the easy one. Miss kitty. The most important item for her is of course her litter box. An RV is small so placement, litter type and smell control is important. For our RV we simply removed one of the doors underneath the dinette seat and place her litter box in there to create an enclosed space for her to have her own bathroom as well as a place to go hide when the dogs get too rambunctious. The absolute best litter system on the market today is the Purina Tidy Cats BREEZE Cat Litter Box System
Nextt is a spot for the pups to sleep and play. We turned the dinette bed into the doggie bed and play area. Covered with a waterproof mattress cover (obvious reason) and then a cute quilt on top, and then pillows to make it like a day bed so humans can sit with the pups and play too. Add a basket of puppy toys at one end of the bed and that’s complete. The easies way to pick up that shed doggie and kitty fur you ask? An old fashioned push broom and a lint glove. Inexpensive, and easy to store. And of course the top of the line brush for dogs that shed used by groomers that I have found is an absolute must for conestoga Chuck! The furminator!
FURminator deShedding Tool for Dogs, Large, Long Hair
Training is essential to a happy home. I don’t condone using things like shock collars. So find a good behaviorist trainer and make sure the dogs are well trained and have nice manners before you travel. But barking is hard to train! So the one device I can recommend as a training aid is called the sonic egg. There are two styles. The larger one I only use if I am not home to keep the dogs from barking a campers next door. Unfortunately the TV, opening closing doors, walking etc can set this device off. So I only recommend it for times when you have to leave the pups in the camper for a short time. Basically think of the sonic egg as an electronic dog whistle. They bark, it emits a whistle which gets their attention, and they stop barking. I use the hand held sonic egg more often. I mainly use it at the beginning to train the verbal command “quiet” now that they know that command I only use it occasionally when they are so hyper focused on something that I can’t get their attention (like barking at another animal). It also comes in handy when out walking and you meet another dog off leash that is aggressive… one click and they back off (preventing a dog fight). One caveat: it doesn’t work with all dogs apparently, but I haven’t found a dog yet that hasn’t reacted to it. So get yours today!
Sunbeam Sonic Egg Bark Control Device
Sunbeam the Little Sonic Handheld Egg Dog Bark Control Device
Last but not least. We like to provide filtered flowing water for our companions. This system seems to keeps the water cooler and encourages them the drink and stay hydrated. Conestoga chuck likes this water bowl best (we originally got it for the cat) but he drinks so much water from it we found we were refilling it at least once a day. So this is best for small dogs and cats or traveling or small spaces. However we decided to take the filter and pump out and made our own larger one for the house by simply cutting a hole in a smaller bowl using a drimel tool… Which works much better for large dogs and multiple pets when you are at home and being lazy. There are multiple YouTube videos on DIY filtered water pet bowls but the pioneer pet bowl is easy to clean, heavy enough that it doesn’t get tipped over, and looks really nice. Not to mention it doesn’t take up a lot of space and is very durable. The pioneer pet bowl linked below works great in the RV if you don’t mind refilling it once (or maybe even twice depending on the heat index) a day with large dogs or multiple pets. So that’s our go to travel bowl.
Pioneer Pet Ceramic Drinking Fountain
Smelly dogs? No worries. There are several ways to cope with that! My favorite is a homemade in-between bath time spritzer that can also be used as a room deodorizer and safe to spray on areas like dog beds and couches that may be smelling a little stinky! It’s simple to make! It’s also a good all purpose cleaner and is spectacular for cleaning shower stalls and bathrooms!
to make the spritzer: In a spray bottle add one tablespoon baking soda and one tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Let it fizz a bit and then add one cup of warm water and a couple drops of rosemary essential oil. Always research any essential oils you choose to use on or near pets for safety precautions. I choose rosemary because it smells great and is often an ingredient in flea and tick shampoos. Give the spray bottle a shake and spritz your companion followed by rubbing it in a bit with your hands and a good brushing with your new furminator brush. Be careful not to spray face or eyes! When you are done don’t forget to give the room a spritz as well as the dog bed! And might as well clean the bathroom too 🙂
If you decide to give them a bath in the RV I use the human shower for lil bit and a hair catching device for the drain. For Conestoga Chuck, he is wayyyyyyy too big to fit in the small RV shower, so we use the outside shower which has a hot and cold water tap. Don’t forget to bring your doggie hair dryer! We use the hair dryer for many things other than drying the dogs so it’s a multipurpose device and comes in handy for blowing away dirt from dashboard and steps to drying damp clothes and towels! But the secret is that drying your companion after a bath means no wet doggie smell and no rolling wet dog on the RV carpet lol. When your companion is nice and dry, now is a good time for a finishing brush up with that handy furminator! There are many different price ranges and designs for doggie hair dryers but this is the one Conestoga Chuck uses: Belinde Pet Hair Grooming Dryer for Dogs & Cats with4 Nozzles (yellow)
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Conestoga Chuck 