Small dogs and T@bs

angelheart51

Wondering how owners with small dogs manage. Does the Tab get to hot to keep the dog in for quick trips into a grocery store, etc. 

Verna

Sunny Day was fine for quick trips this past summer. Open a window or two, turn on the Fantastic Fan on low and your dog will be fine. Look at your watch and make sure it's a quick trip. If you don't want to use the Fantastic Fan, you can get an O2 battery operated fan. This is the brand name of a series of battery operated fans available on Amazon, in sporting goods stores and in Walmart.

angelheart51

Thank you so much. My little guy Pachet is the world to me and he comes first. Trying to do my research. A T@B with portapotty or bathroom is my goal so that the only time I would have to leave him alone would be going quickly into a grocery store for food. Once in a campground for a few days/week I would be connected to electric and he would be in the a/c. Any other pet related info would be helpful. 

RollingLagrima

Edited.  I misunderstood your question AH51.  I have never left my medium and large dogs in the hitched T@B to go into a store.  If it is cool enough, they are in their spots in the back seat of my TV with all the windows at half open.  If it is hot out, I leave them inside the TV, engine ON, AC on ICY, and just take my door remote with me. 

I will try the "inside the T@B" while shopping on my next trip!  

As as for when unhitched, mine are fine in the T@B alone at the campground when I go off for a shower or to do some other 15-30 minute activity, but I haven't tried much beyond that.  I do not want to be "that" person at the campground who leaves the dogs wailing away in the camper for several hours at a time.  It seems as though it is the large motor home crowd with tiny dogs that I encounter doing this, more often than than the travel trailer crowd.  I don't know why that is.

I bring mine with me on my trips to have them with me in the adventure, so that is where you will find them.

jkjenn

Verna said:

Sunny Day was fine for quick trips this past summer. Open a window or two, turn on the Fantastic Fan on low and your dog will be fine. Look at your watch and make sure it's a quick trip. If you don't want to use the Fantastic Fan, you can get an O2 battery operated fan. This is the brand name of a series of battery operated fans available on Amazon, in sporting goods stores and in Walmart.

With @Verna's advice I gave this a try last weekend with Rocky. I stopped at an Ohio rest area to use the dump station and put Rocky in the back while run to the bathroom. He did great. I had a window cracked and the vent wide open and he jumped up on to the bench to take a nap. He's such a great puppy!

Had it been warmer, I would have turned the fan on and opened windows.

angelheart51

RollingLagrima, once at a campground i don't plan on leaving him unless it's in florida when i go to visit family that does not want the dog in the house. ie:camper My solution might be putting a Remote Starter in my suv. Had one in my last 2 cars and loved it. One step at a time. Just found out i can tow with this suv, next step find a small camper. I've been in a Tab, we used to have a dealer near me. They went out of business last year. Bummer that I couldn't tow with my last car that died 3 months ago, so I had no need to check out the 5 2015 that they had for sale...A few years ago they had one on display at my local mall. The enclosed tent is something i would like if it's easy to attach. I'm sure I can get fellow campers to help me out if I need it. 

BBchBum

Has anyone gone to a national park and left their dog in the trailer while going about? Or, do you take them with you in your TV and leave them in it when wandering about? If the weather is good then obviously no worries. If it is toasty then there would be some concern. 

Verna

If it's too hot to take Sunny Day, I don't go. I stayed at an RV park in Moab in 2014 because I needed A/C for Sunny Day while I was touring Arches. 

RZRBUG

If it's hot, I will leave mine in the truck with the motor and A/C running for short periods.  If it's something that will take a long time, I don't go.  If the weather is cooler and I can find shade, I will leave him for up to an hour or so, but not much more.  Same for the T@B.  He's fine for an hour or so, but I won't leave him much longer than that.  Fact is, I don't like being away from him much longer than that, regardless of the weather.  I haven't ever asked him how he feels about it, but I'm pretty sure he feels the same.

jkjenn

I left Rocky for a few hours in the T@b one evening last spring. The neighbors said they never heard a peep. I left the fan and radio on for white noise. I left him fir a couple of hours on another trip when it was warmer with both windows open and the fan running. I was nervous about it but then I realized he wasn't any cooler with me sitting there next to him, lol. He was fine and I think he probably stayed cooler because he laid down and went to sleep.

CCPICC

for our two small dogs if I have to leave them in the camper I pull down the shades and run either the heat or airconditioner while we are away, they are always content and ok during our absense.

angelheart51

CCPICC, i'm fine with him in a campground since I would be on electric. It's short stops as we travel to our destination.

Verna

angelheart51 said:

CCPICC, i'm fine with him in a campground since I would be on electric. It's short stops as we travel to our destination.

In the summer, if I'm going to stop for a a quick shopping trip or a restroom break, I turn the A/C up very high (read COLD---brrrr!!!), I open the windows just a bit, get quickly out of the truck, note the time on my watch, go take care of business, and I come back, noting the time, also.  Usually, the inside is still cool enough.  If I'm going to be longer in a grocery store, I will put Sunny Day in the T@B, as I described above.  

In the winter, I make sure she has a blanket, crack a window just a bit, and I can take longer to take care of business.