Pets: Dogs Just Wanna Have Sun

Dogs make the absolute best traveling companions. They love going wherever we want to go, and many dogs seem to be born knowing how to fully enjoy the journey. As the miles fly by on our RV trips, my two English pointers while away the hours by napping peacefully. When they aren’t fast asleep, “the girls” search all upcoming horizons for wildlife with great enthusiasm.

We stop frequently to wander together. Stopping at a dog-friendly rest area or the occasional off-leash dog park allows us all to explore new places, stretch our legs, and meet fellow travelers. Because when you have a dog with you, conversations with strangers flow effortlessly. Other dog lovers just appear out of the blue. Then they start asking questions, and pretty soon, you’re smiling and laughing together. Dogs can really be the ultimate icebreaker between two strangers. Jolene and Annabelle do this job with a lot of joy.

We stay at RV parks and campgrounds, and trips during the warmer months offer a perfect opportunity to visit people we don’t get to see enough of. We often make camp in the driveways of family and friends. The dogs can hang out in a safe and comfy place without being an imposition to our hosts.

I’ve learned a lot along the way and would like to share my best tips to help you avoid warm-weather hazards that can make life on the road miserable for your dog.

Get Road-Trip Ready First

Like anything else, road trips with dogs go better when you lay out a foundation for success. Let RV parks know that you’ll be bringing a dog, and find out the park rules before booking. Some RV parks ban specific breeds. Be sure to include dog-friendly stops along your route. These can be dog-friendly trails, beaches, and off-leash dog parks.

Hot-Weather Hazards

We all know that hot temperatures can be deadly for dogs. This is especially true for obese dogs, dogs with thick coats, and brachycephalic dogs (dogs with short faces like Boston Terriers) that will overheat fast.

It may seem obvious not to leave your dog in the RV or tow vehicle without air conditioning, but it’s a fact that dogs get sick or die in hot vehicles every summer.

Here are some tips to keep your dog cool:

• Make shade with an aluminet shade cloth. These are made of loosely woven reflective strands that reduce temperatures under them by up to 14ºF.
• Give your dog a cooling bath with your RV’s outdoor shower.
• Offer your dog a healthy frozen treat.
• Hot pavement can burn paws, so walk your dog early in the morning before the sun heats up the pavement and paths.
• Use a remote RV temperature monitoring system such as Waggle or MarCELL when you go out, and your dog can’t come along. If the temperature in the RV strays above normal, the RV temperature monitor uses a cell signal or Wi-Fi to send an alert to your phone.
• Put a cooling vest on him: Dog cooling vests borrow from the evaporative technology developed to help elite athletes stay cool. Ruffwear claims their cooling vests can make the ambient temperature feel 5º–10º cooler for your dog. Each of my dogs has one.

Dehydration

Dogs depend on panting to regulate their body temperature. While panting expels heat, it also expels moisture. If the dog has access to water, he can drink to replace the moisture and help keep his body temperature at a safe level, so it’s essential to have a good supply of safe drinking water available to your dog throughout the day.

A problem I’ve encountered is that potable tap water supplies can become few and far between during summer months when wells dry up, and the stores in those areas have sold out of bottled water. As a general guideline, a dog needs about 1.75 ounces of water per pound per day when it’s hot out. Always bring more water than you think you’ll need and an emergency water filter system as a backup.

Toxic Blue-Green Algae

Ingesting even a microscopic amount of toxic blue-green algae is fatal for dogs and can make you very ill, too. This algae is common and blooms in warmer temperatures close to the shores of lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers. It can be identified as a bright-green or blue-green scum floating in the water that smells either like freshly mowed grass or rotting garbage.

Ticks

Ticks are common nearly anywhere there is long grass, brush, or trees. About the size of a pinhead, when they crawl off a blade of grass and onto your dog, they find a warm spot and burrow into the skin, sucking blood until they grow to about the size of a kidney bean and fall off. Ticks are creepy, but their real harm comes from two diseases they can carry: Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Both are treatable in their early stages, but they’ll leave your pet feeling very ill. Luckily for dogs, there are very effective oral flea and tick preventatives on the market.

Dog Apps for Pet Parents

Apps are a great way to find pet-friendly places and off-leash dog parks all over the U.S. and Canada. Here are a few apps that we use when researching places to take a break and play with our dogs or to stay:

BringFido can help you find great, dog-friendly destinations.

DogPack is a great resource for finding off-leash dog parks so you and your dog can run and play together.

Sniffspot lets you find safe, private off-leash dog parks that you can rent by the hour wherever you go.