Skipper, our mini Australian Labradoodle, turned one the month before we started living and traveling full time in our motorhome.  Probably the second most asked question about how we are doing in our new nomadic lifestyle is “how’s Skipper doing?”  With Skipper as our firstborn and currently only furbaby, we would change how we were living if it weren’t working out for him.  That’s not to say that we would stop living full-time in our coach, but we might slow down on how frequently we move.  It’s safe to say that part of why we traded this life for a life on our sailboat was for Skipper.  This life allows us to have him with us almost all of the time and for him to have land for walking, running, and being a dog.

Brian and I both believe that he’s adjusted extremely well and is super happy living in the motorhome.  If you think about it, the only differences between our motorhome and a small house or apartment are that it has wheels and moves regularly.  Inside, it has our smells, our stuff, his toys, his food and water bowls, and everything else that a dog could need.  And if you consider the concept of crate training and the idea that a crate provides a cozy, safe place for the dog, you might better understand how little room dogs need to be comfortable. 

We’ve joked that our motorhome is like a giant dog house that we all live in together.  Early on, during discussions about naming our rig, we even considered calling our rig, The Dog House, and, on occasion, we still refer to it as that.  Skipper has the luxury of being with us 90-95% of the time, both in our home and when we are off adventuring.  While we are at home, Skipper moves between the driver’s seat where he has a bird’s eye view of the outside, on the carpet in front of the fireplace, under the dinette, and on the couch.  From these places, he keeps his eye on both of us most of the day.  He has a large basket of toys and bones from which to choose every hour of every day.  If he hasn’t made his way to bed before me, he knows when I kiss Brian goodnight that it’s time for bed and makes his way to the bedroom with little or no assistance.  Outside, we have a long lead and a chair just for him when we sit on our “patio.”

He gets as much or more exercise than when we lived in our sticks and bricks house.  Skipper and I walk together every morning for 40-60 minutes.  Each place where we go, I find places for us to walk.  It may be around an RV park, through a meadow behind a church (READ MORE), through a neighborhood, on a dog-friendly hiking trail, or down the main city street.  We go out for another walk in the late afternoon or evening often as a family.  Skipper loves walking with his pack.  We are very aware that he still wants and needs to run.  In every place where we’ve stayed, we’ve found places to take him so he can burn this energy and run free.

Most often, this comes in the form of a dog park.  We are careful to select campgrounds and RV parks that are dog-friendly and prefer to find parks where there is a dog run.  Many cities have public dog parks where Skipper not only runs but plays chase, his favorite game, with other dogs. 

When there are no dog parks in the area, or the dog park isn’t up to snuff, we get creative and find places where we can throw a ball for him to run after.  It might be down a back-country road or on the soccer field of the elementary school.  We know he needs time to be off-leash and to run free.  In these instances, we bring special high-reward treats with us to ensure that he comes when called.  Cheese or small pieces of hot dogs seem to work best for this.  We are highly aware of other people and other dogs so that we can re-leash him before he causes problems for others.  And, we watch his focus and energy level being sure to end the game before he’s too bored or full and wants to wander off.

While Brian and I will go out for lunch or dinner or an adventure without Skipper, we do love to have him with us.  We are always looking for adventures on which we can take him with us.  With our new e-bikes, we purchased a dog cart that attaches to the back of our bikes for Skipper to ride in.  He loves it and hops right in when he sees the cart ready for him. 

While the national parks don’t allow dogs on most of their hiking trails, dogs are allowed to be anywhere that a car is allowed.  With many back roads inside the park, this is like hiking on a wide well-groomed path.  Many of the national parks have one or two paved trails on which dogs on a leash may walk.  National monuments and forests are less restrictive and offer many paths and places to have a dog.  And, state and city parks are almost always dog-friendly, so these are great places for us to visit.

As with so many things today, we are using technology and e-commerce to help us manage life on the road with Skipper.  Here’s a list of apps or websites that help us with Skipper:

• BringFido – both a website and an app that identifies hotels, restaurants, activities, events, etc. that are dog-friendly.  We suggest double-checking to make sure that information is up to date before heading out with your pup.
• All Trails – we use this app for finding hiking and biking trails and can include dog-friendly in the search criteria.
• VitusVet – this is an app that helps keep all of his medical records together and available on my phone.
• Chewy.com – a great source for getting lots of reasonably priced things for Skipper shipped directly to us, including Skipper’s prescriptions for heartworm and flea & tick prevention, a variety of treats, and yak cheese (a favorite natural hard chew he loves).
• Life’s Abundance – this is the brand of premium dog food and treats that Skipper was introduced to by his breeder.  As it is a direct to consumer company that ships orders out to you as the customer, it is perfect for us to use.  We only need to remember to update our address in advance of shipment.

Someone told us that they look at their travels, not as the states where they’ve visited, but as the states where their dog has peed.  We laughed and understood this very well as he sniffs and marks his way across the country.  We love Skipper and love having him with us on this big adventure!  And while he doesn’t have a fenced-in back yard of his own, he has the whole country within sight.  And we are sure that he thinks this is “Pawsome.”