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Old 09-25-2020, 01:11 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: New York
Posts: 26
THOR #20250
Dog Kennel

Something that concerned the wife and I was the safety of our two dogs while the coach is moving. The uncarpeted, slippery floor is difficult to navigate for the older of our two female beagles to move about on while the coach is pitching and rolling along the ocean waves. Sorry, I mean the roads of NY... The younger one has a habit of walking around the left side of the driver's seat, which is dangerous.

Our first trip they were left to wander but constantly encouraged to sit somewhere but the younger one, in particular, was stressed and upset. For our second trip the wife bought a soft-sided kennel and tucked it under the dinette while we travel. This worked pretty well but it stuck out from under the table a way due to the diagonal dinette support mechanism. It didn't leave a lot of room to navigate around the thing to get to the rear of the rig when the slide is in. Additionally, in the five minutes we were out of the coach speaking to the Harvest Hosts site owner the younger one destroyed the darn thing after less than two hours usage.

I wanted to try again with something a bit more robust. A local pet store here in Rochester was moving and everything in the old store was 70% off. I picked up a Petmate Vari Dog Kennel, for pets 30-50 lbs, 32" L X 23" W X 24" H for $30. Given the low cost of the kennel I was willing to cut it up a bit to get what I wanted, which was a hard sided kennel that tucked farther under the dinette table.

I got out my drill and made a couple initial guide holes in the back side of the kennel and then used my jigsaw to cut a slot out of the back that allows the diagonal support of the dinette table to slide into the slot. Now it gives a lot more room to walk past when the slide is in. When we aren't traveling the kennel comes apart and can get stowed in the basement or, and I haven't actually tried this yet, but I believe it will fit under the bed of our Hurricane 29M.

Here is the kennel I purchased. I didn't get it at Petco but here is a link from there.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos...ari-dog-kennel
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Old 09-25-2020, 01:14 PM   #2
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Welcome to the forum. Great idea.


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Old 09-25-2020, 01:34 PM   #3
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Old 09-25-2020, 02:02 PM   #4
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Always nice to see someone take the safety of the furry ones in mind when traveling.

I am in the process of a mod to our coach that eliminates the couch and replaces it with cabinets that serve as a platform for three cat crates. will post the pics and description when finished later today.
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Old 09-25-2020, 02:40 PM   #5
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What a great idea. We have 3 Irish Setters, big dogs. I took the dinette and used it. Used the seat belts to tie the kennels down. That works for the two younger dogs. When we are underway the older dog is in a soft sided kennel that slides to the back of the MH. Very tight fit. It does block the bed but we can still get to all the controls for the gen and a/c. Works for us.
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Old 09-25-2020, 03:47 PM   #6
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Good idea. If you have a dog that is anxious on the trip, you may talk to your vet about an anti-anxiety med for the dog, helps them to calm down.
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Old 09-25-2020, 04:11 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by HarryS View Post
Good idea. If you have a dog that is anxious on the trip, you may talk to your vet about an anti-anxiety med for the dog, helps them to calm down.

My wife is a vet. She also recommends that you feed the dog in the kennel and if you give the dog a treat, give it in the kennel. You want the dog to like being in the kennel. A lot of good things happen in the kennel.
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Old 09-25-2020, 05:35 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by jannnda View Post
My wife is a vet. She also recommends that you feed the dog in the kennel and if you give the dog a treat, give it in the kennel. You want the dog to like being in the kennel. A lot of good things happen in the kennel.
That's good advice. We had the soft-sided crate in the house for a week, doing exactly what your wife the vet suggested, and it became a safe spot for them. I have to do it again with this crate now.
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Old 09-26-2020, 12:14 AM   #9
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Very nice. I would never have thought to cut out for the table brace.
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Old 09-26-2020, 01:09 AM   #10
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Has anyone tried those "Huggie-Wrap" blankets that are supposed to help calm an upset dog?
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Old 09-26-2020, 05:53 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
Has anyone tried those "Huggie-Wrap" blankets that are supposed to help calm an upset dog?

My wife has some clients that use them and say they work. We don’t have any first hand experience with them.
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Old 09-30-2020, 06:59 PM   #12
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That's an awesome solution to your issue. We're lucky, our small dog is attached to my wife so she sits in a little bed on her lap and our larger dog has a bed between the seats and she just sleeps the whole time. Only time they seem to get up and move around is when they're ready for a pit stop, which is a great indicator for us to find a grassy spot to stop.
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Old 09-30-2020, 07:09 PM   #13
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Thanks! This is a great idea. We had the same problem with our crate so we end up making the dinette into a bed and wedged in two large kennels on top of the "bed" with the cushions. Our dogs were crate trained and LOVE their "safe place" crates. In fact, we've got like six of them all over the house. They have no problems with riding in a vehicle but I've heard that the comfort/calming/anxiety vests along with riding in the crate might do the job.
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Old 09-30-2020, 07:20 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by crater View Post
That's an awesome solution to your issue. We're lucky, our small dog is attached to my wife so she sits in a little bed on her lap and our larger dog has a bed between the seats and she just sleeps the whole time. Only time they seem to get up and move around is when they're ready for a pit stop, which is a great indicator for us to find a grassy spot to stop.
Ours is tethered in-between our seats, and wears a full-body harness...
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Old 09-30-2020, 07:40 PM   #15
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Our dog (25 lbs) wears a harness and a pet seatbelt and is belted in on the sofa behind us. I have a mirror mounted to the dash where I can watch her, much as you would a baby in your back seat. She takes a few hours the first day of travel to settle in but is fine after that.
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Old 10-01-2020, 02:04 AM   #16
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Great idea! We did something similar in our 24' Four Winds. We purchased an adjustable steel pet gate with a door (18" high X 22" to 38" wide) for $25. We drop the table top down and then pressure mount the gate between the forward and aft dinette seat edges. There is a plush edged area carpet under the table for them to lay on. When not required the gate collapses and easily slides in behind the driver's seat.
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