RTT's and Large Breed Dogs - How Do You Cope?

[Se7en62]

I'm new to RTT ownership and have learned the majority of what I know from these forums. Now I have a question for those of you with a large dog: What do you do with your pup when you're camping short term with just the RTT and no annex?

We have a CVT Mt. Shasta Extended RTT on our Jeep (XJ) Cherokee trail rig. The bottom of our tent is about 6'2" from the ground. The other day, I deployed the tent to let our 10 month old Akbash get a feel for the new trail digs, while I got a feel for how to safely stow her. First, I picked her up and stuck her up in the tent...easy enough. Getting down, she just jumped down like it was nothing.

My issue is that she's 10 months old and before our big trip to Colorado in August, she'll be 100 lbs or more. That's not something I'm comfortable picking up a thousand miles from home and a 100 miles from pavement.

Initially I started looking at modifying the roof rack, reinforcing the hood, and texturing it so that she could easily jump up on the hood and then walk into the RTT on the nights we are camping for only a few hours or one full night.

Of course, during 2-day camps, the lower annex will be installed and she'll be more than comfortable down there.

Thoughts?

Beyza and my wife for reference...

 

[ducktapeguy]

I like dogs and I like RTT's, but an elevated tent and a 100lb animal that can't climb a ladder don't seem to be very compatible. For short term camping couldn't she just sleep outside for the night leashed to the car or inside it?

Have you tried to extend the ladder as far as it would go and put a platform on it to form a ramp that she could walk up? The only other idea I can think of is getting one of two of these and train her to climb on her own

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BWBSYE1Y6B4S9QKVP3NJ

 

[Begz]

I've seen people build a ramp for their dogs. Always an option.

However, this is one of the reasons I find them completely impractical for camping with dogs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BobsCreek]

given the choices of dog hair covering the interior of my truck AND the rtt, the fur kids get to sleep in the truck they would love to be able to get into a tent with me, but between their hair and general dirt, well, they can snug at home!

I strongly advise not encouraging jumping down, Ive had too many dogs with leg issues due to launching in and out of trucks

 

[seanpistol]

I put two big dogs in the annex!

 

[Lucky j]

My rtt is not that high, and my dog is only 85 lbs.

But still. I help her out with climbing the lather. She use her front leg on the steps and I lift the rear ones.

To come down, I do not let her jump down, (always tought that the rule was like if the dog can not reach the high by jumping up, do not make it jump down.

So, I get down, on the ground, with leg strech, I bend over the lather so she can use my back as a mid high step, reducing the jump hight.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Why can't the dog sleep in the vehicle?

 

[Lucky j]

Why can't the dog sleep in the vehicle?

In my case, she could, but we like to have her with us and she like being with us as well. But that was in the ARB. For any reason, she does not like my gf autohome, then she ask for the car. Butt I agree with the dog. The ARB feels more roomy. Go figure. Lol

 

[Se7en62]

You all are correct. - I've decided to remove the rear seat and build her a dedicated platform for travel. That same area will serve as her sleeping quarters anytime we are not using the Annex portion of the tent. Then on extended weekends in the same spot, she'll just sleep in the Annex.

Thank y'all for the help in elevating my common sense!

 

[ClovisMan]

 

[Se7en62]

That's really good info! I appreciate you taking the time to write that. We only have 6 weeks left before our trip, so I think this will help me save time in building it.

 

[ollifl]

Get couple X-pens, for night time, use one, for daytime connect 2 together to have bit more room to move. if you need a roof use a tarp. I have 4 Rotweilers and a Cairn terrier.

 

[ghostshaper]

Just got back from a short camping trip. The wife, two young sons, and I sleep up in our CVT. We have an 80-lb boxer mix and a 20-lb poodle mix that sleep in their crates in the annex. We keep their crate doors open so they can move around if they want to. It also gives us some security knowing that they're guarding the ladder.

We stopped at a fast food place for lunch on the way, and my son gets a shake. He ends up getting sick (diarrhea and vomiting) that night and the next day. He was laying up in the tent, and I heard my wife screaming to get a bowl (I had just packed up our kitchen box). I finally fish it out of the back of the truck, just in time to see a waterfall of puke coming down from the top, hitting the annex floor, and splashing all over the metal dog crates. We spent the next hour trying to wipe everything off and get rid of the smell. We thought about letting the dogs sleep in the cab that night. Making memories

 

[rnArmy]

How about a folding aluminum ramp? They sell this either 8', 9', 10', or 12" long

http://www.discountramps.com/ez-rizer-single-runner-motorcycle-ramp/p/MF1-EZ-AMR/


They also sell this in an 8' length specifically for pets:

http://www.discountramps.com/7ft_pet_ramp/p/DR15-Pet-Ramp/

Or something like this:

 

[Doug E]

Although we tow a teardrop rather than have a RTT, we travel with 5 big dogs (Borzoi). Since we do not want them in the TD with us (where would we sleep?), we had similar issues. Resolution is that they get the entire back of the AstroVan when we're driving, and for overnight, we attach a rear porch via the AL strip at the bottom of their platform, and we have an additional piece of x-pen we use to lock them in so they can't go chasing skunks, or whatever, at night.



We also have a lightweight "dog yard" that goes around the ARB awning poles so they can go potty in the middle of the night without us having to get up.

I can provide a lot more pictures if it might be helpful.