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Our Jack Russell is two now and usually comes with us (unless we go abroad).  She loves the caravan as it means lots of fresh air and walks and as we always go with friends there are loads of people to fuss.

She sleeps on the floor on her soft bed.  She is very 'unJR'-like, no yapping or barking.  We try to take her everywhere while we are away but if this is not possible we take a crate and she stays in that while we are out.  She has a 'corkscrew lead' for outside although is very good off the lead and will happily stay with us.

Our friends have just got a new Boxer puppy so Ruby will now have company when we go away.

We have Jack, a 4 year old Westie and he loves the caravan as he usually gets more walks when we are away for the weekend. As for sleeping, he sleeps where he wants usually changing several times during the night. He "visits" all of us during the night to see who is the most comfortable to lie on. We use sleeping bags so I dont mind him lying on top of us. He loves his comfort!

At home is a different story, he has his own bed.

Paul

Our Rhodesian Ridgeback usually only comes away with us for short weekends.  But this year after buying a new van we decided that she could come and enjoy our two week holiday with us.  Normally she sleeps infront of the cooker on her own cushion.  During the day she is on a long training lead so she can wonder in and out of the awning and is safe.  We also have a large cage so she can go in it to be out of the way of things if she gets too hot or just cant be bothered.  We have decided that during the night on our two week holiday she may aswell sleep in the awning in her cage.  But if she starts to pine for company then she can sleep infornt of the cooker as normal.  During the day or evening if we do go anywhere she cant then she quite happily stays in her cage waiting for us.  She isn't a barker and ony does if someone tries to get in the awning, and then it's usually just a warning.

If you opt for a cage then make sure you train your dog to use it gradually not just the first night of your hols.

Good luck and happy caravaning.

We've just got back from a 2 night break & took 2 of our Cockers with us (we have 5).

Mindy, 4, is as good as gold.  For Skye (8mths) it was her 1st time & she was hard work!  She's now nick-named Houdini.  No matter what we tried, she found ways to escape from the awning & go say hello to everyone nearby  so we had to keep her inside with the bottom door shut whereas we really wanted to let them wander in & out.

We tried tethering them both but they got so tangled up we gave up. 

Sleeping arrangements were no problem - last time we just took Mindy & she decided that under the bed was the place to be.  Skye copied her & they curled up together both nights.

As 4 of our dogs are under a year old we're rotating them & taking one youngster plus Mindy each time.  Hope the others are easier to manage than Skye was!

are dog sleeps with us but can be a pain

Our westie adores the caravan and has her own bed to sleep in  .During the day she has a favourite place to sit (see photo) and she is always on the lead when outside. If we go out she is always with us. We would never leave her alone although I am sure she would be perfectly fine. She just loves the life.

Take the lab when she can come everywhere with us.  If we are planning to visit things with the kids and she can't come, we leave here at home with a sitter for those trips.   Couldn't risk losing her to a thief.

At night she sleeps in the van on the floor on her bed.  It's a long  waterproof thingy with a soft cover on the top as she won't lie on the waterproof cover.   We have a fixed bed but wish we had bought the triple bunk so she could have had the bottom one and out of the way a bit more but it's livable with although we have to keep stepping over her to get to the loo. 

During the day she just wants to be where we are, whether inside or out so if we are outside she is on the spiral thingy and can get in to the awning and her bed if she wants to.   We keep her on the lead as although she too is not a wanderer and wouldn't leave the van, other people might get concerned if she is off lead.  I do get annoyed when other people leave their dogs loose and they come bounding over to her as she is an old girl and the young bounding ones scare here, but there doesn't seem to be any way of escaping those and their owners get annoyed if you ask them to keep their dogs on a lead or tied up.

I wouldn't leave her in the awning for the theft risk either and she would probably cry anyway being away from us.

Thanks for all the replies. I like the idea of the crate, we have one but not really used it, will start him in there as of now. He does spend some time outdoors now in a dog run so I don't think it would be too much of a hassle. As for the screw in spike...I like the idea of the tow bar better!! He was 7 stone about 2 months ago so I don't think a spike will hold him. He still a (very big) puppy really and as such can be quite boisterous and annoying, wanting to play all the time etc so I hope that the great outdoors will help tire him out...a 3 hr walk sometimes doesn't! Thanks again.