We’re looking at getting a camper van so that we can go away biking for the weekend and take the dog. He might get left in the van while we’re riding and then get taken for a walk afterwards. We’re worried about it getting too hot in the van (during summer).
Does anyone on here have a van and have air con installed that can be left running without the engine on?
Or any other solutions?

Cheers.

If you go to Gamefairs you’ll often see vans like this:

Doors open, locked in shade.

Personally I wouldn’t even contemplate leaving a dog in a car/van without supervision, too many things could go wrong.

Not being harsh but not leaving the dog int he van on hot days is the real solution. You can try 12v fans and windows open but too much and your dogs going to overheat and possibly die. The solution above looks good if you want to fit a cage and leave everything in the van on view in a car park.

or something a bit simpler/cheaper, like this:

If it’s likely the dog is going to be left in the van for long periods I reckon not bring it?

Failing that, get the shutters down over the windows and window open/roof vent open.

You can get mobile AC units. Leave that running off the leisure battery?

nothing much works – parking in the shade is the best bet tbh but I used to leave her outside staked to the ground [ by a lead not literally] and she would hide under the van in the shade.

Air con would consume masses of power but I assume you could with hook up.

The ideal would be to take him biking with us. But busy trail centres, road sections on XC rides and very hot weather will prevent that sometimes.
I know you can get AC for campers but most seem to need a hook up to mains AC.

Failing that, get the shutters down over the windows and window open/roof vent open.

We often leave our caravan like this and in the summer it’s still way too hot for the dogs to be left in after a couple of hours.

If you’re taking your dog with you on holiday accept that you’ll have to work around it occasionally or leave it with someone who can care for it.

i wouldn’t personally do it but I’ve seen dozens of people at dog shows using these http://www.ventlock.com/tailgatelock.php with the windows slightly open to create a through draft

I’ve seen versions of the van in the pic. I wouldn’t be happy leaving the side door open, even if the cage was padlocked. Never know what scumbag will feed or put into the cage with the dog. Worse still its possible they could be stollen. Just not safe I recon. Leaving dogs in cars during the warmer weather is just a no no…

Wouldn’t leave our daag in the van, would be too worried for all the reasons above…

Never know what scumbag will feed or put into the cage with the dog. Worse still its possible they could be stollen

do dogs not like marzipan then?

if someone’s going to be feeding stollen I’ll sit in the back of the van 😀

Agree with most of the above – I wouldn’t leave the dog in a van unsupervised for any length of time anywhere, and especially not on a warm day; it’s essentially a big metal oven in that situation. Either plan around the dog or don’t take him, it’s not fair otherwise.

idiotdogbrain: That’s the point. We’d only be leaving him for a couple of hours or so – certainly not all day! He’s used to being left for that long at home but it’s cool there. If we can’t get a reliable cooling solution, it just wouldn’t happen.
We’d just like to be able to go to different places around the UK and take him so we can ride one day and walk the next. Good for him and us.

CheesybeanZ: if we provide stollen, will you sit in the van and look after the dog?

it would be cheaper to put your dog in day kennels than feed me stollen
we use a kennels for the day when we go to CyB all for £8.00 and we don’t have to worry about him or van security .

Plus you might get some do-gooder who decides (regardless of the measures you’ve taken) that it’s inhumane and either call the cops/RSPCA or bust your van open to teach you a lesson.

Anything that depends on power or that can be readily tampered with (such as someone closing the door that’s been locked ajar) could be problematic and just cause you anguish and your dog harm.

Call the RSPCA and ask for their advice 🙄

I’ve lots of experience of this with my two collies.

Insulating the van, inside, is a good step, as is having a white van to reflect as much heat as possible.

A spinny fan fitted to the top of the van will help on windy days, or while driving to circulate the air.

On days up to 28 degrees, the van is fine (in that it doesn’t get above 35 inside) above 36 degrees is the danger zone, and you really don’t want your pooches in that temperature, as that’s when it starts to cause damage.

In those conditions – find shade under a tree, and park there.

Also get a silver reflective windows shade for the front, the amount of heat perpetuated by the windscreen, and then soaked up by dark dash and seats is crazy. Big ones. All the way around.

Get a thermometer, and check your max temperatures often – so you have an idea of what is safe, and what is comfortable for your dogs.

For mine, if it’s a hot day – they’ll stay at home now. There’s no point in risking it.

So, overall – if you don’t need to take them on a warm, sunny day – don’t.

To be honest if it’s over 26 – 28 degrees, we probably wouldn’t be biking anyway! More likely to be sitting in the shade with the dog!

It got up to above 55c (that’s as high as the digi thermometer went) in my camper van last summer in the Alps. I don’t think fido would last long in that. But it would save having to have a BBQ in the evening!

If you leave your dog in the van in warm weather then regardless of ventilation it’s likely to start panting.

A member of the public will see it and at some point the police/RSPCA will be called. They will crowd around the van and decide the dog is distressed (they don’t discriminate between heat stress and guarding behaviour). The van will be broken into and the dog ‘rescued’. You will face a stern talking to and a bill for damage in the best case or more likely proceedings.

A cooling solution is high risk – what if it fails?

No easy solution but in emergency I have left my dog in a cage in the shade with water locked with a small combination padlock and my mobile number fixed to the cage. I have also abandoned what I was planning on doing and gone home.

If you leave your dog in the van in warm weather then regardless of ventilation it’s likely to start panting.

A member of the public will see it and at some point the police/RSPCA will be called

Well, not if you have a van without rear windows.

If my dogs are panting in the back, without exercise, then it’s too hot for them to be left in the van.

Our van has proper insulation, double glazed windows, thermal curtains, and silver screen fitted on the front.

Combined with tailgate standoff as pictured above, and a couple of windows open an inch or so, it stays cool inside without any need for power or leaving doors open.

Cool enough that you want to go into the van on a hot day to cool off.

Dog jacuzzi is the only sensible answer to heat management

http://www.wabco-auto.com/heating-ventilation-air-conditionin_hvac/
Something like this maybe.
Quite a lot of european trucks have extra a/c systems fitted to them that work when the engine is not running easily identifiable by the a/c unit sitting on the roof where the sunroof is and a water tank mounted on the back of the cab.

http://www.waeco.com/en/products/3882.php
Or this.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I saw this thread, I had visions of photos of dogs wearing skate shoes! But seriously I would’nt leave a dog in any kind of vehicle in warm weather regardless of what insulation, venting or air-con you may have, it’s just to risky and as was pointed out earlier it won’t be long before a well meaning member of the public calls the rspca.

Do a Romney and tie them to the roof

Go on the trails one at a time.

If you leave your dog in the van in warm weather then regardless of ventilation it’s likely to start panting.

A member of the public will see it and at some point the police/RSPCA will be called. They will crowd around the van and decide the dog is distressed (they don’t discriminate between heat stress and guarding behaviour). The van will be broken into and the dog ‘rescued’. You will face a stern talking to and a bill for damage in the best case or more likely proceedings.

A cooling solution is high risk – what if it fails?

Like any animal lover would do.

Why not leave the children in the van as well, but then they can open the windows if they have a winder, and play with the radio,

why not just put the doggy on a long lead and tie him to a to the tow hook, with a note of your mobile number on the dashboard in case anyone is concerned, or perhaps put a sign next to him saying unwanted part time dog for sale low price as id rather be cycling.

May be worth looking for ex police dog vans. Kitted out to house at least 2 dogs and they usually only work 1 at a ime. Either have powered fan in kennel area or supplementary air con or the dogs too.

Keep it home. Whatever you do don’t tie it to the van

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HbBL62IiRE[/video]

We just faced up to the fact that if we go away in the van with the dog it’s likely to be a walking/climbing type of break unless we go somewhere the dog can come for a ride, so Cannock, FOD or the like midweek. If we want to go to a trailcentre at the weekend, or somewhere like Afan or CYB which are a bit much for him or Somewhere like Swanage with too much road linking stuff we just leave hi. At home and let his dog walker/sitter take care of him…

Fit a pop top and open all the poptop side windows/vents.

Even then never on a hot day.

My dogs see the van as a second home/bed so very happy inside. Old one would rather be there than dragging her 15year old butt round after me and the youngster on the trails.

Thanks for the helpful/constructive comments.

As for the ‘if you want to leave your dog alone at all then you don’t deserve to have him’ type comments, they don’t really help and are pretty pointless as the only reason that we want to take him along is to spend time with him and take him away to new places. Do you never leave your dog alone? Because if you do, then you’re just as bad as you are implying we are.
If there’s any risk of harming him then we wouldn’t do it.

Agree with you there, my dogs come with me everywhere but there are times and places where they can’t/don’t want to do stuff Im doing, so stay in the campervan.

To elaborate on my earlier suggestion, I don’t know what type of camper you’re looking for but I’ve found having one with a pop top that has zip-out windows in the sides of the canvas roof bellows(?)makes for a light airy space. Perfect for the dogs to be left in while we go for a ride/lunch/pee/asda, or for them to curl up and sleep/dry after a run/swim/fox dung roll.

Security is OK as long as nobody wants to conspicuously climb onto the roof and through the sides and dark van windows allows the dogs to stay hidden yet still see out.

Andy

I have read this post with interest, because the wife and I have the exact same problem/ issue.
Thanks for putting your neck on the line with all the internet trolls around.
For those with sensible ideas and suggestions thanks!!

It seems clear to me that davela was asking the question as he had his dogs best interests at heart; as for the trolls how can he just leave them at home if he is away camping?

Thanks Andy. Possibly looking at a hi-top T5. Just started looking really. Don’t want anything too big but has to have enough space. There’s a nice van not too far away that we might look at. Usual problem don’t want to spend too much but want a nice enough/well enough kitted out van to enjoy using it. Looking to use it for other holidays around the UK too, not just biking.
When we use a dog sitter, it’s the agility trainer that we go to. He gets to spend time with her 4 collies and loves it. However, it’s £20 a day which mounts up. So if we can find a suitable solution for when it’s just normally hot, not heatwave baking, then it’ll be much better for him and us.

Orangejohn: I hope you also manage to find a suitable van/solution.

If you leave your dog in the van on a hot day or risk it dying as they can’t regulate there temperature that well. So worst case you are looking at dead dog, criminal record and a huge fine + lots of press, best case everyone will just think you are a dick

Personally I would never leave my two locked in my van on a hot summers day, as their lives are more important than going for a ride, but may’be that’s just me.