Bob Stucky
RVF Newbee
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2025
- Messages
- 3
I want to throw a couple of ideas out to motorhome Manufacturers and I'd love to know what other folks think. Our needs are simple: We want to travel on extended trips in a motorhome with our dogs. Simple but also not well served by any motorhome manufacturer we can find. The closest match so far is the Thor Outlaw 38MB. And while it would work, at 40' feet it can't go many of the places we want to go.
We see a large number of people RVing with their dog(s). It's evidently enough of a market for Thor to tout "dog friendly" designs (Specifically the A.C.E class A). While being a nod to the need, their idea of dog-friendly misses the mark.
Disclaimer - we travel with 3 Saint Bernards, so our needs are a bit extreme. We also know over a dozen families who travel with a couple of 30lb+ dogs (couple of labs) who share the exact same needs.
First rule: Dogs come in sizes from small cat to miniature horse. Don't assume that a given feature will work for your customer. Everyone who owns a dog has bowls. A slide out dog feeding station is useless for more than one dog and can't be sized to feed any breed dog. In other words - completely useless. Pet viewing windows. Most dogs sleep on the road.
Focus on the things that will make traveling with pets safer and easier both on the road and in camp.
The wish list:
1. 2 Curbside doors. One for us, one for the dogs. People door towards the front, dog door towards the rear. The dog door can be short, 3' high, and a little narrower than a normal rv door. It needs something on the jamb to secure a ramp or stair made for dogs. Don't put some fancy ramp thingy that'll get in the way of using our own ramp or stairs. We're spending 6+ figures on a motorhome; we can afford $200 on a ramp that will work best for whatever breed(s) we have.
A dog door also serves are emergency egress for people and pets. Frankly something like this should be required by law on ALL RV's: a bedroom fire emergency egress that isn't a window 8 feet off the ground. Imagine having to throw your dogs (or grandma) out that window in an accident or fire. Keep the egress window by all means but add a short egress door.
There are many travel trailers (over about 29') that have 2 curbside doors. Someone somewhere thought it might be a worthwhile feature. Our current Freedom Express 29 does. But we want to shift to a motorhome now.
2. Extra external storage: The ultimate dog camp set up is to have a fenced area with a separate entrance where the dogs can be off-leash and have free access in and out of the RV. But we need a place to put the fence panels. Think of an outside storage locker that is 5 feet tall, perhaps 2 to 4 feet wide, that runs the full width of the RV, doors on both sides. (See the Winnebago Navion 24T). You can use it to stow electric bikes, fences, perhaps both. Right at the back, easily accessible, right were you're going to set up your dog fence.
3. There are 2 of us. We neither need nor want an RV that sleeps more than 4. If the grandkids are coming along, that's why the good Lord created tents. Having an RV designed to sleep 8 compromises other use cases.
4. Open floor space with the slide-outs stowed for travel. If you travel with pets, a king size bed represents 38 square feet of floor space that is only used for sleeping. The modern RV murphy beds (usually queens) are more than adequate size wise and can take aftermarket mattresses so they don't sacrifice comfort. You reclaim 30+ square feet of open floor space to be a second living area with seating that converts to the master bed. More than enough room for tied down crates or dog beds so they have a comfortable, non cramped space while underway, slides in. Dog people care about their pets more than their beds.
We can kind of get what we need with the Outlaw 38MB, but we're using the garage at the pet motel. That's 10' feet of RV length, pushing the RV to 40', more than most state and national park camp sites allow. Having a murphy bed and a dog door would enable a 32' unit to do the same job. Put a murphy bed in the Outlaw, and we'd only need a 4 foot garage, and would be able to take it anywhere.
I'd love to read everyone's thoughts.
We see a large number of people RVing with their dog(s). It's evidently enough of a market for Thor to tout "dog friendly" designs (Specifically the A.C.E class A). While being a nod to the need, their idea of dog-friendly misses the mark.
Disclaimer - we travel with 3 Saint Bernards, so our needs are a bit extreme. We also know over a dozen families who travel with a couple of 30lb+ dogs (couple of labs) who share the exact same needs.
First rule: Dogs come in sizes from small cat to miniature horse. Don't assume that a given feature will work for your customer. Everyone who owns a dog has bowls. A slide out dog feeding station is useless for more than one dog and can't be sized to feed any breed dog. In other words - completely useless. Pet viewing windows. Most dogs sleep on the road.
Focus on the things that will make traveling with pets safer and easier both on the road and in camp.
The wish list:
1. 2 Curbside doors. One for us, one for the dogs. People door towards the front, dog door towards the rear. The dog door can be short, 3' high, and a little narrower than a normal rv door. It needs something on the jamb to secure a ramp or stair made for dogs. Don't put some fancy ramp thingy that'll get in the way of using our own ramp or stairs. We're spending 6+ figures on a motorhome; we can afford $200 on a ramp that will work best for whatever breed(s) we have.
A dog door also serves are emergency egress for people and pets. Frankly something like this should be required by law on ALL RV's: a bedroom fire emergency egress that isn't a window 8 feet off the ground. Imagine having to throw your dogs (or grandma) out that window in an accident or fire. Keep the egress window by all means but add a short egress door.
There are many travel trailers (over about 29') that have 2 curbside doors. Someone somewhere thought it might be a worthwhile feature. Our current Freedom Express 29 does. But we want to shift to a motorhome now.
2. Extra external storage: The ultimate dog camp set up is to have a fenced area with a separate entrance where the dogs can be off-leash and have free access in and out of the RV. But we need a place to put the fence panels. Think of an outside storage locker that is 5 feet tall, perhaps 2 to 4 feet wide, that runs the full width of the RV, doors on both sides. (See the Winnebago Navion 24T). You can use it to stow electric bikes, fences, perhaps both. Right at the back, easily accessible, right were you're going to set up your dog fence.
3. There are 2 of us. We neither need nor want an RV that sleeps more than 4. If the grandkids are coming along, that's why the good Lord created tents. Having an RV designed to sleep 8 compromises other use cases.
4. Open floor space with the slide-outs stowed for travel. If you travel with pets, a king size bed represents 38 square feet of floor space that is only used for sleeping. The modern RV murphy beds (usually queens) are more than adequate size wise and can take aftermarket mattresses so they don't sacrifice comfort. You reclaim 30+ square feet of open floor space to be a second living area with seating that converts to the master bed. More than enough room for tied down crates or dog beds so they have a comfortable, non cramped space while underway, slides in. Dog people care about their pets more than their beds.
We can kind of get what we need with the Outlaw 38MB, but we're using the garage at the pet motel. That's 10' feet of RV length, pushing the RV to 40', more than most state and national park camp sites allow. Having a murphy bed and a dog door would enable a 32' unit to do the same job. Put a murphy bed in the Outlaw, and we'd only need a 4 foot garage, and would be able to take it anywhere.
I'd love to read everyone's thoughts.
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We,as well, travel with only one dog. Our Miniature Poodle is only about 15 pounds but she manages to take up the whole bed!
