Folks we know are planning to give up RVing. They are both in great health, have the means to travel, and remain interested in seeing new sights. So why are they stepping away from the RV life? Their dogs won’t stop barking.
Frustration
Many RVers have experienced the frustration of barking dogs. Listening to another RVer’s yappy pet is bad enough, but it’s even worse when your own dogs won’t stop barking.
Background
Here’s a bit of background. The couple I’m talking about adopted two dogs (Beagle sisters) to fill the hole in their hearts at losing their beloved “Beasley” last summer. The two dogs quickly settled into their new home and were doing very well. Not anticipating any trouble, the couple set out on an RV trip. They brought the sister pups along, of course.
No sleep
The first night in the campground was a total disaster. The sisters barked at every sound they heard—and they heard everything! If someone walked nearby, they barked. If a nighttime critter happened to scurry past, or a cricket chirped, they barked. Even the gentle breeze through the trees set off a rousing chorus of bark-barking. No one got any sleep.
The barking continued throughout the following day, and the second night was a miserable repeat of the first. The frustrated couple packed up and headed for home the next day. Would this mark the end of their RVing?
What is a reactive dog?
So many new sights, sounds, and smells confront your dog at a campground. New people, other dogs and animals, and a strange, new environment can negatively affect your dog, especially if she’s reactive.
According to the dog trainers that I’ve spoken to, a reactive dog is one that overreacts to environmental stimuli. Reactivity can include lunging, pulling, growling, barking, and more in situations that do not warrant such behavior. There are different levels of reactivity in dogs. Some dogs may mildly react to certain stimuli, while others go absolutely wild.
General reactivity triggers
What triggers or causes a dog to overreact? Triggers are generally one of two things: fear or frustrated excitement. Seeing another dog—even at a great distance—may cause your dog to feel afraid. Excessive barking, growling, lunging, or even snapping may seem aggressive to you. In reality, your dog may be extremely fearful and want to escape the perceived threat. Her reactive behavior is meant to convey, “Don’t come any closer. Leave me alone!”
A second common trigger is frustrated excitement. Your doggo may see another pup and get excited. If not allowed to interact with the pup, your dog may overreact. He may strain at the leash, bark, or even show aggression because of his frustration. Even when allowed to greet the other dog, your dog may continue to show excitement in the form of aggression.
Campground triggers
When you take your dog RVing, consider how this new and different environment may affect your pet. There are many, many potential triggers and it’s up to you to protect and help your dog when she faces them at the campground. Some common triggers in a campground are small children, overly friendly adults, other pets, motorized toys, and unfamiliar sights, smells, and noises.
What can I do about my reactive dog?
- Practice run. Before setting out on your camping trip, help your pup get used to the RV. Spend time inside your rig with your dog. Let her look around and get comfortable. Offer treats and playfully interact together. Be sure to have a dog bed, food and water dishes, and your dog’s favorite toys. Do all you can to make your RV feel like home for your pup.
- Monitor health. Carefully monitor your pet’s health. Your pet may be in pain or ill. Such conditions may exacerbate his reactivity or cause him to be reactive in situations where he never has before.
- Provide opportunities for exercise. Take advantage of the campground’s dog park or a local community park. If socializing with other dogs causes reactivity in your pup, check out Sniffspot. This online service offers access to safe and private local dog parks.
- Block visual access to windows and doors. Seeing outside activity often causes reactive behavior in dogs.
- Mask outdoor sounds. Operate a noisy box fan, sound machine, and television or radio to cover or mask campground noises.
- Stay inside with your dog. Campground triggers can overwhelm some highly reactive pups. You can help your pet by rewarding acceptable behavior with treats, toys, and interaction.
- Research proven training techniques. Consider the podcast “Help! My Dog: The Podcast” by Tom Mitchell, or Susan Garrett’s “Shaped by Dog” YouTube videos and podcasts. Also, watch Zak George’s YouTube Channel and “Pupford Podcast.”
- Hire a trainer. Ask your local vet or check online for trainers who specialize in working with highly reactive dogs. Explain your main concerns and be sure the trainer knows that you plan to RV with your pet.
- Explore anxiety medication options for your dog, which your vet can help prescribe. Or, try dog calming treats.
Do you have a highly reactive dog? Share some successful techniques you’ve used that help when your dogs won’t stop barking while camping.
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We’ve had 5 Labrador Retrievers over our adult life. We’ve never had a problem with any of them barking. In fact, they virtually never bark, and we’ve never trained them not to bark. Even when other dogs, small and large, are barking at ours, our Labs just ignore the barking. They are almost always peaceful, loving, and quiet dogs. A joy to travel with too.
The problem is summed up by one word. Beagle. We had one once and he was wonderful, fun loving companion. However, he was also sneaky, stubborn and LOUD. He was never content with just a few simple barks at something. Once he started the barking and howling continued until he was exhausted, And we usually never found out what triggered the noise. We still miss him.
Thank your friends for going home with the barking dogs.
Signed, the campground neighbors
Its all a matter of training. Use “shock collars” such as Bark Control. I blame the dog owners in addition to dogs.
Shock collars can work but are certainly not a requirement to break barking habits. Shock collars work by pain and fear. Leadership trust and confidence are what keep a trained dog calm.
I prefer to call it conditioning. Kinda like Pavlov.
There are no “reactive” dogs…just dogs with owners that have never trained them nor taken a leadership role.
Dogs ARE NOT people, but many owners seem to think they are. They are a pack animal and if the owner is not recognized by the dog as the pack leader, the dog will assume the leadership vacuum. Be their respected leader, train them as to what you expect, give them plenty of exercise, and the bad behaviors go away.
Study Cesar Millan’s methods. He is as close to a “human dog” as you can get (as it relates to understanding canine behavior)!
Not meant to be mean. But I’d give up the dogs. When our dog became very ill and we had to euthanize him, about 2 years before retirement. We decided no more pets. As we had a lot of travel plans for retirement. Both in the RV and internationally.
We have two lab mix dogs, one triggered by anything. When we leave for an outing, all the shades go down, the music or TV on, and the bark collar goes on. She does not bark with this collar on and it does not hurt her. Only problem if the other dog barks it sets off her collar. Oh well, almost the perfect answer.
Thank you, Gail! What a timely article! Our dog (when he’s good, her dog when he’s bad) is 7-months of age. He is three weeks into his second 8-week training course and goes to day-care at the same place 1-4 days/week. He was horrible RVing at 5-months of age and before any training. So, we are hopeful that the training takes and he is a well-behaved traveler. If not, then I realize, thanks to your article, that we can solicit help from the dog trainers where we go to get more specialized training for RVing with him. Thank you! 🙂
Misbehaving pets are no worse than misbehaving children in close-quarter living situations.
We leave the TV on for our dog when we leave the RV to go to the store or somewhere else. That seems to work.
Hmm. How would you know? We stayed at a park last year where we politely told the owner his dog must have separation anxiety. The reply, “oh no, he never barks when we are gone.” Huh?!
Cameras???
Maybe they actually communicate with the neighbors and ask them???
Good grief, train the dogs with positive reinforcement only. My dog ignores other dogs, their barking, and people. Expose them to many things while young or learning. They might need to be trained separately. For myself, I don’t want to hear your dogs, and I don’t want you or your dogs to attempt to ruin my dog’s training. In other words, when you see a well-behaved dog, leave them alone. If you have an ill-behaved dog, don’t get another until the first one is trained because they usually learn from the other. Mine barks if someone starts down his driveway on his property. He is supposed to do that. He does not bark when away from home unless someone comes into our space, he alerts me.
Should a got a cat or two. Been traveling with our cats now going on 15 years. Never heard them bark!