Quite some time ago, I determined that I would not take my Great Pyrenees pooch (Bear) with me on my travels. The main problem is that he barks ALOT when he’s guarding his “den”. I tried taking him to an air-bnb for a weekend, to see if he’d still bark himself silly when the turf was not his own. It took a few hours for him to get used to being there, but once he was used to it, he parked himself by the front bay window and proceeded to holler at everyone who walked by, just like he does at home.

Clearly, having him in a hotel would not work, and renting an entire house everywhere I go would be difficult and expensive. But I have no problems taking him with me when I drive around town. He just sits or lies there in the car, quietly waiting for my return. That’s right, he doesn’t bark when other people approach the car. This has been going on for over three years now, and it JUST finally dawned on me that this might indicate that Bear doesn’t see the vehicle as something he should be guarding…so MAYBE I could travel with him if our lodging is also our vehicle. And since I recently upgraded to a much larger vehicle, I may try to do some experimenting in the coming weeks.

I imagine I’ll start by just spending a night in our driveway. I would push Bear’s bed to the back of the van (the rear and middle row seats are all hidden under the floor already), then maybe I’ll set up some bedding for myself on what’s left of the cargo-area floor. Or I might just recline in the driver or passenger seat. This test would really just be to see whether I could get enough sleep in the van. I’m sure Bear will be in guardian mode, since the van is on his turf.

Assuming I can get a decent amount of sleep in the van, the next test would be to find somewhere nearby where I could maybe park for the night in someone’s driveway. And if THAT works out without too much barking, then I’ll try to find an RV “campground” (or maybe a Target parking lot) not too far away and spend a night there. If all this meets with success, I may just rent an RV and try an actual weekend trip with Bear. Stay tuned; I’ll let you know how it goes!