RVing with Humans

When we first looked into the possibility of full-time RVing, we read every book we could find on the subject. After all, why learn everything the hard way? While there wasn’t a lot of written material available at the time, we did notice that virtually all books on the subject stressed the need for a “good working relationship” with family members. Apparently, if you haven’t worked out most of the bugs in your relationship with fellow travelers, your dreams of life on the open road will turn into a slow motion nightmare that gets worse with every mile. After living in an RV for a number of years now, I would probably agree with this advice. Let’s face it. Most full-time RVers tend to operate in a life without the rigid schedules, formal deadlines, and typical routines that make up most people’s lives. Accordingly, most full-time RVers must develop the resources, the discipline, and the creativity to live in a world that is far less structured than most. Furthermore, RVs are normally much smaller than conventional homes or apartments. Consequently, many full-time RVers find that the cramped lifestyle is simply too hard to adapt to – especially if they aren’t getting along with each other. Fortunately, these same books include a number of helpful tips for families that are planning to live in an RV. While the list is somewhat long, they all tend to fall into one of the following four suggestions. 1. Find ways to give each other a little breathing room. 2. Keep a sense of humor. 3. Remain courteous and considerate. 4. Maintain an honest and open relationship with everyone. But what happens when your traveling companions don’t care about these social niceties? Take our two dogs for instance. We’ve been RVing with two German Shepherd dogs for over four years now and on any given day – one or both deliberately violates each one of these suggestions. Let me give you some examples. Some nights, we like to just kick back and watch a little TV. The idea entails grabbing a few soft pillows and cozying up on the sofa for a couple of hours of mindless enjoyment. But instead, we are faced with a more immediate problem. Our male German Shepherd is sound asleep on the sofa. At 135 pounds, you can’t simply pick him up and place him on the floor. We could use a board to pry him loose, but we don’t have one sturdy enough for the job. We try using bribes and incentives like crackers and cheese but that only seems to work with my husband. But then, I suddenly remember suggestion #1 (Find ways to give each other a little breathing room). Now, whenever we want to relax and watch some TV, we simply sit in the bedroom with a 12-inch black-and-white television set we found at a yard sale. It only gets two channels but we don’t have to deal with the sofa issue anymore. Now, if we can only find some way to get the other dog off the bed – we may even be able to stretch out from time to time. Thank goodness for those suggestions. A few months ago, we decided to celebrate the good times with a fancy, home-cooked steak dinner. We headed out to the store and picked out two of the thickest beef tenderloins we’d ever seen. That evening, as the sun went down over the Arizona desert, we set the table, fired up the grill, and proceeded to make one of the most extravagant home-cooked meals we ever had – Caesar salad, sautéed asparagus, garlic roasted potatoes, caramelized onions, and of course, the two-inch thick, bank-busting tenderloins. When the food was perfectly cooked, we lit some candles, put on some music, opened a bottle of wine, and sat down to enjoy what was surely to become an unforgettable moment in our RVing lifestyle. We still aren’t sure to this day – but I believe we first noticed the missing steaks when I reached for the steak sauce. We do know they made it from the grill to the plates but it all becomes a little fuzzy after that. After some top-notch detective work, we came to the conclusion that someone had stolen the steaks while we were opening the wine and lighting the candles. As I sat there looking down at my “meatless” plate, I noticed a single piece of hair that seemed to match that of our male German Shepherd dog. I thought about wiping the hair away with my napkin, but it was too late. My husband had already seen the forensic evidence and immediately knew who the offender was. As his head snapped around to visually confront the guilty party, my mind frantically searched for some way to minimize the inevitable retribution that was about to play itself out. I could already see the headlines “Dog steals expensive steak…man kills dog”. But then, the dog did something that completely altered the outcome of that fateful evening. He smiled. No....he grinned. I looked at my husband and he looked at me. We weren’t sure why the dog was so happy. Maybe he liked his steak. Maybe he thought the whole thing was a celebration for him. Maybe he wanted another steak. We’ll never really know but with one unexpected and misplaced gesture, all of our anger and disappointment instantly drained away. See Tip #2 – Keep a sense of humor. As you might have figured out by now, we live with two big dogs. Like most big animals, they don’t make any apologies for getting in our way, taking up our space, or even stealing our food (now and then). In fact, I have this reoccurring fantasy where the Dog Whisperer comes out to our RV. He quickly discovers some deep-rooted conflict in our relationship with our dogs. He whispers something to each of us and then drives off. From that moment on – the dogs behave flawlessly. No barking, growling, fighting, stealing, or cussing. In this reoccurring fantasy, the third law (remaining courteous and considerate) is maintained in everything they do. So far, the idea of courteous and considerate dogs continues to exist as a goal. As they say, you never know. Like most dog owners, we’ve had our share of fantasies about a life without dogs. No fur. No barking. No walks in the rain. No chasing the cats (we have three). No hassles. No nothing. But then, a couple of months ago, we found out that our male German Shepherd has some serious orthopedic problems. His right knee has somehow deteriorated due to a past injury. As a result, he can barely make it up the steps into our motorhome. To make matters worse, he has hip displacement problems that are so severe the vet is suggesting that we have him put to sleep. He’s only four years old. Regrettably, we’ve been down this road before. One minute, you’re watching them frolic in the grass and the next – you’re going home without them. Whether you use dog years or human years, the reality is still the same. Our relationship with our dogs is profoundly short. As most of us know, dogs don’t live long enough to get old. As a result, every time we lose one, we swear we’ll never get another. But for a thousand good reasons, we always go back for more. Which brings me to my best suggestion. Try to take your dog with you wherever you go. While RVing with dogs does take some extra effort as well as some patience – it’s always worth it. Plus, if dogs could talk, they would almost certainly say the same about us. If you would like to know more about RVing with dogs, see the article Running with the Pack.