How many of you..

I recently lucked out when a client gave me his Dodge Ram. Lots of room in the cab, and the back has a canopy so the pups and I can even camp in it.

Hmmmm, I even have enough room if I want to get just...one...more...dog...

Not me, I would have to buy a horse trailer for Shaggy to fit.

Absolutely -- well, within the parameters that it was comfy for me, we had to fit in 3 (now 4) dogs, the Adventurer 1 (wagon for pet therapy), all the stuff we schlepp TO pet therapy, and my wheelchair when we aren't taking that junk. 

The PT Cruiser is absolutely the easiest to schlepp everything.  David's driving a Mini Clubman now which at least will HOLD 4 dogs and stuff but it's not as roomy as the Cruiser.

But the dogs were the #1 priority when w picked my Cruiser.

Every car purchase takes the dogs into account.  My next purchase will be a minivan for obvious reasons.  Current vehicle was purchased with safety foremost in mind (I'd read that the particular SUV model I bought was safest in the accident I had just had) - but it still had to be possible to tote dogs to dog stuff (driving into farm fields into particular).

After the minivan I plan to purchase a much smaller SUV or more likely a Subaru station wagon.  

We purchased a Volvo sedan but in a way that was a dog purchase too - I brought a crate and made sure I could fit it in the back.  In fact, two crates fit back there.  If I don't have a human passenger also, I can also put a small crate in the front seat, or else a larger dog can ride there belted in.  The reason we bought it was gas efficiency for my long business trips and going to competitions.

Do  RVs count??    When we shop for them we look for crate space inside , storage underneath for ex pens and with the last one we upgraded to a king sized bed to avoid having to kick dogs off the bed if we are only traveling with a couple.  My husband swears I lied to him, I told him Dog Showing would be an inexpensive hobby.... we went from the family cars to a minivan to rvs..we are on number 6 now, each bigger with more slides and space for all of us. I tell him it makes sense as we live in the Hurricane belt and we have had to evacuate at times.... he pointed out we were evacuating just fine in the family cars......  busted. 

I hate staying in a hotel or motel with the dogs.  I have to worry about what they use to clean the rooms and there always seem to be someone who comes in at 2 am singing off key or who is in LUV with the person down the hall who is not answering their door.

The last dog show we went to staying in a motel we were at a Ramada, normally a decent chain. This one was in Greenville Ms and it was a nightmare from the get go. Along with the dogs show folks there was a reunion for Viet Nam Vets and a Family Reunion for a very, very large  family. Picture this if you will.....  the water in the rooms was tea colored , I have no idea why but they had nice little signs telling us not to call the desk they know the water is a weird color.  We were traveling with both of our Moms , two teenaged daughters and the hubs and I. The Hotel restaurant was booked for the reunions and the closest fast food was about 2 miles up the road.  No mini fridge in the rooms, no microwaves so I was heating our pizza by wrapping it in foil and ironing it with the room's iron.  Thankfully I had brought a couple of Ice chests. The hubs was not about to be left with the moms and girls so I could shop and his shopping skills left much to be desired...  The Family Reunion was full of some very, very nice folks all except one kid.... his name was Leroy and from the 4000 times we heard his name hollered he seemed to have issues..... Leroy you bettah put that thang down right now!! Leroy You Bettah get yourself oveh here in a heartbeat or I'm tanning your backside... Leroy don you dare eat that !!!  Unfortunately one of our fellow Ridgebackers had a dog named .....Le Roi ( for the King) but he was a nervous wreck by the time the weekend was over, I know he had never been yelled at that many times in his whole life! We would walk into the hallways with our dogs only to have the Family Reunion Members plaster themselves agaisnt the walls in fear. It was impossible to convince them that our dogs were friendly.  I gave up on day two..... The shrieks from the teens who would be in the hall as we left our rooms were deafening. And the Big Signs we put on our doors annoucing we had large dogs please do not scream only helped a small amount.

After 10:00 the Family Reunion settled down nicely but then the Vets kicked the party up a notch..... by midnight the deck furniture was being tossed from the second floor with yells of "Incoming!!!!"  Having the police simply parked in the lot barely slowed anyone down.  We staggered to the rings for our shows with bags under our eyes and the look of total exhaustion echoed by our dogs.   To say that show was a bust is a major understatment.   The ride home was long but thankfully almost everyone slept.   Bob went out that week and bought RV number 1 , we kept it for exactly 30 days before it was traded in on RV number 2 a lot bigger ,but  still an easy to drive class c.  We kept that one for about a year when it became obvious that the moms would be living with us permenately .... so bumping up the rv again to a class a ...... Now we are on what I pray is the last Rv.  It is huge, all the bells and whistles and can comfortably house the family and pack.   The only way we will ever buy another is if we hit a massive lottery !!

In the meantime we drive my 4 door sedan which has a matching vanity plate to the RV's  Bwana1 and Bwana2.... Bob drives a coupe that we will be giving to our daughter as soon as he locates the sedan he has his heart set on.   Will it have personalized plates?? Don't know yet depends on the color heehee  but all of our puppy folk who have bought new cars since getting a ridgeback have bought a vehicle that will transport safely and easy large hounds... accidental?? I rather doubt it....

Bonita of Bwana

I can't say I bought the vehicle for pets, though it can be just as handy. Buying my new car is more affordable than fixing up my old truck. And the new car gets over 30 mpg. It cost me one gallon of gas to get to work. But it's a standard transmission and it took Shadow a while to get used to the lurch and surge of shifting gears. When I was looking at the car, I wasn't thinking in just terms of pet transport. I told the lady I wanted a car that seats four adults (I can fit in every seat in the car), will carry some luggage, and sip on gas like a fine scotch. And she gave me what I asked for.

I read your account of the trip, Bonita. It sounded like you needed a vacation to recuperate from the trip. All I can say is that kids are raised different now than when I was a kid. When I was a kid, parents would whip your butt until you could be quiet. And if you were to tell them that doing so would cause us to "shut down," they would have said, "I certainly hope so. That is the idea." Growing up and becoming a part of the adult world was something one earned by acting like an adult.

Of course, it's hard to give the kids a good role model when the vets, presumably in their 60's, are acting like spoiled children, as well.

Anyway, you came out of it in relatively one piece and that counts for something.

 Yeah I guess we kind of did. We got a newer one but then that one didn't work out for us and we had to leave for a show very quick so needed to pull the dog trailer, so we had to hurry to find one that had everything/the package we needed, have them bring it in, ect. If not for the dogs it wouldn't have been a big deal to get the vehicle before this one nor the current one. So yes it is mostly because of them.

 love the pictures

 Not me and I wish I had picked a little better.  I stupidly bought a car that had BUCKET seats in the back.  *headdesk*  I didn't even think of that.  So now the back seat is all covered in dog beds and blankets and pillows to make it comfortable. 

She does, however, appreciate the snout rest.

Hi I totally did, I have 2 big dogs and I foster too, I need the space. I have a Kia Sportage I love it, easy to clean, good on gas love it!