Living With Dog In Truck

Hi all, I have read some prior posts about dogs in trucks. I am thinking about bringing an 8 yr old Bassett hound with me a short while after my upgrade. I am possibly "coming into" ownership by a owner unable to care for her anymore. She's 42 pounds (a little chunky) and a good girl. I'm wondering about having the dog on the truck fulltime as I will be living on the truck fulltime. She's not high energy so a walk a couple times a week will suffice. So thoughts about 24 hour vets that a truck can get to? Water and food tips? How do you bathe them regularly? No APU available on the truck i will get so heating cooling issues other than idling? We would both be living in it so other than eating in a restaurant or shopping we would both be in truck together.

Also, I know what is PC and how you should answer but HONESTLY, how many with dogs in the truck actually pick up their dogs poopoo afterwards? Lol

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I'm not an expert on the dog issue, but can you repeatedly lift a 42 pound dog up and down from the cab? Dogs don't need to be bathed, in fact too much bathing is bad for dogs. Several times a year is plenty. What keeps a dog clean is regular brushing, plus most dogs like being brushed. And yes, only a jerk doesn't pick up the poop.

Yeah I can lift her in and out, not a problem. I asked about the poop thing after almost stepping in a pile today at a rest stop in Arizona!! I figure it's like some people and washing their hands after using the bathroom, everyone says yes I wash my hands everytime but HONESTLY some won't if nobody's around.

I have found several vets OTR near motels with parking or next to truck stops. Start logging them on your google maps just in case. when my Goofball had fleas, i got a room at an econolodge and right next door was a vet. also, some petsmarts have them and plenty of truck room. i havent noticed 24 hour ones, but im sure it can be done. At 3am who will care about a rig parked with hazards on out front. "my tranny died im waiting for a tow. BTW, my dog is throwing up, it could be exhaust poisoning, please help!"

My terminal has a pet wash and a dog run, so ask if yours does.

Whenever you happen to be in Virginia on I-81 you can always stop at White's Petro (exit 205). They have a unique "dog wash" on the back side of the building. It's inside a room so you and the pooch will still stay cool in the summer or warm in the winter.

Or... whenever you go through the Blue Beacon you could get a little creative!

Dodge City Petro in Alabama exit 299 on I-65 has a dog wash. It is inside the drivers entrance. Pets are only allowed in the entrance way, but that is where the dog wash is.

Old School inspires:

Or... whenever you go through the Blue Beacon you could get a little creative.

Now, who would want to tie a DOG to a CAT walk?

Now, who would want to tie a DOG to a CAT walk?

A Flatbedder! That's extreme load securement - only the best of the best can handle that assignment.

Rainy says

some petsmarts have them and plenty of truck room.

This is a great point. Banfield is the clinic in petsmart and they offer a wellness plan that a couple years ago when i had it was like $20 for cats, $32 for dogs. That covered all shots , spay/neuter, dental cleaning and discounts on all other services. It definitely will save you money and with it being a nationwide thing regardless if you're in new york or california all of your pets records are available for them to see. Downside is theyre not open after i believe 8pm so they're not useful if its an emergency "after hours". Also with it being in petsmart could always setup an appointment for a bath while the dogs there. When my wife was a groomer for petsmart it wasnt uncommon for them to grab a dog from banfield that also had appt for bath or groom.

I brought my dog with me for a couple months. Granted, I was only out for a week at a time so I was able to still take care of all his vet visits at home on the weekends. Biggest issue I had was shedding. For some reason my dog has been shedding like crazy and I have to use lint rollers constantly. Some dogs don't do well being cooped up all the time but mine would just go back in the sleeper and doze off when the truck was going. And mine learned to jump in and out of the truck pretty early on. For the first two weeks I had to pick him up to get him in though--he's 60 lbs but it wasn't bad really.

And dog poop...I usually took him to areas where people don't walk, like where there are a bunch of weeds and stuff. No one cares if you don't pick it up there.