Dog transportation troubles

burls

burls

New member
I have a trip to South Dakota booked for this Fall....thats the good news. The bad news(not really bad news...challengeing news) is my buddy now wants to ride with me...ok thats cool...oh ya he has a dog and i have three. So i need to transport 2 guys, 4 dogs and hunting gear in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I really don't have the money for a dog trailer...and i usually only hunt 2 of my dogs at a time so normally this isnt a problem. My buddy says we should rent a cargo trailer for the week and transport all the dogs in their crates in cargo trailer. I am concerned about ventalation issues with Cargo Trailer. Seems like I read a story on Pheasant country about some dogs dieing in a cargo trailer?? Has anyone got any suggestions or experince in transporting dogs in cargo trailer(like you rent at U-haul???
 
I have a Mercury Mountaineer and when I go hunting we have 3 dogs and 2 guys. I custom made a dog box for the back of my vehicle. It has just enough room for the dogs to stand and turn around. As far as gear, I put it on top of the vehicle in drybags and strap it down. Coolers get strapped on top also. There should be plenty of room if you can store most of your gear on top of the vehicle. As far as the dog box goes I measured my vehicle, went to Home Depot and bought the materials that I needed, brought them home and built the box in about an hour. We went to South Dakota last year and had plenty of room by doing this. Good Luck
 
Take one of yours and one of his. I've got an explorer and have put two crates in. I also have a barrier which if you fold the seats down and bring it forward enogh for gear in the middle and dogs from the barrier back. It's safer than a trailer. I won't let my kids ride in a camping trailer and my dogs are part of my family too so I won't put them in a trailer either.
 
Why so many dogs??? My experience is that after 5 days of hunting 2 dogs they get pretty whooped...so i like to rotate dogs...i think it also takes care of them so they dont have any isuses. I remember a few years ago when the weather was hot a bunch of dogs got in to trouble due to heat. I have black labs and like to rotate them especially when its hot.
 
Your buddy has it just backwards. Rent a trailer and put all of your gear in the trailer, the dogs in the car so they can benefit from the AC or heater. Fold down your seats. Two crates face the rear, two go sideways and face each side of the vehicle. I've never done that in a jeep but have in a Suburban. We put a remnint of vinyl flooring under the front crates so the seat's couldn't get stained. Remember that your enemy in the fall is the heat, not the cold.
 
Sidelined Dogs Concern

One thing to remember when sidelining dogs in your vehicle is to consider the outside temperatures. If you are going on one of the 1st 2 weekends, the temperatures can be warm enough to heat the inside of your Jeep to unsafe temperatures. Have a plan for this situation.

We hunt with 3 dogs for 5 days and run them all, never leaving them in our vehicle. Pace yourself, your dogs, and keep them properly fed and watered. Consider just taking the best dogs for your hunt.
 
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