hi from Eileen and Tim

We picked up our 550 classic #322 last May. Tim only had a week off, so I drove to Wisconsin and visited friends in Madison. Tim flew out and we picked up our trailer and headed west. Spring weather quickly convinced us of the quality of Camp Inn! We camped in 40 mph winds, thunderstorms, etc... Memories of flapping, wet tents, became just memories. Tim is 6'5" and I am 5'10" -and we were plenty comfy. We are sailors so, I used the boat galley as template for outfitting the trailer galley. So far so good.
In August we went to the eastern Sierras -above Bishop. We took our standard poodle and her dog bed . We PLANNED on her sleeping in the side tent -that lasted exactly 10 minutes! Amazingly all 3 of us fit just fine, This year will be a challenge as we now have a second larger standard poodle puppy......

 

Did you get the side tent? Nice place to change clothes. On the coast it stayed up in 45-50 mph winds.

 

Yes, we got the side tent -that is where the dogs are SUPPOSED to sleep. But it is great for changing clothes, etc. WE also tow with a Subaru Forester. We are looking forward to a 3 week trip in June up the California coast.

 

It's good to hear that my idea of traveling with our dog is what works. I plan on him sleeping in the 560 with us. He will be a "first alert" for any possible intruders...like lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)

 

I am interested ..we have two standards poodles already... brothers 3 years old. We have our eyes lovingly on a 560 ultra ...two standard sized people and 2 standard poodles ...What do you think????

And yes I'm sure neither of the "boys" will want to sleep outside or in the back of the SUV...

J&P

 

We've got the 560 with a daughter - age 5. (energy equivalent to 2 poodles). Works great - we love it.
If you can train one of your standards to sleep on the top bunk it might work even better (if they don't both fit in a 5' x 2' area).

 

I think the 560 would give you more options than our 550. I think if the pups would curl up on the couch, or at least one would, it should work. Our small female standard (46 pounds) is a curler, while the boy pup (37 # at 5 mo) is a stretch out flopper. He has begun sneaking onto the bed at home at night, stretching out along side me, so i'm beginning to think it might work. We are taking them both with us to the Southern California gathering at Lake Perris in March. A chance to see how we all fit, before the summers big trip. I'll let you know how 2 adults + 2 standards poodles do then! But aren't they great dogs!! And no dog hair all over the trailer!!!

 

thanks for the response ..our boys are stretchers ...well really they do whatever they feel like and we " curl " around them . Sounds funny but we at least admit who truely is the "boss" in this mixed bag of fur and people. We are trying to plan a trip to Wisconsin ( 6 hours) in the next 2 weeks to see what they look like inside. And how our family of 4 might fit....

 

When you check out trailers-lay on the bed take a look at the depth of the foot space. Its pretty tight, so don't count a dog at your feet!! When we camped with the female last year, she stayed between us at chest height. We have a queen size comforter, while big to just lay over the bed, it gave be something to shove over me as the dog tried to hog all the covers and shove me into the door/wall. OK -so now the truth is out -we sleep in their bed......

 

Eileen,
We've already seen one - drove all the way to Missouri to lay down in it, see it, touch it (would have stolen it, but hey....)

We are both short - I'm 5'3" and he's 5' 2", so we won't take up the whole length of the bed. Jack's probably going to end up in between us, just like Zack did (our last Sheltie). He's not going to be a huge Sheltie like our last one was. At least according to what his mom and pop look like. We get our new puppy (Jack, a Sheltie) on Saturday and now all I need is the Raindrop! And a buyer for my house - so any prayers towards that direction from anyone are sure appreciated!

 

Linda,
Shelties are smaller than Standard Poodles -but they are a ball of energy. We do dog agility with a couple shelties. Great, smart dogs!!!
Where is Arkansas are you?? We were in Fayetteville from 81-86. Tim worked at UA, until he got a faculty position at UC Riverside. Spring is gorgeous there -the service berry and dogwoods are amazing! Enjoy it for me! For multi - generational Californians, it was fun to have 4 real season!
Eileen

 

We're about 12 miles north of Hot Springs, closer to Hot Springs Village. I do like the 4 seasons here, but being from Texas, we really want to get back. I have 6 grandkids there I hardly ever see that I'm really close to. Texas hillcountry - around San Antonio is where we want to be. There's lots of great camping in Texas.

This puppy will be my 4th Sheltie and they can be taught to settle down - they don't HAVE to be wild. Zack, our last one was the one I really learned the most with and he was great. This one, Jack will be good too - I'm getting him young in order to train him the way I want him to be trained. I can't wait to get him. It's been 7 yrs. since Zack died.

 

thanks for the advice re size...space...and dogs ..

Have made plans to visit the plan in Wisc. next Friday ..

If things go as planned we will be cleaning out space in the garage for a 560 by may1 ...