Trail Tails and Trip Tips: Dogs on the Road

Hey All - If you’re anything like me, your four-legged friend is an essential part of your adventures on the road. So, let’s talk about our dogs and how they add to the stoke of our travels! Whether your pup is a trail running machine or a beach bum, let’s see 'em in action. Share pics and videos of your furry co-pilots along with your rigs, and tell us about your most epic adventures together.


That’s Loam. He’s my mountain biking buddy who loves exploring Montana and just about any damn river or body of water he can sneak into. Unfortunately, these photos are from Copper City, MT where water is scarce.

We get in 2-3 laps with each being 5-7 miles, so on days like today with temps in the low 70s in a very exposed trail system, I’m stopping for water breaks every 20-30 minutes. A liter per lap keeps and a banana lap 2 keeps him workin (there go my Strava KOMs :roll_eyes:), and collapsable bowls easily fit the hip pack.

Start sharing your setups and other tips on keeping our pups happy and healthy on the road. Anything from food storage to bedding solutions, or how to keep them safe when conditions are more extreme, start the convo below.

7 Likes

This is our boy Maverick; your average 55lb high-energy Australia shepherd wanna-be lap dog. He loves hiking, biking, swimming and just going on any adventure we throw at him.

I find the biggest thing when going out anywhere or doing any activities is making sure you aren’t pushing or dehydrating the animal. In my case, if we don’t stop maverick, he’d run till his pads fell off or much worse. Always keeping an eye on your furry friend is a big deal, especially since they can’t “tell” you want the want with words.

Besides always bringing adequate food/water and a foldable bow is equipping him with doggles (rexspecs). This helps combat injuries while wheeling by preventing rocks or other objects getting shot up into his eyes/face when he has his head out the window. The tinted lenses also provide shading to his blue eyes in the bright sun.

Thanks Thayne for starting this cool thread! Can’t wait to see what others post!

7 Likes

I don’t have one of Porter with the truck/GFC but I will say this, I had to install a Goose Gear rear seat delete in the rear of my DC Tacoma to fit this beast of a dog… 210 pounds of muscle and hair…… his snout and his hind end will touch both doors when laid down…. I’m 5’8 and he’s slightly taller than I am when he is on his hind legs with his paws on my shoulders

Some people say he has a very strong resemblance to Falkor… the dog from the Neverending Story!

2 year old Great Pyrenees/ Abkash mix

6 Likes

<------ that’s Zeus my co-pilot. He was a 110 pound lap dog who would follow me anywhere. he’s 12yo and lost mass and is now down to 90lbs so the lap doesn’t hurt as much.

The white dog is Chomp Chomp(1 chomp for each couch he destroyed) He doesn’t like the car ride but loves the destination. I have found 5mg of Buspirone and a gummy can keep him relaxed for 8 hours of driving

that rust bucket in the pic is the hearse with comfy bench seat that Zeus loves… sometimes we sit there pretending we are driving… yes making motor noises and screeching tires too… then he jumps out excited we went somewhere but the car never moved… stoopid dog

5 Likes

My co-pilot, Smokey. Just over 10 months old, Australian Cattle Dog. He’s a handful, but I love him. Working on developing some campsite manners, he still doesn’t quite understand that he’s attached to a leash and gets tangled up. Looking for more dispersed camping opportunities where he can roam off-leash without worry


5 Likes

Our old man Kye :wolf: (Belgian Shepherd) absolutely loves driving in the truck. It’s his safe space and he spends every possible waking moment in it if allowed. I removed the back seats and welded him a bed platform. He prefers to sleep in there with his food and water and happily spends the night without any problems. We he is not on the trip I use the platform for bikes.


Around camp he roams free unless there is “distractions” around, in that case he is on a long cable. During the day he sleeps under the truck.

If left behind we put him in the GFC with the roof fan and vents open. It stays nice and cool with all the airflow. Since he is retired from biking he spends his time chillin’ while we ride. Out of sight, out of mind, we found if he can see us leave for a bike ride he gets worked up and frantic because he is missing out. If he is in the GFC without windows he just goes to sleep without a peep. However If he is in the truck or on his cable he can see use leave so he makes a big fuss.

6 Likes

My boy Vito is a 4 year old Brittany who’s always up for an adventure or just hanging in the birds nest. He doesn’t need much since he’s usually off following his nose wherever we’re at but I usually keep a frisbee and a few tennis balls in the truck. A couple foldable bowls for food and water and his bed. Having a shower setup comes in handy after the beach or if he’s covered in mud.



6 Likes

@DirtTrailsWanted - Greta for sure deserves a spotlight in this thread :dog: :cactus:… just sayin.

1 Like

I like this! And yes we should put something together. But I’ll quickly add that we learned the hard way to sleep with the bug screens zipped closed. Greta SENT IT out the back window super early one morning while we were all still in bed. Forcing myself to leave the warmth of our sleeping bag on a very chilly Alaskan morning to retrieve her. We now sleep zipped in, always lol.



Bitsy our Dane rescue testing out the Cordova cooler as a step. Dane tested, Dane approved!

4 Likes


My wife and I drove to Alaska last year with our two dogs Juniper & Munchen. They made the trip infinitely more enjoyable watching their experience and bringing a sense of home with you on the road.


We have over 40 nights in the tent with our two dogs up there. After a while everyone figures out their space and it is very comfortable for us.

Stanley Idaho a few days ago. Cant imagine a road trip without them at this point!

4 Likes

When I came to Montana to have my V2 installed, I spent two days in Culver City mountain biking with my dog



3 Likes

First major roadtrip with my dog (and GFC) is coming up next week. Vancouver, WA down to the Lost Coast area in Northern CA then back up. My dog loves looking out the window, but he’s short enough that he has to stand on the armrest and frequently slips. I knew I had all the materials to build a platform so I threw this together Friday. I originally only planned to build the base platform but was able to kludge together the lifted portion with scrap plywood and a large dowel I had from when I remodeled my house.


A little Cardboard Aided Design


Base built. There is a perpendicular foot that is not shown to give stability


Platform that fits his dog bed, storage space underneath


Messy solution to keep the platform from moving, but it works. Receivers that the dowels sit in


Happy. When he stands or sits he is perfect height to look out. While doing a test drive he even laid down relaxed.

Its messy but it works. This is honestly one of my first woodworking projects that I’ve taken on and I enjoyed it. I’d like to buy a cheap router from Harbor Freight and re-do it with better tolerances. And a lot of my cuts are not straight so fix that too.

8 Likes

Hey All - Would anyone with a ventilation solution kindly share photos and describe any pros/ cons of their setup? This doesn’t have to be dog specific, but I’d love to find options for myself and others. Thanks!