Roof lights open on the ferry?

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Now the weather seems to be turning and giving us some summer, we are off to France with the dog for the first time. Have heard horror stories of dogs being too hot on the ferry (going Dover to Calais around 10.00 in the morning). Do you leave your roof lights open for the dog when you,leave the van on board?

Cheers
Lesley
 
Never yet been on a car ferry deck that was overly warm ...

In any case a motorhome has a significant air volume inside and is much less likely to overheat.

If worried i would leave the roof lights open a tad - it won't harm - and as the dogs will be in the 'van the internal alarm sensors should be off anyway.
 
Alarms

The biggest problem we notice on the ferries for the dog is the vehicle alarms sounding due to the thrum of the engines. It will only disturb her sleep though and she still gets the pleasure of travelling in comfort; unlike us up on deck.
We've never left anything open for our dog (to minimise the noise inside) but she is a cool dog (in temperament) therefore won't overheat. I imagine overheating dogs cause it themselves through stress rather than ambient temperature being too hot. You will know your dog and most will be okay for the short journey as they are in a place they know and have access to water.
I doubt the ferry will be the hottest place your dog experiences on a trip to France.
 
We've taken our dogs on several ferries, and yes, we leave the roof lid open a bit. Our girls are lurchers and there's almost nothing that will keep them awake if they've got their cushions or the bed to lie on. On our night crossing back from Dieppe the other week, they had a much more restful time than we did and I was wondering if anyone would know if I stayed in the van if I closed all the blinds!

I worry about long day crossings on hot days though, so we always take either night or early hours crossing. We mostly use Dover Calais too - for price and length of crossing.

Lesley
 
Thanks all, I was just unsure what to do for the best. I'm sure he'll be OK.

Cheers
Lesley
 
we were in France in june ...van temp was sometimes 40 deg inside with all windows open, dog and us inside...we survived...
 
I was going to leave windows open to let air in for the dog on the Orkney crossing - but then I realised how noisy it was on the car deck so I closed them. Thinking about it, I don't usually have windows open at night and we don't get too hot. There's no sunshine inside the car deck so I don't see how it can get too hot. Reg was fine on the Orkney crossing so I hope he will be on saturday, going to France.
 
we took our collie Portsmouth Cherbourg , never found it hot on the vehicle decks, half a doggy valium and hatch open, no probs
 
We used the Calais to Dover route earlier in the year. They give you a sticker to say you have a dog in MH. They made sure we were in the shade and we just left the roof light open a notch and left the fan on. As usual a bowl of water and don't forget to empty it before you drive off .... :scared:
 
Ferries are horribly noisy and best avoided if at all possible. Chunnel is a breeze in comparison

I've just done a few island hops in Scotland and while most were 10-30 minutes and we stayed with the MH the 2 hour one to Islay was very onboard noisy and both my dogs were glad when we were driving again - yes, I can tell they were.
 
LesleyKH said:
We've taken our dogs on several ferries, and yes, we leave the roof lid open a bit. Our girls are lurchers and there's almost nothing that will keep them awake if they've got their cushions or the bed to lie on. On our night crossing back from Dieppe the other week, they had a much more restful time than we did and I was wondering if anyone would know if I stayed in the van if I closed all the blinds!

I worry about long day crossings on hot days though, so we always take either night or early hours crossing. We mostly use Dover Calais too - for price and length of crossing.

Lesley
Click to expand...

Nobody would have a clue, we once came back Calais to Dover in a box van, and left a mate asleep in the back, they had even clocked him asleep in the back when doing security checks for immigrants lol. He managed a good 4 hours kip after a very long drive. :lol-053:
 
QFour said:
We used the Calais to Dover route earlier in the year. They give you a sticker to say you have a dog in MH. They made sure we were in the shade and we just left the roof light open a notch and left the fan on. As usual a bowl of water and don't forget to empty it before you drive off .... :scared:
Click to expand...

Great, didn't think of the fan, will leave it on for him just in case.

Love boats, hate tunnels, so no choice for us. I'm sure he'll be OK.

Cheers
Lesley
 
Dog on passenger deck

Last week we returned via DFDA from Dunkirk to Dover and we noticed a dog on a lead amongst the interior passenger deck. Didn't look closely but didn't look like a guide dog or similar. Could be worth enquiring.
 
QFour said:
We used the Calais to Dover route earlier in the year. They give you a sticker to say you have a dog in MH. They made sure we were in the shade and we just left the roof light open a notch and left the fan on. As usual a bowl of water and don't forget to empty it before you drive off .... :scared:
Click to expand...

I have one of these they are great as long as they don't fall and go upside down then water does come out

PetMate No Spill Travel Bowl 23371 No Splash Anti Skid Dog and Cat Water Bowl | eBay

I traveled on the Dover Calais route with dog once it was August thought it would be calm crossing oh no very rough guy on deck said I'll watch over or you can come down during crossing and see that I knew was bullshit as no one is allowed down doors locked
Anyways always use the tunnel now he doesn't even notice anything different more convenient allround
:dog:
 
chrismilo said:
I traveled on the Dover Calais route with dog once it was August thought it would be calm crossing oh no very rough guy on deck said I'll watch over or you can come down during crossing and see that I knew was bullshit as no one is allowed down doors locked
Click to expand...
Definitely not bullsh1t, if you go to the desk they call one of the crew who takes you down to the deck, I have done it a few times but after leaving a camera running during the crossing and I saw the dogs laying down sleeping and only me checking them caused them to get excited, I haven't bothered since.
I would use the tunnel but Maggy does not like being underground and will not go anywhere near it, I have thought about sedating her (probably with a shovel) but it seems a lot of stress when you are going on holiday
 
Wifi cam

Tezza33 said:
Definitely not bullsh1t, if you go to the desk they call one of the crew who takes you down to the deck, I have done it a few times but after leaving a camera running during the crossing and I saw the dogs laying down sleeping and only me checking them caused them to get excited, I haven't bothered since.
I would use the tunnel but Maggy does not like being underground and will not go anywhere near it, I have thought about sedating her (probably with a shovel) but it seems a lot of stress when you are going on holiday
Click to expand...

Interesting idea to expand.
I wonder if those with MiFi on a good aerial could connect to a WiFi camera through the decks for a live feed?
 
Private said:
Interesting idea to expand.
I wonder if those with MiFi on a good aerial could connect to a WiFi camera through the decks for a live feed?
Click to expand...

I have a Ring Doorbell at home, I can monitor that when I am travelling but I have never tried it on the ferry because 3 charged a lot for data, feel at home didn't include while you were on the ferry for some reason or other so you were charged per mb, that might have changed now with the new roaming rules
 
Flight mode on the ferry.

Tezza33 said:
I have a Ring Doorbell at home, I can monitor that when I am travelling but I have never tried it on the ferry because 3 charged a lot for data, feel at home didn't include while you were on the ferry for some reason or other so you were charged per mb, that might have changed now with the new roaming rules
Click to expand...

Ferries are still one to be cautious of. They use their own system (so to speak (prob satellite link)) so are not included in recent changes.
I still use flight mode on the ferry to make sure I don't accidentally connect their highly priced connection.

I can now tether with a Three data only SIM this year, whereas last year I was blocked (same SIM, same device, same contract).
 
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