6 Best Pet Supplies for RV Living That Nomads Swear By
Traveling with pets in an RV? Discover 6 nomad-tested essentials, from spill-proof bowls to GPS trackers, that ensure a safe and organized life on the road.
Hitting the road in an RV with your furry co-pilot is one of life’s great joys, but it also introduces a unique set of challenges. The right gear isn’t just about convenience; it’s about safety, cleanliness, and making a tiny, moving space work for everyone. Choosing wisely means less stress and more time enjoying the view with your best friend.
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Must-Have Pet Gear for a Happy RV Nomad Life
Living in a rolling home means every single item you own needs to justify its space. This is doubly true for pet supplies, which can quickly clutter a small floor plan. The best gear for RV life isn’t just a smaller version of what you’d use in a house; it’s purpose-built to solve the specific problems of mobility, limited resources, and constantly changing environments.
Think about it: one day you’re in a desert with blowing sand, the next you’re in a muddy forest after a rainstorm. Your gear needs to handle both. It has to be durable enough for the road, compact enough to store, and effective enough to keep your pet safe and your rig clean. We’re not looking for gadgets; we’re looking for hardworking tools that make this lifestyle sustainable for you and your animal.
Fi Smart Dog Collar: GPS Tracking Peace of Mind
Track your dog nationwide with the Fi Series 3+ smart collar, offering 2x improved GPS for real-time location and escape alerts. Monitor activity, health, and behavior with AI-powered insights, and access vet records and personalized reminders.
A new campsite every few days means a new, unfamiliar environment for your dog. The smells are different, the boundaries are invisible, and the potential for getting lost is significantly higher than in a familiar neighborhood. This is where a GPS collar like the Fi moves from a "nice-to-have" to a non-negotiable piece of safety equipment.
Unlike Bluetooth trackers that only work within a few hundred feet, the Fi collar uses cellular and GPS networks to give you a real-time location anywhere there’s a cell signal. Its battery life is legendary, lasting weeks between charges, which is critical when you’re boondocking and managing power. If your dog slips out the door at a dark truck stop or wanders off-trail chasing a squirrel, you can pinpoint their location on your phone instantly.
This isn’t just about finding a lost dog; it’s about preventing the panic in the first place. Setting up a "safe zone" around your RV alerts you the moment your dog leaves the designated area. That instant notification can be the difference between a quick retrieval and a frantic, heartbreaking search in an unfamiliar state. It’s peace of mind you can’t put a price on.
Ruffwear Quencher Bowl for Packable Hydration
The Ruffwear Quencher is a durable, collapsible dog bowl perfect for adventures. Its waterproof lining is easy to clean, and it folds flat for convenient portability in any pack.
In an RV, bulky, rigid pet bowls are a waste of precious cabinet space. They slide around on travel days and are a pain to pack for hikes. The Ruffwear Quencher Bowl solves this problem elegantly. It’s a durable, waterproof fabric bowl that collapses completely flat when not in use.
You can stuff it in a backpack, a glove box, or a small drawer without a second thought. When you need it, it pops open and holds its shape perfectly, whether you fill it with water or kibble. We keep one in our hiking pack and another just inside the RV door for a quick drink after a walk.
The beauty is its versatility. It’s tough enough for daily use inside the rig but light and packable enough to be your go-to bowl for any adventure outside of it. This dual-purpose functionality is the hallmark of great RV gear.
FXW Outdoor Dog Playpen for Safe Campsite Fun
Provide your medium to large dog with a spacious, safe play area indoors or out with this 40-inch, 16-panel playpen. Featuring a secure locking door and easy assembly, it offers peace of mind for you and freedom for your pet.
A tie-out can be a recipe for tangled leashes and a frustrated dog. A portable, heavy-duty playpen like the ones from FXW gives your dog a safe, secure space to relax outside without being constantly tethered. It provides freedom of movement while ensuring they can’t wander off or have an unwelcome encounter with campground wildlife or another dog.
This is especially critical in RV parks with strict leash rules or when you’re boondocking in areas known for coyotes or other predators. It allows you to set up chairs, cook, and relax knowing your pet is contained and safe. The panels are easy to configure into different shapes to fit your specific campsite, and they fold down flat for storage in a pass-through bay.
Some people worry about the space a playpen takes up, but the tradeoff is immense. It creates a "front yard" for your dog, reducing their anxiety and giving them a sense of their own territory in a new place. It’s a game-changer for long-term stays and for dogs that get anxious on a short leash.
Dexas MudBuster: Keeping Your RV Floors Clean
Clean muddy paws effortlessly with the Large MudBuster. Its gentle silicone bristles remove dirt and mud, keeping your home clean. Simply add water, twist, and dry for a quick, mess-free solution.
Your RV has about 1/10th the floor space of a small apartment, which means a single muddy paw print looks like a natural disaster. The Dexas MudBuster is one of the most brilliantly simple and effective tools for keeping the outside, well, outside. It’s a small silicone-bristled cup that cleans paws far better than a towel ever could.
You simply add a little water, insert a paw, twist, and the soft bristles gently scrub away mud, sand, salt, and grime. A quick wipe with a towel and you’re done. It uses a fraction of the water you’d waste trying to hose off your dog’s feet, a critical consideration when you’re trying to conserve your fresh tank.
We keep ours right by the entry steps, and it’s become a non-negotiable part of our routine after every walk, rain or shine. It prevents the constant sweeping and mopping that would otherwise dominate life in a small space. This little gadget is arguably the single best investment for maintaining your sanity and the cleanliness of your rig.
Waggle Pet Monitor for RV Temperature Safety
Ensure your pet's safety with real-time temperature, humidity, and power loss alerts via 4G cellular. This app-controlled monitor works anywhere, no Wi-Fi needed, providing instant notifications for peace of mind.
This is the most important piece of safety equipment on this list, period. An RV is a metal box, and its internal temperature can skyrocket or plummet to deadly levels in a matter of minutes, even on a moderately warm or cool day. Leaving your pet inside while you run to the grocery store is a massive risk without a reliable monitoring system.
The Waggle Pet Monitor is a small device that tracks the ambient temperature and humidity inside your RV. Crucially, it operates on its own cellular connection, so it doesn’t rely on spotty campground Wi-Fi. If the temperature exceeds the safe limits you’ve set, it sends an immediate alert to your phone via text and email. It will also alert you if your RV loses shore power, which means your AC has shut off.
This isn’t about convenience; it’s about preventing a tragedy. Knowing you have a reliable system watching over your pet provides the freedom to explore a town or run necessary errands without constant, gnawing anxiety. If you ever plan to leave your pet alone in the RV, even for 30 minutes, a cellular-based temperature monitor is an absolute necessity.
Kurgo No-Spill Water Bowl for Travel Days
Keep your dog hydrated on the go with the Kurgo Splash Free Wander Water Bowl. Its unique wedge design and tapered lip minimize spills, while the food-grade silicone construction ensures safety and easy cleaning. This portable 24 oz bowl is perfect for car travel.
Travel days are chaotic. Things shift, roads are bumpy, and an open water bowl is a guaranteed way to soak your floor. The Kurgo No-Spill Water Bowl is specifically designed to solve this problem. Its tapered shape and high sides dramatically reduce sloshing, while a clever floating disk system only allows a small amount of water to be accessible at a time.
This means your dog can drink whenever they want while you’re rolling down the highway, but the water stays in the bowl, not on your vinyl flooring. It’s a simple design that makes a huge difference. Dehydration is a real concern for pets on long travel days, and this ensures they have constant access to water without you having to pull over every hour.
We just set it on a non-slip mat in a corner, and it stays put. When we arrive at our destination, it doubles as their regular water bowl. It’s another example of a product that solves a very specific, very annoying RV problem.
Choosing the Right Pet Supplies for Your Rig
The products on this list are fantastic solutions, but they aren’t a universal prescription. The best gear for you depends entirely on your specific situation. Before you buy anything, take a hard look at your pet, your travel style, and your RV itself.
A 10-pound Chihuahua has vastly different needs than an 80-pound Golden Retriever. The playpen that’s perfect for the retriever might be overkill for the chihuahua. Likewise, if you exclusively stay in full-hookup RV parks, you might prioritize different things than a boondocker who needs to conserve water and power above all else.
Ultimately, the goal is to identify your biggest pain points and find gear that directly solves them.
- Is your biggest fear your dog getting lost? Prioritize a GPS collar.
- Is mud driving you crazy? The MudBuster is your first purchase.
- Do you need to leave your pet alone? The Waggle monitor is non-negotiable.
Think of pet gear as an investment in a smoother, safer, and more enjoyable life on the road. Be intentional, choose tools that serve a clear purpose, and you’ll create a rolling home that works just as well for your furry companion as it does for you.
Thoughtful preparation is the key to a successful nomadic life with pets. By investing in gear that solves the real-world challenges of safety, space, and cleanliness, you’re not just buying products; you’re buying freedom and peace of mind for the adventures ahead.
