Van dog skills: What enables our dog to thrive on the road

Before we moved into our van, I thought a lot about how to prepare Scout for full-time life on the road. (You can read more about that in this piece.)

Now that we’ve been nomads for more than four months, here are the skills we’ve found impactful so far!

We definitely ask the most of our cattle dog when we stay in urban areas (think Walmart lots or street parking) and the least when we boondock on public land (three cheers for having wide open spaces to ourselves). The way we personally approach van life involves a fair amount of both. At best, this is a great balance of both fulfilling relaxation and practice maintaining Scout’s training in tougher environments.

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General van dog skills: What we need no matter where we park

• Crate training for when Scout is secured in her travel kennel while we drive. We have an intermediate Ruff Land strapped underneath our bed. Our cattle dog has long been crate trained—but she initially struggled with confinement while also going over bumps or turns. We …