Feel bad about leaving Fluffy at home all day?
Many of us in the Motorsports hobby have dogs. After all in order to pursue this hobby you probably don’t have kids so what do most DINK (dual income no kids) families have, yup loads of pets. So lets go over some options both budget friendly and not so budget friendly on how to bring your best friend along with you.
The DIY Approach
German car enthusiast and fellow racer here at Spectro has a novel and budget friendly solution to bringing your dog with you to races.
Paiku sleeping in his cool AF kennel on a hot day at the Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park
Paiku, a Shiba Inu, is a great doggy. How does Ash bring him along to races, especially on those hot summer days? The answer is this modified crate. Here is what you need. (Links to our amazon page!)
Standard Dog Crate with the side cut out.
Window AC Unit
Inverter Generator
Some insulation
Water bowl
Carabiners (Shibas are known for figuring out dog kennel locks)
With this setup Ash can take his dog on course walks, walk him around the paddock to hang out, and when hes ready to race or work his corner station Paiku goes in his air conditioned crate. Total Cost is around $700 if you dont already have a genny and setup time is about 10 mins. Some additional mods to this could be a wifi linked temperature sensor. I use this in my RV to make sure the AC hasnt died, and the doggos dont get to hot. However this requires an internet connection. A work around would be if you had your wife or friend come with you and to leave a phone there hot-spotting or to have a hot spot device.
Pros:
Cheap
Portable
Modular and can be used for other types of events
Cons
Setup time
Have to lug around all the equipment in an already jammed packed Tow Vehicle or Race-car
The Expensive Route…
Churchill and Saxa fighting for attention from mom at a race
So you have an enclosed trailer? How do you bring Fluffy. Well from here it just takes money. Basically you need your enclosed to support 120v system and an air-conditioner. You can go the traditional route and install a roof mounted AC system. This can be tricky to install or expensive to pay someone. Other options include just copying Ash’s approach and obviously running a power cable to a genny (far away from the trailer) and and then just running a portable AC unit. Though this would involve exchanging the heat somewhere. I have seen many racers just cut holes in the side of their trailers and install window AC units. If it works and its stupid its not stupid!
Pros:
Trailer Lockable
Manager Temperatures easier
Minimal setup time if you just leave a kennel in the trailer.
Cons
Cost
Storage
Fumes like gas storage and car exhaust
Need tow vehicle
My Setup
Leaving Creek Fire RV Park In Savannah GA
Now i know what your thinking. I would never be able to afford this…You would be surprised….Longcat is my 48’ Toy hauler, which has a 24’ living quarters and a 24’ garage. She is 18 years old and i paid 19k, yes you heard that right $19,000 dollary doos. www.racingjunk.com is a fantastic resource for people like us that have the disease of spending oodles of money on racing things. I found her for sale and drove half way across the country site unseen and i did get a bit lucky. It had a few minor leaks, needed 6 tires and the interior partially redone. But after about 3-5k of additional spending and work it was ready.
Basically Longcat enables my wife and I to travel across the country and bring our doggos. It has a generator and we can cook meals and store food in the refrigerator. Most importantly we have an air-conditioned toilet. No more poopy sauna’s from hell, better known as porto potties in the summer.
Watch my video here for the full overview.
How do you bring your doggos to races?
Come join us on our Facebook Group and let us know!
Thanks
Grant