On our trip to Lake Havasu we brought our dog Bodhi and Ollie, my eldest son’s dog. We’ve traveled with Bodhi before and he’s always been on-leash when outside the RV. So we decided to buy a fence like we’ve seen around other RV, so they could be outside without being on a leash. Ollie jumps high but we figured a 32″ high panel would be adequate. Plus we wanted to keep the weight down – a 16-panel 32″ high set is ~57lbs. The similar 16×40″ set is 72lbs.
We’ve never used a fence pen so I looked for one with great reviews on Amazon & recommended by RVLifestyle.com. We bought the FXW Rollick Dog Playpen from Amazon. We would have ordered the FXW Aster 16×32″ but it wouldn’t ship in time for our trip. Both are very similar but the Aster is silver & $20 cheaper.
The pen was easy to setup and we ended up using all 16 panels, placing the two gates at the front & back of the RV. Ollie escaped within minutes so we had to block under the stairs where there was a small gap. Using our Starlink carry bin & a shoe storage box kept him from escaping again. If possible, I’d create a complete enclosure and not use the RV as one wall.
When I ordered the pen, I added two (rather-pricey) storage bags that hold 8-32″panel + 9 stakes. It’s a significant additional investment but unless you have a good storage compartment. A necessity for keeping your panels in good shape.
The enclosure breaks down in about 15mins. The 8 panels fit snug, like a glove, in the well-constructed storage bag. Since one bag holds 8 panels/9 stakes, they weigh a little over 30lbs – manageable. Both bags fit in the bed of my Tacoma perfectly so that’s how we’ll carry them on future trips.