Breakdown recovery and dogs

As recovery services no longer accept pets in the cabs ......

That is not a recent change. Such recovery is frequently provided by private agents and some may permit and some not. In the event that pets are not permitted the only alternative is to use alternative transport (expensive and inconvenient though that might be) and ideally have a cage available. 

I no longer have a dog but we will see if current owners have a solution

The carriage of pets in recovery vehicle cabs  ,as far as i  am aware , has always been at the drivers descretion,, when we had our motor caravans ,our other vehicle was a very unreliable Suzuki, and we had to be recovered twice by Mayday , on the first occasion our dog travelled in the car on the transporter  , which evolved the driver having to drop OH at home with the dog ,  then taking car to garage and then me home, 

The second time , after I mentioned to the driver what was involved with our previous breakdown , he agreed that our dog could travel in the cab with us 

Wow, you were lucky. I went home with the dog while OH went onto the garage with the car and had to get a taxi home - don't have a clue what we would have done if we had been any distance from home. If we'd chosen to go onto the garage with the dog we really would have been stuck as most taxis round here don't take dogs. As it was, they sent an unsuitable vehicle and we had to wait a total of three hours in freezing conditions for the correct recovery truck to turn up.

Helmarpop, if you don't want your dog to ride in your broken down car on tne back of a flat bed truck you have several options - to come home with your dog on the train and let the breakdown man bring your car back, to hire a car one way and drive your dog home, to stay where you happen to be after the breakdown - either in your caravan or in a hotel - until your own car is repaired. 

It has been an issue for a while. We had a problem in our MH in Norfolk a few years ago, we were around 120 miles from home, but they were not easy motorway miles, mainly B and A roads. We broke down on way back to our CL, with no indication of what the issue was. We had our two Labs with us. Recovery driver came, put MH onto back of pick up, and was happy to put dogs in cab with us, as it was his business, and he was a dog lover. Took us a convoluted route back to our CL (Low bridges) and we agreed with our recovery that they would send a mechanic out next morning, to see if problem could be resolved, otherwise, we would have MH relayed home. But, not the dogs! No way were we going to put them into the MH, as it was bouncing around madly on back of pick up. Totally unsafe for them. We ended up with OH going with MH relayed home, while I waited for my lovely BIL to travel all way to Norfolk to pick me and dogs up. The CL owners were wonderfully kind and helpful, kept me warm and fed. ( Fault was traced to a Spanish fitted alarm that was shorting out electrics, quite a cheap fix) 

Its a big problem for dog owners. You have to use an alternative method of getting home. I suppose then you rely upon claiming somehow via insurance if you can, or just stand the cost. Recovery services just don’t like accommodating dogs, no matter how well behaved or clean they are. No doubt a bad few owners will have spoiled it for everyone. On the plus side, as far as I am aware, dogs often go free on trains. One of our Airedale’s once did the Eurostar.....for free!

So, unfortunately, the only thing you can do safely is either await a relative or friend to rescue you, take a convoluted dog friendly route/method home, or put up in a hotel until someone comes back to rescue you. Easier in a caravan, bl**dy nightmare in an MH! It’s because the Recovery Services rely on local recoverers nowadays, rather than having dedicated recovery trucks of their own. 

Would go the hire car route if it was possibe but apparently hire cars don't allow dogs either.  Trains do, coaches don't, some buses do, most taxis don't.

I daren't suggest putting your dog in kennels - there would be uproar - so it looks as though you and he/she just stay put in your caravan on a nearby site for a few days while a garage fixes your car breakdown.  I have sat it out for four days in that situation at Sallanches in the French Alps and we don't even have a dog. No need to cry Take me home, take me home. Just get the problem fixed.

Enterprise hire cars allow dogs.

This really isn't something for which you can draw up a coping strategy as breakdowns have a habit of being unpredictable and occurring when and where they feel like it. All you can do is be aware of the problems and possible solutions and just make the best arrangements you can if/when it happens. In other words, just get on with sorting things as best you can.

Erm.... hire car. It’s you driving, not an escort. Just line the boot, get the dogs home, clean it thoroughly. The tales I have heard and seen about the mess some children and adults make in hire cars, courtesy cars, I doubt the hire company would notice if you taped a blanket in boot.

Don't over think it, you either get on with it, taking the hit if it occurs, or you simply stay at home. 

I spent an extremely wet day in the Laundry at Exeter Racecourse, two dogs, their baskets, a big flask and my lunch, plus some knitting. OH went into Exeter to get new exhaust for MH. We survived, the dogs had lots of walks, I got plenty of knitting done.........and no one, including the Wardens, were any the wiser😂 

All the solutions folk have mentioned here are fine as long as you don’t break down on a motorway. This happened to our daughter and family on the M1, the recovery driver refused to allow their dog to travel in the cab with them and the poor thing had to stay in the car on the back of the truck. We’re with the AA who will take dogs that can be restrained in their crate or with a harness that attaches to a seat belt.