I've seen online conversations about having dogs in the truck bed under a camper shell, or -topper, or -caps or whatever they are called in your region.

With the 2021 Durango being $55K and the 2022 Wagoneer being $78K we have decided to keep our 2018 RAM. We love it and we have zero issues with it. Its got 40K miles on it, PWR train warranty is 5yr/60K (they reduced it from 5yr/100K) and the extended warranty is 7yr/100K. Its got all the options we want.

So we think about putting a camper shell on it.

I've already inquired with LEER and ARE. LEER offers a sliding window in the front, while ARE even offers one that completely tilts and has dog screens on them as well.

Now, obviously my biggest concern is heat and cold.

Do you think the sliding window in the truck can deliver enough heat/cold to the shell? Perhaps an additional 12V fan would help?

Has anyone here done something like this?

Any info/help would be appreciated

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Jorge

There are times when I wish I had a camper shell again and times when I am glad I don't have it anymore. The keep things dry and if you put a sleeve between the truck window and the camper shell window you can get some heat back there in the window. A small fan would probably help. With the camper shell on, it limits how big of an item you can carry in the truck bed.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I bought a new Chevrolet Silverado in 1982 and had a local guy build me
a custom kennel & put it on the truck. I had a couple of Chesapeake Bay
retrievers that my daughter and SIL had bought me for a birthday. We
bought a 32' Holiday Rambler and travelled all around the country. The
dogs got along fine. Every place that we camped for the night I would
take them out for a walk.

One semi-funny incident up on the hi-line in Montana. Pulled into a
service station to fill up. I was standing there talking to the owner. He
had a young man pumping the gas, checking oil, etc. I saw him get down
on his hands and knees, reached under the tailgate, and scooped up
something with his fingers. Then he smelled it. I said taste it. He said
what his it. I said K9P.

I still have the old Silverado, but the Holiday Rambler and the dogs are
long gone.

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In Omnia Paratus

My older Leer had the sliding window in the front, which I didn't ever use, a sliding window on both sides, and a leaking roof vent. My Heeler rode back there often, but being aluminum, I watched the heat very closely. Great for short trips, but I never felt comfortable with him back there for any length of time, and never stationary.

Maybe enough Heat when it's Cold
But Definitely NOT enough cool under the Texas Sun

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Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

9F923279-1355-4D0D-9844-4534605472FF.jpg
My Greys had the whole back of the Highlander, custom carpet covered filler over the seats. This guy showed his milk bones off.

See if you have a Ranch brand dealer in your area.
Ranch Fiberglass - Truck Caps, Toppers, Campers Shells and Tonneau Covers - Home

They offer the same features as Leer and ARE, at a much better price. Their dealers are also willing to haggle. I got my cap for about $1850 out the door in 2018. It has a sliding/fold down front window, crank-out side windows with screens, an interior cargo light and the inside is carpeted (prevents condensation in cold weather). The back window is frameless, has internal hinges and a singe locking latch in the center. An ARE cap like this would have cost me close to $3K.



Pardon all the pollen. It is suppose to rain today!



Caps are great for securing your gear and keeping it out of the weather, but I won’t put my dog in the back while driving. Our dog rides in a crate inside the cab. I fold up the back seat, put the plastic crate on the floor and put a dog bed inside. Our lab is about 80#’s and sleeps like a rock in there until nature calls!

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"I also cook."

"I have a Milk Bone, and you don't!"

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Only a cold warrior

There's never going to be enough cool going back into a topper for an animal in any state in the summer. An SUV or minivan is the only way to go with pets IMHO.

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Release the Kraken

I have an '07 ram, we have 10' camper on the back, the bed area goes over the cab, when we go somewhere and we leave our dog in the truck I leave the slide window open and the air is cool, if we are out longer I have the remote starter set at 25 mins and it's good up to a mile so I let the truck idle with the a/c on medium, truck is safe when running also.
Just me.

My last truck had a camper shell and my pointers rode back there all the time unless it was hot outside.
Winter they rode back there and I didn’t care how cold it is. They are in crates with pads and blankets and out of the wind.
I would never allow a dog to ride loose in a pickup bed, shell or no shell.
My dogs are always in crates and the crates are up agains the front of the cab.
I have only seen one dog that was slammed into the front of the bed by a sudden stop from high speed. It had multiple broken bones. It was not my dog but i never forgot it either.

I agree with the ones who say you can't get it cold enough in the heat; at 65 or so in the sun, the inside can get too hot for a dog. Since we have had dogs, I have carried a spare set of keys and if it was at all warm and I had to leave the dogs in the car, the engine was running, the car was locked, and the A/C was cranked. Only got guff a couple times - which ended the second the rotts started grumping at the person who got too close. I've traveled across the country that way. I also had dark tint on the back windows (max legal, done by a trooper) with a decal reading "Stay Back. Work Dog." Especially when I had Bozo, the odds of a person breaking into the car were ... slight.

In Washington, it is unlawful to transport an unsecured dog in a pickup bed. It's not just a ticket; it's jail, tow, impound, seize the dog serious. I've stopped a few folks for it, but all of the dogs turned out to be secured when I looked closer.

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NHI, 10-8.

It’s a great backup when the junk in the back seat overflows. My old boss called my truck the rolling garage sale.

I bought a used shell and had it painted white. It stays pretty cool in the summer. I've had so many Karens give me carp that unless I'm going somewhere dog friendly I just leave Dingo home when the sun's out.

I've always used a dog box. My shorthairs managed to stay plenty warm with straw in the box in the winter. A guy I pheasant hunt with had an outstanding lab. He used a camper shell. After an opening weekend he headed home with the dog in back. Poor thing was dead when he finished the 1.5 hour trip home. Died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

I had a lab that wanted to be in the bed, leashed to the center to prevent her jumping until it got down to -15 F. Dogs are much tougher than you think.

My 2015 ram truck has back seats that fold down. I think a well mannered dog could ride back there pretty effortlessly. It may not apply if there is more than one dog.

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Front sight and squeeze

When I had a single cab pickup My dog rode up front, when I got an xtra cab My dog rode up front or in the back seat which aren't fit for humans. Now I have a 4Runner and My dog(now deceased) rode up front or the back.

I had a Leer topper and a dog. In addition to the front sliding window, I got rear-side vents. With the driver's side truck window open, there was a nice cooling air flow through the truck bed. Of course, it helped that I was mostly driving at highway speed. :-)

(I secured my dog in a plastic crate in the truck bed.)

I had a 1988 Chevy C1500 short-bed with Silverado trim (back before they named the truck line itself "Silverado") with a Leer camper top on the bed. It had a sliding window between the cab and shell, and since it was only a regular cab I built a shelf across the front of the bed at the level of the rear window and put down carpet so my dog could jump up and ride on the shelf with his head through the window inside the cab. He could get onto the shelf either from inside the cab or from inside the bed and he loved riding there.

That was the first full-sized truck I ever bought and it was a lot of fun. I miss it - and the doggo, too!

There was a time in Florida where if you wanted to carry a dog in the open bed of a pick-up truck he had to be either cross-tied or inside a crate that was tied down - but your kids could ride side-saddle on the bed rails going down the highway! Apparently the seatbelt laws didn't apply to non-passenger areas of a vehicle, but they closed that loophole pretty fast after a few fatal "incidents"...

When I ranched, my dogs always rode in the back. I am retired now, got a Leer shell, front sliding window and sliding windows on the side, all sitting on my 2014 RAM. I have two "cow"dogs, but they ride on the back seat. Times have got soft, but oh well.

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Kevin in Oregon

Thank y'all for the response, I do appreciate it. But it's frustrating for sure... and I'm tired of looking.

The camper shell (Snugtop) is about $3K new to my specs. Plus tax. Almost impossible to find a used on with the options I want/need. Still need to find a solution for Misty for safety (crate), air supply, heat and cold... plus getting her in and out is going to be a pain in the back...

We thought about a travel trailer. I don't like the additional credit, plus storage lot, plus maintenance and upkeep. Also, I don't want to transport Misty in the trailer, so same problem as before, we would just save a bit on hotel cost.

Wife even brought up the idea of an RV. Great.... love it. But paying $50K+ for something you don't use every day... it's also an additional credit, plus maintenance, upkeep, etc.

So, in my opinion, the solution that makes most sense is a full-size SUV with a 3rd row, like the Jeep Wagoneer, Mercedes GL(S) or Toyota Sequoia someone recommended to me. These SUV's allow to have enough trunk/cargo space with the 3rd row folded up. The rest of the cargo would go on the roof in a basket.

This way we trade a car payment for another one, plus we can use it every day. I just can't justify the $70K+ on these vehicles.

So right now I'm doing nothing. Screw it. Perhaps the Wagoneer loses 40% of its value as soon as it leaves the lot... that'd be a nice $53,400 after a year of someone else ownership.... I can justify that.

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Jorge