RE: camping dogs ?????

[Gatsmommy]

 Jo Ann
We judge wether or not to bring ours depending on the trip. If it s just us going for a quick weekend we ll bring him. If we know we ll be away from the campsite for long periods of time, or if we go on a group campout with lots of other people we leave him at a kennel near home. Also our finaces that week play a role in it LOL.
 
 This is partly because,  Oddly enough our dog who is mostly Lab HATES camping he lies around whining a good share of the trip, and wants to be in the camper with the A/C the rest of it. He is getting better about it and we re trying to work with him on it more.  If he loved camping we d probably bring him out alot more. I will probably attempt to bring him to a group campout sometime as well, but I m worried he d like that too much. He s very friendly, and would probably have to say hi to everyone, wether or not they like dogs.
 
 When he does come he stays ok in the camper if we need to run to the bathroom or to get ice etc.
 
 

[camper4pack]

 Jo Ann
We have a 1 year old Cocker Spaniel.  She is a great camping dog, when we are getting the camper packed she is anxious to go and when she doesn t you can tell we have hurt her feelings!  
 When we take our dog with us is when we have nothing planned off site of the campground.  The only other way we would take her if we had something planned was if there is a kennel near by that we could leave her for the day.  
 We are firm believers in NOT leaving her in the camper unattended.  You will also see on alot of the campground rules and regs. that you are not to leave your animal/pets unattended.  
 Taking your dog camping is a responsibility, but we do enjoy her company as do my 2 children!  
 
 Happy camping,
 Steve/Cindy
 Connoquenessing, PA

[Camping Coxes]

 Jo Ann
My dog is a dachshund-terrier mix and has a great temperament.  He s very mellow and not aggressive at all.  He usually stays with Grandma when we camp.
 
 The first time we took him camping he did great; however. we never, ever left him alone in the trailer.  DH was concerned about him being off leash for any time for fear he d chase a squirrel or something and get into trouble.  We had no problems over the weekend and he loved it.
 
 Our last trip we took him again.  Again he was very good, even being around strangers and small kids.  But at one point we went down to the beach, where we couldn t take him, and left him in the trailer, with the curtains drawn and the radio on.  Our camping neighbor, also a PUT member, stayed behind at her trailer and ended up letting him out to stay with her because he was crying and howling.  If your dog is used to being with his family and you go off and leave him, it s really hard on him.  Think of how your kids would feel if you did that to them.  
 
 I am also concerned that he may try to scratch or chew his way out of the trailer.  
 As mellow as my dog is, he once got left in a small bathroom in the house with a puppy we were trying to isolate for housetraining, and though he had doggie door to get outside and food and water, he wanted inside where he was used to being and he shredded the doorjamb to bits.  He was left alone for a short time, much shorter than he s usually left when I go to work, but he was " trapped"  and didn t like that feeling.
 
 So my recommendation is this:  If your dog is crated normally, he probably will do fine in his crate to leave alone.  If your dog is used to roaming free, you have two choices:  leave him at home with a neighbor or have a neighbor come over and feed/water and walk him during your trip, or take him with you, but plan to stay at your campsite or only go places where he can go too.  I m not willing to risk my dog dying from the stress of his family leaving h im or tearing up the inside of my trailer trying to find me.  I think he will survive if I leave him home for our weekend away.  And as much as he loves Grandma (and he really really does), he s so happy to see us when we pick him up!  It s an added bonus to our trip!    []

[vjm1639]

 Jo Ann
I agree on the temperment of the dog having a great deal to do with it.   For many years we had a cairn terrier who hated camping and would try giving us the " pitiful me"  face anytime he would see us start packing. Plus, he was a barker any time he d see another dog or anyone walk by.  He wasn t mean by any stretch, just wanted to say hello...loudly and for a long time! []   So, to keep him, us, and fellow campers happy, we tried to always leave him with a sitter. Our dog we have now however is totally the opposite!  He s a mixed bread (cocker, golden retriever, and chow) and looks like a white golden retreiver) LOVES camping, hiking, fishing, and anything to do with the outdoors. We got him from a pet rescue league at 9 weeks and at 10 weeks he did his first 5 mile hike!  We took along a pack to put him in when he got tired but he never wanted to stop!  hehehe.   He s the PERFECT camping dog (if you can stand the hair!.)  He even loves the car rides to get there.  He loves everyone and he doesn t bark!  He CAN, he just doesn t unless he s playing with my DH.  He will watch people go by, other dogs go by, even deer and a couple of bears...and he just watches and wags his tail. We just went on a fishing trip and had to show him every fish before we threw it back!   Wouldn t even bark at them.  We can leave him in a tent (or hopefully camper this week) if we are gone for short periods of time, but usually take him most everywhere we go that he possibly could. We ve been extrememly lucky with this one.  We have had other campers and camp hosts come ask us how in the world we trained him to be so quite!  LOL....Just pure luck.   It s why HE comes with us though, and the other one had to stay home!  
 
 

[sandykayak]

 Jo Ann
both my doggies LOVE to camp...they re also great travelers.  i stop to let them exercise their leggies and tire them out....and put two nylon doggie gates and leave the two sliding doors of the van open - and the windows are half way down - if I stop at a restaurant (and go out and check on them).  If I m alone, then I have to do this to even go to a restroom.
 
 The only problem is that they will bark if another dog goes by but they get quite frenetic at squirrels.
 
 Soooo, I was very pleased when I left them in the camper for about 3 hours while we went to the pool.
 
 Our neighbors stayed in camp and he told me that they didn t make any noise.
 
 I like the idea of the trailer....my daughter HAD to have one after the first baby.....I think she used it once -maybe twice.  She has two kids now and is even less likely to use it.   I think I ll try and " borrow"  it.

[wssfetch]

 Jo Ann
My Welsh springers always travel in crates in my van.  When we stop somewhere while traveling they get walked and then back into the crates. The windows and hatch of the back of the van can be left open for ventilation and I can cover the van with space blankets (like the Gizmo covers) to keep the temps down.
 
 If I have to leave them while camping, they are either in the van if the weather is nice or I can put crates inside the camper with the AC turned on or under the awning.