How many bring there dog(s) camping with you?

[ForestCreature]

Koda is absolutely beautiful  :sombraro: .......defenately a lap dog.....look at Jed....he's a lap dog. :p  at least he thinks he is.

Thanks, I think hes beautiful too, but I'm partial
He is just as crazy as he is cute.
We aren't encouragining the lap dog thing with this guy, not that he doesn't try.

He does come in real handy while hiking on steep inclines tho.

[waygard33]

This is Clarence. I call him 'The Colonel'.

The DW picked him up from a rescue a little over a year ago. I put him at about 85 years of age, based on his waddle and smell. He reportedly parachuted into Normandy in WWII. He went on to win the Silver Cross for single handedly taking out a German machine gun nest, although he has yet to produce the medal as proof. :usflag:

The ladies love him to this day for the Howitzer he is still dragging around. :yikes:

He refuses to take a desk job, insisting on carrying the tackle box every time. If we could only do something about that smell. :eyecrazy:

EDIT/UPDATE: Dateline-August 21st - The Colonel passed away last week.  
He's off to join his WWII buddies in the sky....It didn't take long, the DW came home with not 1, but 2 Basset Hound puppies over the weekend....aaarrrggghhhh!

[ColemanCampingFamily]

We used to bring our little "yapper" camping, but someone complained once and she hasn't been since. Rather rude lady came by and said that she didn't leave the city for the forest to listen to our dog bark non-stop. If she would have been even half-way nice about it I might have been nicer, but what I really wanted to say was that I leave the city for the forest to get away from people like you. (We had been there for MAYBE an hour when this encounter occured, and we were still setting up and our dog was still getting used to the sites/sounds of the campground. She had been camping many times before and she usually calmed down once we were set up and relaxing.)

Anyway, our little mini daschund hasn't been camping since.  

[ColemanCampingFamily]

This is Clarence. I call him 'The Colonel'.

The DW picked him up from a rescue a little over a year ago. I put him at about 85 years of age, based on his waddle and smell. He reportedly parachuted into Normandy in WWII. He went on to win the Silver Cross for single handedly taking out a German machine gun nest, although he has yet to produce the medal as proof. :usflag:

The ladies love him to this day for the Howitzer he is still dragging around. :yikes:

He refuses to take a desk job, insisting on carrying the tackle box every time. If we could only do something about that smell. :eyecrazy:

I LOVE YOUR DOG!! I had a basset hound growing up and miss "Brutus" to this day. He used to come camping with us when I was a kid and everyone loved him.

Now, about that smell...are you keeping his ears clean? I had a vet tell me once that if you clean their ears once a week the "dog" smell will be much less potent. My cousin had one and cleaned the dogs ears weekly (along with a bath) and the dog never had that distinctive basset smell. Worth a try, if you ask me!!

[OC Campers]

Our 2 dogs would have a fit if we didn't bring them with us.  They see me start to pack and they don't leave the livingroom (where everything gets stacked).  Now we have Maxx the Jack **s terrier (#3 dog).  We finally forced him to where a collar, :swear: I have never seen a dog more determined to have something removed from around his neck) now if we can get him to walk on a leash:( :eyecrazy: .  Our first campging trip with him is next week and we will be gone for a whole week.  Hopefully, the family will survive.:eyecrazy: .  I went and bought a collapsable wire exercise pen for him to hang out in.   I hope he stays in it.
 
Jacqui

[waygard33]

I LOVE YOUR DOG!! I had a basset hound growing up and miss "Brutus" to this day. He used to come camping with us when I was a kid and everyone loved him.

Now, about that smell...are you keeping his ears clean? I had a vet tell me once that if you clean their ears once a week the "dog" smell will be much less potent. My cousin had one and cleaned the dogs ears weekly (along with a bath) and the dog never had that distinctive basset smell. Worth a try, if you ask me!!

The Colonel is a great camping dog. He just lays around and everyone loves him. Well, mostly women anyway...and 6th graders. In the picture above, that's pretty much full speed for him.

As for the smell, he's got 2 of em'. He's got the hound dog smell which can be beaten down a bit with regular baths. I can live with that one. The other smell is the one that comes from his ears. My wife is in there on a regular basis, cleaning and applying medicine. It does not help a bit. When he shakes his head, he clears the room. His ears make his rear end smell good. He's beyond the help of professionals even. I'm pretty sure something has crawled in between his ears and died.

When my wife brought him home, she said he was a play buddy for our 3 year old Australian Sheppard. Yeah Right! I said. There's only 1 thing he can play and that's DEAD. He's so old and slow, you can only take him for 1/2 a walk. If you go out for a full one, you're either carrying him back or going to get the car for him.

If he wasn't a decorated war hero, I'm not sure I'd feel the same about him. He's not much of a watch dog. Unless the burglar accidentally drags a steak past his nose, he aint gettin up. Luckily, there's a bond between us because I respect his service to the country and we're both John Wayne fans. I guess he aint all bad...he just smells that way. :sombraro:

[ForestCreature]

When my wife brought him home, she said he was a play buddy for our 3 year old Australian Sheppard. Yeah Right! I said. There's only 1 thing he can play and that's DEAD.

LOL, I feel for the old guy if your Aussie is half as sassy,  and energetic as ours.  

Even if he smells, he does have that ya gotta love me look to him..

[Adam3]

Our beagle would be heart broken if we did not bring him camping.  The first time we brought him he would cry and yelp if we left him at the camp to go somewhere like the lake where dogs were not allowed.  We quickly discovered that if we leave him in his dog carrier he lays down and goes to sleep.  This is rare, however, because we take everywhere we possibly can.  As soon as we start packing up at home he knows we are going and patiently waits by the door so he is sure not to left behind.  While camping he makes himself at home in the popup because we always bring his bed and if it gets too cold he crawls under the blankets to sleep.  I guess he is just too spoiled.

[whitestar505]

BirdMan,
 
   I always have a dog with me. At least one of four. My daughter has been kind enough to watch some of them some of the times... Sure make it easier for the wife and I. When we camp we do travel a bit either for food or just shopping. I don't leave the dogs in the car so it make it easier with one then them all if you know what I mean....
 
 

Curious to know how many of you bring your dogs with you camping vs leaving them at home.
 
Last year we brought both of our dogs with us. Now we have three dogs so things will be even more interesting this year. These are not little dogs; one is Homer a 4yr old pure bred English Black Lab, another is named Bear a 5yr old Boxer mix, and the newest edition is Babe a full bred 1yr old Rottweiler. All adopted from customers of mine.
 
We went on our maiden voyage last year with our Coleman Fairview Pop-up. At the last minute before we left home for our first multiple night adventure I said to DW, "why don't we bring the dogs". Since we have two king sized beds I thought put Homer & Bear on one bed and us on another.
 
First two nights not so much sleep for any of us. The 3rd-5th nights things went very smooth.
 
The bad news is we found out on the way up that Bear, the boxer, gets car sick. Puked all over the back seat floor in my truck. The good news is the Homer the black lab loved it as he got to eat twice that morning. We did not even have to stop because in about two minutes Homer had it all cleaned up. Ummmm ...yummy! Called my vet before the drive home and he said to give Bear a tablet of Dramimine which worked great.
 
The trip was a lot of fun and later this month we are taking all them of them with us for the weekend.

[daldricht]

Hey Birdman,
I think you mentioned a Rottweiller? You and I know that dogs are what we make them. Is your newest dog aggressive at all toward other people? We have a Doberman, but never had the ears cropped so he could pass for a red lab if we pushed the issue - but where we camp, certificates of rabies shots are required (or they can be) so the certificate says DOBERMAN on them. I have been told by several camping areas no Pit Bulls, Rottweilers or Dobermans - period! And it has to do with their insurance carrier - not the owner of the camping area. If you look at KOA camping sites, they list the dogs NOT allowed, but they changed their wording to read "IF THEY SHOW AGGRESSION". The only thing our Doberman shows is his nose to check you out then his tongue to lick you to death. We have a 104 lb gentle giant and he loves to go car riding and camping.
Later
Dave

[PattieAM]

Been there with car sick dogs!  Done the dramamine trick too - but giving the pill to them early enough was the trick - mine were 'hung over' the next day at home.

I no longer have kids at home, but have fur-kids - and if the campground is not pet friendly I do not stay there.  Virginia State Parks impose a per pet/per night fee and tax on that, so I no longer camp at VA State Parks.

Wherever I go with the dogs, I make up tags with dogs name, campground name/number, our name, cell phone number and site number/dates, in the event the dogs should get loose.

[daldricht]

Been there with car sick dogs!  Done the dramamine trick too - but giving the pill to them early enough was the trick - mine were 'hung over' the next day at home.

I no longer have kids at home, but have fur-kids - and if the campground is not pet friendly I do not stay there.  Virginia State Parks impose a per pet/per night fee and tax on that, so I no longer camp at VA State Parks.

Wherever I go with the dogs, I make up tags with dogs name, campground name/number, our name, cell phone number and site number/dates, in the event the dogs should get loose.

PattiAM,
We just stayed at Pohick State Park and we have a 104 lb Doberman - which they saw as we entered the park for registration and there was no extra charge for a dog - in fact I do not think I have paid a dog fee in VA at all. We have been turned away from various camping areas in PA because of the breed name.
Dave

[BirdMan]

Dave:

Our newest dog is a Rottweiller and she is 1yr old.  She is very friendly and I don't think she knows how tough she could be.  She is still a puppy and never stops playing.

Since I have only dry camped here in CO I wont have to worry about "No Dogs Allowed" until I venture into the pay campgrounds.

I know the origional owners of this dog and they said they took her camping several times and she really liked it.

I owned another Rottweiller for 15yrs and she was the greatest dog I ever owned.  I am seeing the same behaviors in this dog which is good.

[jrrob]

Took our 4-year old Plott hound out for the first time last weekend. (Just got the pop up at the end of last summer so this was the first chance I had) I was a bit worried he wouldn't adapt well, but he laid around on his blanket all day and just watched us go about our business. About 9 every night he would get up scratch the door of the camper, go in and go to sleep on one of the beds. Barked a couple of times when he was startled by people walking by, but overall, I'm looking forward to him coming with us from now on.

[MJohn]

Well I have 2 adult cocker spaniels who have never really been anywhere except an occational car ride or a walk. I really want to take them but 1 barks at everything he see's outside a window and the other cries when we first leave to even go to work and stuff, so I'm afraid they will bother other campers. Thinking a close trip as an expereiment is in order first. But we are so active when we vacation and can be gone for such long periods of time I know taking an animal on our upcoming trip is a no no. I have a good friend that is gonna house sit and watch my critter kids while we are gone. I do feel guilty though because we left them with her for 2 1/2 days and she said they just stared at the back door and waiting for hours on end.

                                                    MJ

2007 Fleetwood Westlake
2008 Ford F150