# Camping with dogs



## MoJoBoy (May 26, 2008)

Well, the camping season is upon us and I have never camped with dogs before! I have a 3yr old hav and a 10 mnth old mini Aussie who loves to chase things.
For those of you who take their dogs camping, can you give me some advice on what you do with them around the camp-site, nighttime, and when you go to "no dog" zones?:gossip:


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## LoudRam (May 23, 2010)

We've only had Ruffles a month and we took her camping her second week home. She loved it. So many smells and so many dogs to meet. 

We camp in a 33' travel trailer. We just bought a tie out stake and a 15' line to keep her on during the day when we were outside. I took her for plenty of walks. And at night we brought her crate for her to stay in. We have plenty of room for it in our trailer. The campground is dog friendly. Make sure the one you use is too. Just follow their rules and bring a bag along with you during the walks and make sure that you clean up your site so the campground will have no reason to change their policy about allowing dogs.

Two other important things...
1) Make sure everyone is up to date with their flee/tick treatments.

2) When you untie the dog and put him/her in your car for the trip home DO NOT leave the tie out behind like I did. I have a new one now...

EDIT: Some campers also use a small fence or portable pen to keep them in. And about the campfire, Ruffles never went near it but I still positioned myself between it and her.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Hello in Winnipeg.,We love camping. A couple of tips. Know what poison ivy looks like and stay clear. Avoid tall grass , that's where ticks sit. Yeah watch the fire, dogs don't have a sense of heat like we do. Be cautious when visiting other camp sites ,especially if dogs are tied up. They will tend to guard their sites sometimes. Years ago I got bit by a dog that I thought was ok with me and when I was talking with the owner he nailed me in the back of my leg ,snuck up behind me and I didn't even see him. LOL. Don't force your dog into learning to swim. Let him go in on his own by coaxing him a little at a time. If he is full coat, they tend to not swim so well with all the weight pulling them down so make sure to watch carefully. Watch out for ***** and **** ****. Most little dogs will get their ass kicked by one. And keep an eye out for your dog scratching. Check any site that they scratch to look for ticks. Have a first aid kit handy including tick tweezers. Really it' s not that scary ,just watch out for Jason. LOL. hav fun.


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## KarmaKat (Feb 19, 2010)

Great thread topic. We haven't camped our Hav yet, but we are looking forward to it.

In my years camping, I have seen everything from tie-out stakes to fake grass carpet and ex-pens. One of my favorites was a fenced area that a guy "built." The sections were pretty thick wire and each fence post was pounded into the ground pretty deep. I thought it was a bit over the top until I saw the size of the dogs that went into it.

I am hoping an ex-pen and tie-out combo in part shade and part sun will be good for Tybee. I also can't wait to visit places like Fours Paws Kingdom campground, although we usually camp in state parks and COE campgrounds.

http://www.4pawskingdom.com/

There is an rv.net forum that is pretty active. There might be some great ideas there.

http://www.rv.net/forum/

Another great site to check CG reviews is:

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/

Happy camping!

KarmaKat

Oh... you may want to use bottled water for your pets. Also, not sure if it is a problem in Canada yet, but Giardia precautions are a good idea in rural areas in states.


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## dana77pbg (Dec 13, 2009)

MoJoBoy said:


> Well, the camping season is upon us and I have never camped with dogs before! I have a 3yr old hav and a 10 mnth old mini Aussie who loves to chase things.
> For those of you who take their dogs camping, can you give me some advice on what you do with them around the camp-site, nighttime, and when you go to "no dog" zones?:gossip:


We camp with our dogs in a travel trailer and have in fact been living in our RV while waiting for our new house (June 28th!!!!). Here are a couple of things we recommend...

Microchip

We also have special collar tags for camping that say:

RV DOG
cell phone#
our son's # as he always knows where we are
Microchip # call 1-800 (Home Again #)

When we go out, we close the RV blinds. We we first started RVing with the dogs we practiced going out by giving the campers next to us our cell # and asking them to call us if the dogs barked. We never got a call.

If ever camping in South Florida (where we live) learn to recognize Bufo Toads . We have almost lost our Welsh Terrier twice to a Bufo Toad, the second time while we were walking her on a leash! That's how fast she is!
Also be aware of Fire Ants and keep Benadryl spray and tablets handy. You can also soak the dog's paws in a baking soda bath.

Other than the above, camping with dogs is such fun. Taffy age 8 now has done over 40K miles and visited over 30 states. Rico has only been with us 9 months, all lived in the RV. I don't worry as much about him outside...he's such a sissy-boy and not at all prey driven.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Here's pix of how we set up camp with the dogs.










In this one you can see the dryer sheets tied to their collars which repel mosquitoes. They really do work! :biggrin1:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I love the idea of the pop-up in/over the ex-pen, Leslie! We brought an ex-pen with us when we camped with Kodi several times as a puppy last summer, and I was always moving the dang thing around to keep it in the shade.

OTOH, he spent very little time in it, because he wanted to be with us. It was only the last time we went that I felt safe having him on the ground, (by then he'd had all his shots) so he mostly sat in our laps anyway. We did take him for walks, but on a leash we could limit sniffing the ground and mouthing things. But he was very little when he started camping with us... the first time was just 3 days after I brought him home from the Kings!

Our trailer has a bump-out, so there was plenty of room to set an ex-pen up inside for rainy days in a 1x3 configuration. This year, I'm sure he won't need the ex-pen in the trailer, but we will probably bring all three of our pens along to make one big pen when we go in July. We'll be camping with both of my brothers' families, and they both have dogs too. I figure if we put our pens together, all three dogs can have plenty of romping room and company without having to be on leashes. I really don't think Kodi will need a leash to stay on the camp site this year... he's very good about staying close. But I KNOW that my younger brother's hound cross will take off, and my older brother's Sheltie is still young enough that I'm not sure he has had the training to be counted on to stay close. It will be easier to have the same rules for all of them, I think.

We found that when we needed to go somewhere with out him, Kodi was very happy to stay in his crate inside the trailer, with the shades down and the air conditioner set so that the fan stayed on whether the air conditioning kicked on or not. I think the hum of the fan tended to drown out noises outside. I know some dogs are terrible if left in a trailer by themselves, but Kodi has always been pretty comfortable as long as he's comfy in his crate with a soft bed and a chewy. We never left him for TOO long, but we could all go to the beach for a swim, for instance, and he'd be fine. (he got to go to the beach in the evening, when dogs are allowed)

The only thing I'm a little concerned about this year is that my brother has set up this family camping trip to a state park in VT, and it will be a solid WEEK of "dry" camping... something we've never done before. We do have a generator, but I guess you can only run it at certain times of the day. The biggest problem is that he gets so dirty when we are camping... I ended up having to at least rinse him off several times each trip last summer, and that was when his coat was MUCH shorter. I'm SURE they don't encourage dogs in the human showers:redface: but we will have to really conserve water in the trailer tanks because there are no water or sewer hook-ups. So I'm not sure how I can bathe him in the trailer either. He's never had a cold water bath, so I'm not sure that taking him down to the cold water/community faucet for a bath is a viable idea either. 

Does anyone else dry camp with a (mostly white) long haired dog? How do you deal with it?


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## KarmaKat (Feb 19, 2010)

Leslie, I love the pics of your pups in the expen.

Karen - It would make my day to see your cute pup in a campground shower! Oops... Don't take that the wrong way 

If you are at the CG for awhile, try to scope out when the bathouse is least busy. We find mornings busy and Dinnertime less busy depending on the CG.

Maybe you can find a good time to sneak Kodi in. An alternative is something like this:

http://www.boundarywaterscatalog.com/browse.cfm/4,3014.html
I've never used one. But if you are camping where it is sunny, especially with a lantern hook, it could work for you. Just be wary of grey water runoff rules regarding soapy water.

Dry camping is a challenge.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Karen~ The EZ-Up definitely made it so much easier to keep at least part of the expen area shaded. There was no way we wanted to be moving it around. Like you'll do this year for Kodi, we connected 3 of them together and set them on top of the "grass". Since my son's peke is trained to a litter box, this allowed room for it, Tori's pad, toys, room to play, etc. Tori also prefers to be in my lap if I'm sitting (notice the chair inside the expen? )

Our 5th wheel has 2 slide-outs and will easily accommodate an expen inside, if needed. We also have a screen room that attaches to the awning that one will fit in, too. However, we no longer use one inside for Tori now that she's a "big girl" but, last summer we did set one up inside for my grandson who was just beginning to crawl and would not hesitate to pull on doggies if they were within reach.

Both Tori and Rascal (the peke) are fine to be left alone in the 5th wheel. They will just lie on their beds and wait for us to return. Neither one barks at noises. Rascal only barks at other animals she sees (since she can't jump up to see out that's not a problem) and Tori only barks at things when I'm around. If I'm not there she sees no reason to bark. Go figure...

As for your dry camping, the pix I posted were taken at my DH's favorite campground where we spend at least a week every summer. It has no hookups at all and only offers pit toilets (ewww... This is why we own a trailer :biggrin1 Although Tori isn't white, she does sleep in our bed, so I'm pretty particular about her cleanliness. I take waterless shampoo and use it most days. However the best advice I can give is to use the artificial grass under the expens. We find it's worth it's weight in water :bathbaby:

Here's a "long shot" of our setup on a different year (screen room is not attached, nor is DS & DDIL's tent set up)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

KarmaKat said:


> Karen - It would make my day to see your cute pup in a campground shower! Oops... Don't take that the wrong way
> 
> If you are at the CG for awhile, try to scope out when the bathouse is least busy. We find mornings busy and Dinnertime less busy depending on the CG.
> 
> ...


We have a Sunshower, which is similar that the boys have used on back packing trips. But it has the same problem as using the water in the trailer... having to schlepp water around to use it. In fact, once the water is on the camp site, it makes more sense to use the trailer's system, since the water heater is gas and works very quickly.

We did more than enough dry (tent) camping when I was a kid. I have never wanted to do tent camping again. I don't mind dry camping with the trailer for a long weekend, but a week is pushing my tolerance to the limit, even without the long haired white dog issues. Unfortunately, this is very important to my brother, so there is no graceful way to avoid it.:Cry:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, Leslie, I like the idea of both the waterless shampoo and the grass mat. We have one that goes under the awning, but I think I'll get another one. We have a screen room too, but I don't think we'll be putting it up this year. My DH is coming just for the first two days, then has to leave to go down to Boy Scout National Jamboree. (another reason I'm not thrilled about this trip) I don't think I can deal with getting the screen house down, clean and folded away on my own.

This campground does have flush toilets and hot (pay as you go) showers, but I HATE using public facilities if I can avoid it... one of the reasons we chose the rout of getting a travel trailer. However, it does NOT have the nice concrete pad your campground has... We'll be right on the ground. All the more reason to use a grass mat under the ex-pens. The only problem is that the mat will get soaked when it rains, and in VT, it WILL rain.

At least he's old enough this year that we don't have to worry about an ex-pen inside too.


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## KarmaKat (Feb 19, 2010)

Karen - 
I know what you mean about dry camping. Our motorhome is small (25') and doesnt have big water tanks. I think about 4 days is my limit for dry camping 

Maybe you can run a really long errand to a dog friendly hotel for one night. Just Kidding.

Have a fun trip


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## LoudRam (May 23, 2010)

KarmaKat said:


> There is an rv.net forum that is pretty active. There might be some great ideas there.
> 
> http://www.rv.net/forum/


Are you a member of rv.net? I am. My name is the same there as in here.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

krandall said:


> Thanks, Leslie, I like the idea of both the waterless shampoo and the grass mat. We have one that goes under the awning, but I think I'll get another one. We have a screen room too, but I don't think we'll be putting it up this year. My DH is coming just for the first two days, then has to leave to go down to Boy Scout National Jamboree. (another reason I'm not thrilled about this trip) I don't think I can deal with getting the screen house down, clean and folded away on my own.
> 
> This campground does have flush toilets and hot (pay as you go) showers, but I HATE using public facilities if I can avoid it... one of the reasons we chose the rout of getting a travel trailer. *However, it does NOT have the nice concrete pad your campground has...* We'll be right on the ground. All the more reason to use a grass mat under the ex-pens. The only problem is that the mat will get soaked when it rains, and in VT, it WILL rain.
> 
> At least he's old enough this year that we don't have to worry about an ex-pen inside too.


No concrete pad there, it's just semi-leveled dirt surrounded by railroad ties. They upgraded to this about 10 yrs. ago. Before the Forest Service took it over, we used to back up right to the edge of the creek. Here's a pic of one of their larger empty sites. This is bear country, hence the large brown "bear box" next to the picnic table.


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## TnTWalter (May 9, 2007)

*We tent camp in the summer with Winston..*

we spend all day on the boat. He LOVES it.

I have a cool retractable lead for around the campsite. No ex pen or crate.

He sleeps in our tent on a doggy bed that is sleeping bag material.

no pictures...I can't believe I don't have pictures. Need to get some this weekend.


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## MoJoBoy (May 26, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas guys. Unfortunatley for me....we will be tent camping and our one dog is taller than the ex-pens!
Maybe I can win the lotto and by a cabin instead!:rockon:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Leslie said:


> No concrete pad there, it's just semi-leveled dirt surrounded by railroad ties. They upgraded to this about 10 yrs. ago. Before the Forest Service took it over, we used to back up right to the edge of the creek. Here's a pic of one of their larger empty sites. This is bear country, hence the large brown "bear box" next to the picnic table.


Oh, OK! I thought I saw the edge of a pad in the other photo, but I guess it's just a shadow going across!!!

Thankfully, not many bears around here, and the ones we have a black bears... much smaller and more timid. They tend to keep their distance.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

MoJoBoy said:


> Thanks for the ideas guys. Unfortunatley for me....we will be tent camping and *our one dog is taller than the ex-pens*!
> Maybe I can win the lotto and by a cabin instead!:rockon:


You can buy expens that are 48" tall. Is your dog taller than that? Never mind, if I were you, I'd definitely go for the cabin :biggrin1:


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