Camping with the dogs

[AmyMay]

We’re off camping in a week and taking the hounds.

Apart from the obvious, food, leads, id tags, first aid kit - is there anything that you’ve found to be particularly useful to have?

 

[pistolpete]

A sense of humour! Meg slipped her collar twice! No harm done but the stake in the ground thingy snapped!
Also using wind breaks to make a ‘garden’ around you pitch is a very good idea! Have fun.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Lots of towels to get dirt, mud and wet off them before they are allowed into the tent. Ours used to make a beeline for the beds, not hers I might add and soak the sleeping bags through.

It’s brilliant fun with animals in tow, we used to take our cats as well.

 

[fiwen30]

Some of those single use hand warmers to pop under blankets or inside sleeping bags to keep them toasty at night. LED collars, or cheap glow sticks, so you can spot them at night.

 

[dogatemysalad]

Have fun. Camping with dogs is better than camping without. Happy dogs, happy life.

The twirly stake for tying up is pretty vital.
I like the interlocking floor pad thingies we got from Adli for the area where the dogs sleep. Helps to keep the cold from the ground coming through the dogs bedding. For our oldie, we also needed to adapt his dog bed to keep the draft out. Maybe camping during a storm wasn't our best plan.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

How do you keep them near? Using the twirly stick thing?

 

[meleeka]

I always have a couple of blankets, useful as throws or putting over a cold, wet dog.

 

[scats]

My parents have gone away today for a week with our two littlest, albeit in a motorhome. They’ve got those twirly things for the ground, blankets, towels, favourite toys, a new antler each for the journey etc.

 

[lozzles]

We don't go camping but I like those collapsible zip up dog bowls take up barely any room and wash easily. Might be worth getting an anti chew lead for the stake if yours is a nibbler. Mine never does it when you are looking just waits for a quiet moment?

 

[poiuytrewq]

Very jealous!

 

[CorvusCorax]

Tie out stake collapsible bowl and travel towels.

 

[pistolpete]

Forgot to say foil mats under dog beds or two beds in Megs case! A memory foam under and fluffy fleecy on top. Then she wears pyjamas and a fleece blanket cover! She’s very precious about getting cold!

 

[Clodagh]

Tie up stakes, out shooting we call them spaniel stakes.

That’s by the by. Have a great time, from someone who defines camping as having the hotel bedroom window open ?

 

[OldNag]

Following for ideas as will be doing the same in a few weeks' time (plus two teens). Just writing our list I think how the heck will all that go in the car....

I used to camp with the daughters a lot, but they were much younger and we didn’t take the dogs. Plus, old tent was much smaller and packed down very well. New tent is a bit ginormous and takes up a lot of room

 

[Annette4]

We tried without windbreaks once, never again. They settle so much easier with their view blocked around the tent.

It depends on how long we're going for but for a holiday we take:

Raised beds for in the gazebo (we use it as a kitchen/to sit out)
Extra blankets and towels
2 x pj's for both skinnies and a jumper for Ginny
Chews for place based chill time
Tie out stakes and metal tie out lines
Spare bowls
Water from home and Furr Boost or goats milk as I won't drink away from home
Spare food

 

[Honey08]

Our dogs adore camping/caravans with us. They love the closeness. They’re not allowed in bedrooms at home.
We used the corkscrew thing to tie them up outside (with lunge lines!). I’d also massively recommend an equifleece type rug for a quick way to get them dry in wet weather (fleece rugs dry quickly and can be reused the next day, whereas the rough and tumble type took days to dry enough to use again!)

 

[Smitty]

My dog loves camping. He loves the sociable side of it, lying outside the tent and hoping passers by will have a word with him?. But he also takes after me in that he likes to be warm, so unless I'm doing a quick getaway during a heatwave, I have an electric hook up and keep a thermostatically controlled fan heater on all night ?

I don't get those twisty tie up things. My friend has one for her large dog and its always being yanked out. I hammer a tent peg right into the ground with a bit of nylon rope trapped in it and tie the dog up to that. It keeps her big dog secure as well.

 

[scats]

Got sent this last night of Lily-Rose. She was mesmerised by a rabbit.

 

[pistolpete]

Dogs generally seem to love camping which is nice. Wonder if we underestimate how much our houses are alien for them?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Wet wipes (in case they step or roll in something).

Not sure if I have the same type of collapsible water bowl that is already mentioned, I have a Beco silicone, in pink.

With my dogs I've started using something that weigh less than a tie up corkscrew, an Equi-ping horse safety release tether + a shortish rope with a loop in each end. I either put the Equi-ping directly around e.g. a small tree, or pole, or I adjust the length of the rope to fit around something larger, and lock the loops together using the Equi-ping.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Dogs generally seem to love camping which is nice. Wonder if we underestimate how much our houses are alien for them?

My middle dog spent his first few weeks away from his mum in a tent (retired people have the luxury of working around the 14 weeks rabies rule lol) and he loves life on the road. He is depressed for a week or two after coming home.

 

[blackcob]

The sibes were always staked out (1m metal mooring stakes and wire lines, not a corkscrew thing!) but if you have sensible dogs a ‘garden’ is nicer. Lots of fancy Coveva type options but I made one with some balcony privacy netting, electric fence posts and a cut up windbreak for a gate.

 

[FitzyFitz]

Sisters dog ADORES camping. She usually sleeps in a small crate with a foil mat and bed inside in the front porch section of our tent due to lack of secure space, unless you want to spoon her, which we did have to do this April as it was freezing for all of us. LED collar if she's going off lead because she's a speeding bullet and easy to lose, and her entire wardrobe of ratty dog towels and jumpers/coats because she inevitably gets filthy or wet or cold and its always better to have more than less!
She doesn't need staking out usually as she's super clingy, happy to chill under the table or at your feet, gets tied to something if she needs to be out from underfoot for a while but she does tend to whine till you go retrieve her.

 

[Honey08]

Dogs generally seem to love camping which is nice. Wonder if we underestimate how much our houses are alien for them?

Interesting thought.
Our little Romanian rescue took a good few months to housetrain. She’s a funny little thing, despite seeming the friendliest dog in the world, who adores people and runs up to them, she also cowers and pees if someone bends to stroke her. We were a bit worried about taking her away in the caravan due to the house training issues, but that wax the turning point where she suddenly became house trained!

Im amazed people have had issues with corkscrews coming out. We had two big labs tied on one corkscrew, and they’d give it a good pull frequently, but it never moved. You have to screw them right in though.

 

[paisley]

We’re off camping in a week and taking the hounds.

Apart from the obvious, food, leads, id tags, first aid kit - is there anything that you’ve found to be particularly useful to have?

A dog-friendly hotel

 

[AmyMay]

A dog-friendly hotel

Well we’re usually in our camper van, but it’s off the road And we just didn’t want a hotel as it’s a bit limiting .

Where we are staying has the coast path and a beautiful beach within a short walk, as well as many other places. The only downside is cold showers ??

Thanks so much for everyones thoughts. My list has lengthened somewhat, but essentially I think I was there.

Roll on Sunday - the forecast is fab ??

 

[AmyMay]

Well, the forecast has gone from being good, to being super good. I’m worried about the heat now ?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Well, the forecast has gone from being good, to being super good. I’m worried about the heat now ?

Add a Cooling mat/pad for dogs, and don't forget yourself, you can't take care of them if you go and get a heatstroke.

 

[OldNag]

Well we’re usually in our camper van, but it’s off the road And we just didn’t want a hotel as it’s a bit limiting .

Where we are staying has the coast path and a beautiful beach within a short walk, as well as many other places. The only downside is cold showers ??

Thanks so much for everyones thoughts. My list has lengthened somewhat, but essentially I think I was there.

Roll on Sunday - the forecast is fab ??

Cold showers ?????

Noooo.... I only camp where there are hot showers and electric hookup. I like my creature comforts these days

 

[Smitty]

I'm so sorry but few things annoy me more when camping. On every campsite I have ever been on, the requirements are that dogs are on leads, irrespective of the dog's behaviour off lead. This is probably a requirement of their PIL insurance. Why do the few 'entitled' feel it doesn't apply to them?

I get totally sick of seeing (and not many) dogs off lead. If you are not prepared to keep the dog on a lead, just don't take it. At some point they may end up not being allowed on campsites (and there are only about half that take them anyway).

Sorry, rant over...