Tips on taking dog camping?!!?

hudsonw

hudsonw

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Hi, we were always avid campers and go camping as our main holidays all over the UK and now we have a pooch to hopefully enjoy long weekends away with?

He's a 6 month old Border Collie and we are trying out a local site (only half an hour away) which is situated in a forest.

We just thought that if we stay local then any disasters or the dog isn't settling we can leave and come home quite quick and be in our own comfy bed for the night!!!

However this is the first time our dog has been camping and the first time we have a dog to take away with us...has anyone got any tips?

We plan on arriving, pitching up, go for a long walk in the forest go back to the tent for tea then another walk before bed. Wake up in the morning (hopefully with a tent still over our heads) and then put the tent down and another walk before home.
 
If hes crated take that. We have camped twice now with ours. Dylan is just tad youngrr than yours. Once they slept in the car on their normal bed and the other they slept in tent with us. I preferred them in the tent with us.
 
I took Bob last year, he was 8 months. It was great, he is used to a crate so we took that and he slept in tent with us overnight and we tethered him outside with us during the day. Think the walks in the Peaks did enough to keep him quiet!
 
We took the plunge when we first did it with our dogs and went for 11 days!! Luckily, it was fabulous and we all enjoyed every minute of it! We were all outside during the day and all slept in the tent at night (be ready for the nose through the zip at silly o clock in the morning saying 'C'mon I'm ready to go for a walk now!!!')

Take a stake for the ground to attach the lead to; can buy them from most pet shops and outdoor shops.

Windbreaks to create your 'own little garden' around the tent - absolutely invaluable! we park the car at the 'entrance' so its a bit more blocked off and the dogs learn VERY quickly that that's 'their' space.

Take the dog bed from home for him to sleep on so there is some familiarity.

A crate is a good idea if you use one.

Remember spare bowls and 2ltr pop bottles for water, mini first aid kit, treats, toys if you need them, poo bags for your trips out.

We walk them everywhere with us; to get water, to pay the fees, wherever and they are SHATTERED by day 2 and more importantly, sleep like babies during the night! ;)

K x
 
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Echo everyone else.

Especially with the stake to give them a bit more space. You can get them from most of the cheap gadget shops for a couple of quid :)
 
Thanks for all the advice...we went and bought one of those corkscrew things, great idea. However we have so much stuff we can't fit a wind break in...told hubby to buy an estate car if today goes well ;)

Getting very excited about the whole thing and i think the dog knows somethings going on...but he's not sure if to sit by the front door in case we try to escape without him or herd his toys in case they are being thrown out!!!

Fingers crossed he likes it as I've already seen where to take him next for a long weekend :)
 
Take a spare lead, water bowl and water for the car.
Check name tags just in case, make sure it has a number that someone can be reached on. If you are away for a few days logg the tempory address with microchip company and if you use a company that gives the dog an ID and holds all your contact info privatly tell them to, make it much easier if doggie does wander off if they have info to hand it means you dont have to try and remember or look for addresses and post codes.
Take enough of their normal food and their bed and most of all enjoy yourself.
Inca was 8 months on her first camping trip, within 2 days she knew were the toilet feild was and had figured out that the tent was now home and it ceased to be her mission to escape out of the nearest zip
 
Well we are back from our camping adventure...and everyone and thing is still in one piece!!!

He wasn't bothered about the flapping of the tent, didn't chew on the guide ropes or didn't try and get under the tent or go though it :)

The corkscrew thing was fantastic so thanks or the recommendations.

We had the forest right next to our tent and i don't think I've walked so far in my life...it worked out over 7 miles in total...and pooch even managed a dip in the forest swamp which made sharing a bedroom with him an "experience"!!!

The campsite was great (Caravan Club now have new members!!) very clean, tidy and if a cyclist, avid walker (with or without a dog) then you'd love it. There is a Go Ape for the kids (or big kids!!) and loads of parking for horseboxes if you fancied a hack.
Lots of routes to explore and off track routes to discover.

Anyway, we will deffo be going on lots of long weekends away now we know mutley can cope...however he's currently upside down on the sofa enjoying his creature comforts...even though he took up most of the airbed!!
 
Glad it all went well for you :D
My whippey always camps with me when I take the D of E kids and the 10 Tor Teams out camping and one of the best tips I can give you is to take some old towels. The last ting I want in my tent (and usually attempting to get in my sleeping bag - dog does have his own!) is a wet smelly dog!:)
 
Not sure if they are allowed on campsites, but flyballers and agility people create "gardens" around their tents/caravans using plastic netting and electric fence posts. The dogs love it.
 
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