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We got a dog last year, and this year will be the first time going on holiday with him.
Any tips to make this easier? Ideas on finding a suitable campsite?
We have a 5 day group trip in May where our group has the whole campsite; and then looking at taking 10 days in August. Me, my partner and 12 and 15 year old boys. Live on the South coast, like a sandy beach, and had been thinking of South Wales or North Cornwall.
Any tips to make this easier?
I think that camping with a tent is more traditional, but I am old-fashioned
We've done this a few times – once the dog is settled on a night, all is good, but prepare to have faces licked at random points. We just use one of those ground stakes during the day so the dog can move around but not wander off (obviously this is just when we are getting ready/making food etc). I would recommend getting a proper camping table set-up for cooking so no hot water/burny things are within reach of the dog.
Have fun.
Ohh, and double-check on the chosen campsite's rules about dogs – almost all (in my experience) take them but some may have certain rules about being off-lead in certain places etc.
First thing - for the love of god, keep it on a lead in the campsite and have that lead attached, at all times, to a person or to a thing that doesn't move. It's not hard (end of rant)
Second thing - There are no tricks or tips really - if you have a settled, happy, secure dog, it'll probably like camping. If you don't, it probably won't, and there'll be little you can do to make it any different.
Our old one adored camping, cos it got to be outside loads (which it loved), got to go for massive walks and sleep in the same 'room' as us (which it wouldn't normally be allowed to do). He'd just lie on the grass and watch the world go by (mainly cos he was knackered from the massive walks).
What this lot said, most camp sites are dog (and cat) friendly - yes we camped next to someone that took the cat last year - it did wander off a few times. Ground stakes/attached to the car on a rope are a good idea. No dog here, but we've camped next to a few well behaved dogs this year.
Make sure it has a nice comfy warm bed. Otherwise it'll pinch yours.
My dogs is a properly needy pain in the arse but loves to be outside and has been camping loads, in this country and Belgium, France and Spain and shes only 2 and half!
At first she'll bark at a few people walking past (not nastily thank fully) but then she'll chill and forget about others, we always keep her on a lead either fixed to a stake or something else that doesn't move and usually have her on a long bit of rope with a karabiner that we can leave in place.
Get them used to it early I say and have fun.
And they'll deffo want to nick your bed!
Try and get the tent up before the dog takes residence.
Most sites need them on a lead or tethered. A dog with tether can wreak havoc with your camp kitchen.. makes sure its out of the radius.
We took our 10 month old with us for a couple of nights last year. She’s crate trained so we took that too, nights were no problem. Bought a ground stake/ skewer thing and tied to her that (on a short lead so she could get all tangled in guy ropes or say hello to everyone who got a bit too close) while we were floating around outside.
Biggest thing for us was finding dog and child friendly activities each day. Mostly we just spent time on the beach.
Get a Time Machine, go back in time and don’t get the dog. HTH. 😉
Most sites need them on a lead or tethered.
I've never been on a site that doesn't ask for them to be on a lead or tethered, but you can guarantee that there'll be some dickheads fellow campers who find this difficult and will be chasing a dog around...
Take plenty of doggo towels as the soaking wet dog is going to share your small tent space!
Take a tick tool with you and know how to use it - again that tick ingested doggo is sharing your small tent space!
Douse your doggo with something like cooper&Gracie flea and tick spray to keep midgies off it.
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I've never been on a site that doesn't ask for them to be on a lead or tethered, but you can guarantee that there'll be some dickheads fellow campers who find this difficult and will be chasing a dog around...
Unfixed that for you.
As others have said...Dogs LOVE camping!
Dog internal monologue:
Inside is now Outside!
People walk past the tent and give me pets!
Bird!
New sniffs!
Long walks!
I think you'll find that YOU will be sleeping on the dog bed on the van floor...
I'm a very tired dog...
I'
If I weren't too lazy there'd be a picture of the Joan Collins Fan Club here 😀
When I've done it with no.1 dog it was like sharing a sleeping quilt with a giant super heated bog brush. No.2 dog is happy to curl into a ball, but no.1 wants all the quilt, all the time.
Took my springer to a fair few campsites with me/us when he was quite young and had mixed success. He was crated, so we had a safe, normal space for him, but the first night he didn't settle and the whining was bad enough we let him in with us (sleeping pod), he settled easily enough, but mainly because he found a pair of my ex-wife's trainers to chew.
Yeah, I wasn't allowed to forget that. I think we started doing dog-friendly lets after that.
In later life (after divorce and relocation) I just took them (had two by that point) with me and they were no problem. They had a safe space, had each other and were cool being outdoors.
Really do have a good ground anchor system set up though and not a tow hitch. People don't like that.
They love it. All day with you and lots of long days out in new places.
We often use a ground screw and ropes to tether them, but be very aware what they can get to, twine round, tip over, drag across the campsite! Lightweight camping tables and doggo too close never ends well.
Sleeping arrangements in the van!
For the ground anchors - get 2, run a line between them and clip the dog on to that on a normal length lead. That way they can move around but they're not trailing 5 meters of long line around every chair and table leg within reach and causing general chaos.
Ours have always camped with us without any issues. Well I say without issue, quietly overlooking the one occaision we hadn't realised someone nearby was having their bonfire night celebrations and the dog freaked at the fireworks and did 2 laps of the tent between fly and inner destroying the poles in the process!
Taken ours a few times. Mixed experiences. She escaped from the tent for a 3am roam round the campsite once, which was fun for her but less so for me.
We find it works best when we bring her crate, which we put in a pup tent (no pun intended) next to the main tent. Seems to settle better when she’s not in the main tent with us.
Some campsites have dog pitches. Fenced affairs. We took Lola to one the first time as she is a rescue we wanted to try her out with all the aspects.
Its was solid fenced you drove into. They also had open fenced options so they get freedom but can look about.
As you can see she's pretty good at making herself at home.
We left the tent open and she just took herself off to bd when she felt like it.
The old Force10 is perfect doggo tent with its thick neoprene tub and a little bell end all of her own down the bottom where we put her hone bed. Which she ignore in favour of scraping my sleepingbag into a nest and staring at me in defiance.
Now we would take her with any of the tents haven't done a backpack camp with her yet but that should be grand.
How early in the morning are you prepared to be woken by your dog hearing/smelling something outside that it wants to go and play with/investigate/potentially eat?
tahts very dog dependent.
Lola only hunts after breakfast.
Take an extra camp chair aswell.
Infact anything you intend to use take a spare.
In case of foxes? 🤔
(She's a beautiful colour!)
(She's a beautiful colour!)
Wouldn't be the first child has pointed the man walking a fox 🤣
she looks a lot fancier than her rommie streetdog mongrel heritage.
@teaandbiscuits i thought that would entertain the childish
How early in the morning are you prepared to be woken by your dog hearing/smelling something outside that it wants to go and play with/investigate/potentially eat?
Lucky campers, woken up by next door's dog.
TBF when I'm camping I'm always awake by 5:30am trying to deny that I really do need a piss until it hurts too much!
I've taken my dog camping a few times. Mostly it's been unremarkable - he adapted pretty well and he's well behaved so no aggro. He's always leashed in the campsite and leash is only taken off once he's secure inside the tent
One memorable time, though, was when we were camping in a MASSIVE thunderstorm. The dog was terrified and unsettled for most of the night (though to be fair, so was I!)
TBF when I'm camping I'm always awake by 5:30am trying to deny that I really do need a piss until it hurts too much!
Does your dog show similar restraint?
TBF when I'm camping I'm always awake by 5:30am trying to deny that I really do need a piss until it hurts too much!
Does your dog show similar restraint?
Mine doesn't, she runns around pissing on everything and humping the fire pits before howling a bit then doing a massive shit on someone's croc (which I don't pick up)
Is that what you want to hear DrJ?
Is that what you want to hear DrJ?
I don't want to hear it or not want to hear it. It wouldn't surprise me that much if I did hear it said seriously. On a local fascebook [EDIT - this was a typo that I was going to correct. But on reflection it seems kind of apt] group i recently had the audacity to suggest that leaving dog shit bags around the place is undesirable. Apparently I am Hitler's evil cousin.
group i recently had the audacity to suggest that leaving dog shit bags around the place is undesirable. Apparently I am Hitler's evil cousin.
i don't think anyone on here is going to disagree with you. But thats nothing to do with dog owners. Thats just wallopers who happen to have dogs.
But thats nothing to do with dog owners. Thats just wallopers who happen to have dogs.
Probably we draw the lne between the two in a different place.
But anyway, I'd say to the OP - please be aware that not everyone thinks about your dog the way you do. A lot of people are scared of dogs, many more feel uncomfortable when they are sniffing round, jumping up and whatnot. Obviously people who have gone for a nice camping trip in the countryside are hoping for a peaceful break and don't want to be disturbed by barking any more than they want to hear a car sound system or other hideous rackets.