camping with a big dog

Seek professional help and please do not subject your camping neighbors to that

Take her with you,,,,,,,why leave her behind? I have a 12+ year old Black Lab Mastiff mix, He camps with us all the time,I have worked with him since a puppy to behave around everything we do,,,,,Hence, he gets to go camping.
Dogs do what dogs are going to do,,, meaning let them be dogs,,but also CONTROL them when they need to be controlled!
the Bear II has a point,, take her to obedience training if you need to. My dog went thru Arson Detection training that involved obedience training and he is wonderful!
160+ pounds of large black dog,, but he is very good around all situations.
The more you expose your dog to your everyday situations, the more they are able to adapt.

Be that as it may,,,,,,,YOU NEED to be able to control your dog!!
Remember,, either You control the dog OR the dog controls you!

We have two big dogs (Boxers) if we are in sight they want to be with us so if we leave the campsite without them we put them inside the camper. Also we don't want to be confused by anyone that we leave hem outside unattended which is against many campgrounds rules. But if we are camping the dogs are with us :)

Your first stop needs to be at your vet's office. There are medications that can help with separation anxiety. I believe the most commonly used drugs for SA are Reconcile (fluoxetine hydrochloride) and Clomicalm (clomipramine hydrochloride). The drugs aren't a cure-all, but rather are meant to reduce the dog's anxiety while you work on re-training. It's next to impossible for a highly anxious, stressed dog to learn.

Be aware that even with medication to help and a diligent re-training program, it can take a very long time to help a dog with SA. It's a very difficult problem to deal with. It can be done, though.

The other thing that works for some dogs is to get another dog. Please note that I am NOT recommending you take that route. I advise anyone with a SA dog to get another dog only if they want another dog for him/herself. Because there's no guarantee adding another dog will help the dog with SA, and anyone who goes that route needs to be prepared to keep the second dog and give it an excellent home regardless.

An obedience class is always a good idea, and the confidence that comes with learning new commands can be somewhat helpful for SA dogs. But in general you shouldn't expect any huge improvement from a class. I would consider seeing a board certified canine behaviorist instead of looking for a trainer or class. A behaviorist is a licensed vet who's had special training in behavior issues. Your vet will hopefully be able to refer you to a behaviorist.

I love to see families take their dogs camping. Our kids take theirs along. What I don't like are those who have no respect for other campers or their pet and let them bark all day. It only upsets others camping but worse is hard on the dog.

Thank you for being considerate enough to your dog and fellow campers to ask for help.

I would suggest an obedience class and for you to have patience with your dog.
Good luck!

You'll likely get a lot of uncharitable replies to this - many people show a strong dislike/hatred of dogs in RV forums and don't mind letting everyone know about it.

I would suggest that you speak with a professional trainer - anxiety problems can be difficult to overcome, but it is possible in many cases. We have two rescue dogs and they used to have separation issues, but overcame them. You have to be patient and work with them and having expert advise along the way will help dramatically.

- Randy

Boondock.........

A good obedience trainer will be able to solve the problem for you. The city we live in has an obedience class as part of their recreation & parks program. The fee is cheap and it's a 6 week class.

We took both our our dogs through the class. One graduated at the top of her class. The other graduted towards the bottom but as I worked with her,she got better. The one technique they taught in class seemed to work best for stopping a barking/whining problem. The trainer took a metal lunch pail and put a few small rocks in it. She taped it closed. Anytime a dog does something you don't want them to do, you say their name sternly along with a firm 'No" and then throw the lunch pail down to the ground. It took about a week of doing this to get our dogs to stop barking at other dogs in the campground.

This may work for your dog.

We had the same problem years ago with a Black Lab.. It was real hard to get her over that.. We just kept working at it , slowly she came around. We would try at home (driveway camping) to tie her up outside... What a hard thing to break!. She never really got 100% over it