Best Practice to tie up dog?

[95jersey]

New to camping. I have a super friendly Lab that wouldn't leave our side for all the tea in china...LOL. With that said, however I know it would be inappropriate to allow her to roam the campsite freely.

What are the best practices? I was just going to go to home depot and get 20' of chain and just use an snap hook at both ends and wrap one end around the trailer frame. I looked on PetSmart/Wallmart websites and tether kits of any kind.

Do I just get bare chain from Home depot and create my own, or is there a better tether out there available at local pet store or wallmart?

[toedtoes]

The way I always look at it is no matter how GOOD my dog may be, I can't be sure of any other dog's behavior.

For that reason, pens and tie outs aren't effective. If I have my dog in a pen or on a tie out, and another dog comes out of nowhere, I now have to try to get to my dog and get a hold of him/her while a loose dog is attacking, trying to play with, or otherwise upsetting my dog. By the time I can get my dog away from the fracas, damage has been done.

With the 6 ft leash in my hand, I can quickly and easily get my dog inside the clipper and away from the other dog.

I have had too many other dogs behave less than appropriately towards my dogs. And I have watched too many other owners ignore or stand dumbfounded not knowing how to get a hold of their dog. I'm not putting my dogs' safety into anybody else's control but my own.

[GordonThree]

wbwood wrote:
We are ones that hate to see the fencing and pens when we pull up into a campground. Our experience has been that it means there are going to be a lot of yapping going on. Would rather listen to a steady vroom of an open frame generator than little yapping dogs barking at everything that walks by or every leaf that moves. Plus it looks like someone has moved in permanently. I guess we are weird like that. Heck we don't like to see the fridges sitting out there or tables set up permanently with the coffee maker and electric griddle. lol

x2 for pens. I'm sure no one on this forum would ever do it, but many times I've walked past campsites, with ankle biters in pens, barking away and owners nowhere to be seen. Just like when they're at home, throw the shrill barking dog in the pen and forget about it. Like I said, I'm SURE no one on this forum does that, it's the other people.

[Murphsmom]

We have used the small pens,mainly for corralling the pups while setting up camp. They were convenient when we had dogs that couldn't go over the top due to either age or disability. With Ollie, we have a 15 foot rope that usually is fastened to a chair. I would be very hesitant to tie him to the table, as I have heard of dogs jumping up and then getting down on the other side. I would rather have my dog drag a chair than hang himself.

[wbwood]

We are ones that hate to see the fencing and pens when we pull up into a campground. Our experience has been that it means there are going to be a lot of yapping going on. Would rather listen to a steady vroom of an open frame generator than little yapping dogs barking at everything that walks by or every leaf that moves. Plus it looks like someone has moved in permanently. I guess we are weird like that. Heck we don't like to see the fridges sitting out there or tables set up permanently with the coffee maker and electric griddle. lol

[BobR]

I use a plastic coated cable and have a corkscrew staking device meant for frequent relocating. That said, I usually hook the cable to a picnic table leg. My big boy lab is well behaved but gets hooked up due to that 1/100 chance that something attracts his interest and he is tempted to leave campsite. Also, it eases camping neighbors minds since they do not know the dogs behavior.

[wbwood]

jake2250 wrote:

Tom N wrote:
6' leash. Is that the law??

Thats only when your walking with them,, you can tie them up with 40' of chain if you desired,, But if your lab is not a chewer I would use Flat Stock webbing, its cheap and light weight you can get at most sporting good stores.
I use 20 feet of flat stock with loops sewn in the ends and I bought two of those giant carabeeners from Home Depot,I can hook one end to the picnic table leg and my dog is close to us. He will not chew thru unless his life is in danger!!
If yours is a chewer, get some light weight chain!!

I believe every place we have stayed says they must remain on a 6' leash at all times. I've never seen it say only when walking them.

[doxiemom11]

If the dog doesn't leave you, then just sit outside with it's leash on and loop the handle end of the leash around a chair leg. If it's as you say, you don't need the chain to restrain the dog and it should just sit next to you on the ground.That is what our dog does. Most campgrounds we have been to do not allow campers to leave their animal unattended outside. One reason - barking and the other is it makes them vulnerable to any prey - coyote, rabid animal, stray dog etc. Also a chain will damage trees and most owners will not like that.

[CavemanCharlie]

I didn't read all 3 pages of this thread. I have made a chain like you said in your original post. But,,, make sure your snap links swivel, or that you have a swivel in both ends of the chain. Otherwise the chain gets twisted up and then it gets shorter and shorter.

And,,, don't run the chain around a tree. The chain around the tree can kill it. I also have a pre-build dog cable I bought at a hardware store. It has a plastic coating around the cable. I can put that around anything and it does not hurt whatever it is wrapped around.

I'm a little nervous tying my dog to anything that moves like the camper or the pickup. I usually tie him to the picnic table. He does get tangled under there sometimes but, I have had him for 4 years and he has learned to untangle himself fairly well. When he can't he has learned to just follow my finger around the table legs until he has more slack in the chain again.

My dog is a hyper lab too. His nickname is Stupid. 😛 The kids at the park love calling him stupid and not getting yelled at for it. lol. And, he loves the attention. :B

[rhagfo]

portscanner wrote:

JAC1982 wrote:
So we have 2 basset hounds, so they aren't as tall as a lab, but we use a pen when we're camping with them, .....

Same here. We got two of the 4 foot tall fences, and one 2 foot tall fence. We took some sections out of the 2 foot tall so it would slide under our camper. Then we can just open the door and the dogs can come in and out as needed. A lot easier for the dogs to be in a pen than have 2 wild and crazy dogs tangling themselves up (and us) with tethers.

Make that X3!
We have two beagles and they love their pen! Freedom and no tangled leads!

[ford_truck_guy]

Our lab is walked with a 6' ( OR SO ) leash.. And we have a 15' flat web leash that I put a SS snap hook on the other end.. I usually hook it onto an empty hole for he leveling system...

[4x4van]

jake2250 wrote:

Tom N wrote:
6' leash. Is that the law??

Thats only when your walking with them,, you can tie them up with 40' of chain if you desired,, But if your lab is not a chewer I would use Flat Stock webbing, its cheap and light weight you can get at most sporting good stores.
I use 20 feet of flat stock with loops sewn in the ends and I bought two of those giant carabeeners from Home Depot,I can hook one end to the picnic table leg and my dog is close to us. He will not chew thru unless his life is in danger!!
If yours is a chewer, get some light weight chain!!

Even with a chewer, webbing or rope can be used. Just include a 3' section at the end (closest to the dog) that is chain or cable. Dogs don't chew the middle of the lead, they pull it tight and then chew at that point next to then, needing the taughtness to actually chew through.

[Tin_Pusher]

95jersey, we camp w/ a Great Dane, she goes about 100 lb. When we are at camp, we tie her with a long rope, mostly for appearance, she doesn't wander much. We have the vinyl covered cables for if she were to be unattended, so she can't chew thru them. Usually if we are leaving her at camp for any length of time, she is inside in her crate. Perfectly happy there 🙂

[portscanner]

JAC1982 wrote:
So we have 2 basset hounds, so they aren't as tall as a lab, but we use a pen when we're camping with them, .....

Same here. We got two of the 4 foot tall fences, and one 2 foot tall fence. We took some sections out of the 2 foot tall so it would slide under our camper. Then we can just open the door and the dogs can come in and out as needed. A lot easier for the dogs to be in a pen than have 2 wild and crazy dogs tangling themselves up (and us) with tethers.

[jake2250]

Tom N wrote:
6' leash. Is that the law??

Thats only when your walking with them,, you can tie them up with 40' of chain if you desired,, But if your lab is not a chewer I would use Flat Stock webbing, its cheap and light weight you can get at most sporting good stores.
I use 20 feet of flat stock with loops sewn in the ends and I bought two of those giant carabeeners from Home Depot,I can hook one end to the picnic table leg and my dog is close to us. He will not chew thru unless his life is in danger!!
If yours is a chewer, get some light weight chain!!

[Nicholsfamily05]

For our little guy (65lb lab mix mutt) we have the plastic coated cable. Have had the same one for about 3 coming up on 4 years.

Most of the time we don't even hook it to him because he just lays at my wife's feet. He is a big baby and freaks out when he can't see her.

For walking around the park just a normal leash. He's a good boy doesn't pay any attention to the other dogs that are barking or walking. Guess we lucked out in that department as I wouldn't bring him if he barked at everyone and everything. The only time he makes noise is when his kids come back to the RV and he gets all excited.