Camping with my dogs

[mabynack]

I have five rescue dogs and haven't taken the whole pack with me on a camping trip until last week. I had been dreading it, but it really turned out great. The only real issue I had was that my German Shepherd's tail was at the right height to clear off the TV tray. The trip was very pet-centric. All of our activities revolved around the dogs. We stayed at the State Forest and took several short hikes of 1-3 miles every day. I'm really looking forward to my next trip, now.

[BizmarksMom]

My dogs are always on a lead. Maggie will stick with me, Bizmark will take off hunting small critters. Add to that, Bizmark is a pit bull and makes some people nervous so it's better all the way around if he's either tied up in camp or on leash when walking.

[mabynack]

lightning driver wrote:
Interesting stories. I have a 135 LB 9 year old Male Malamute and 80 lb 7 year old Female Husky. Both have travelled and camped with me many times. About to add a 11 year old female rescue Husky to the pack.
F550 with cabover and utility trailer for the Rhino. Sold the cabover and buying a 40 ft TH 2 slide. Dogs took up ALL the floor space in the cabover.
For traveling I added one of these for doggie comfort.
http://www.doggybackseatplatforms.com/
So here is my question. When boondocking do you let your dogs loose or on a lead? Huskys and Malamutes love to run. Mine are no different. I keep them on leads. 50 footers. Problem is after an hour I have to untangle them. Only going to get worse with 3.
Interested in how other folks handle the situation.

I always keep my dogs on a lead or in a fenced area. We saw several loose dogs in the state forest, but there were large gators in the pond in the campground and they love to eat dogs. We also have five different types of poisonous snakes in the area and bears are pretty common.

[colliehauler]

If I'm by myself I let my Collies off leash. That said my Collies are like Velcro and are never very far from me. Depends where I'm at as well, some places are more dangerous, lots of wolves and bears where I like to go. In the desert I would worry about venomous snakes. So I judge each location for the suitability of it.

[lightning_drive]

Interesting stories. I have a 135 LB 9 year old Male Malamute and 80 lb 7 year old Female Husky. Both have travelled and camped with me many times. About to add a 11 year old female rescue Husky to the pack.
F550 with cabover and utility trailer for the Rhino. Sold the cabover and buying a 40 ft TH 2 slide. Dogs took up ALL the floor space in the cabover.
For traveling I added one of these for doggie comfort.
http://www.doggybackseatplatforms.com/
So here is my question. When boondocking do you let your dogs loose or on a lead? Huskys and Malamutes love to run. Mine are no different. I keep them on leads. 50 footers. Problem is after an hour I have to untangle them. Only going to get worse with 3.
Interested in how other folks handle the situation.

[mabynack]

colliehauler wrote:

sher9570 wrote:
This is why they invented RV's...so the lucky dogs of this world could go camping too...
It's certainly why we bought ours!!


Sher

One of the reasons I bought my RV as well.

I have RV'ed with 4 Collies and was surprised at how well things went. The most popular thing with the Collies was long walks.

This year Mikko went for his first boat ride, he did well. Lassie stayed back at the RV and slept.

One of the reasons we bought ours was to evacuate with the dogs when a hurricane is imminent. Some hotels frown on you showing up with five dogs and five cats.

The four dogs did well on the trip. They're still a little anxious about being in different surroundings and wanted to be in the same room with us, preferably touching one of us.

All four were rescues and have some degree of separation anxiety. They do much better when the whole group is all together.

I hope to get out for several short trips over the next year and I can retire in 2018 and do a lot more travelling.

[colliehauler]

sher9570 wrote:
This is why they invented RV's...so the lucky dogs of this world could go camping too...
It's certainly why we bought ours!!


Sher

One of the reasons I bought my RV as well.

I have RV'ed with 4 Collies and was surprised at how well things went. The most popular thing with the Collies was long walks.

This year Mikko went for his first boat ride, he did well. Lassie stayed back at the RV and slept.

[sher9570]

This is why they invented RV's...so the lucky dogs of this world could go camping too...
It's certainly why we bought ours!!


Sher

[Marine_By_Choic]

We rescued a dog in Baja, Mexico last spring. Was 4#. Now 85#!

Every day I mention to my bride that I honestly believe the dog (named Baja) knows just how lucky she is and how lucky we are.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I almost wonder if they somehow understand that if they are good, they get to do the Fun Thing again?? Glad it went well - camping with my dogs is always extra-fun for me, too!

[brewjaz]

Glad the trip with your 5 pups went well.

Sometimes (usually) they suprise us and behave. They really just want to be with their humans. 🙂