What do you do with your dog or pet while camping? Are there some campgrounds that don't allow dogs? Do you go away from your campsite and leave your dogs? How long?
We take our dog with us camping and will leave him for 30 minutes to shower or something but not much longer. We don't have a camper to put him in or we are hoping it will get easier this year. :- We do have times we'd like to tour a local attraction and can't because we have him with us.
We take our two fur kids with us whenever we camp..Annie the big black dog..head of camp security, and Millie, our blind diabetic border collie. They are our kids, and we NEVER leave them alone for a minute. One of us stays in the pup with them while the other goes to the showers...They are well mannered, don't bark, and we Always pick up after them...And yes, there is places we never saw because we could not take them, ...but you know at the end of the day...it's all good, I know they love us and we love them...Vern
we have left our golden in our popup and our current hybrid.
she's well trained and only barks when someone knocks on the door.
she sleeps while we're gone and can't jump up on the bunk ends.
she's been camping with us since she was a pup and is very used to being left for a few hours.
we never camp anywhere that gets hot, since we hardly ever camp in the summer.
we've always asked neighbors if she barked while we were gone and they usually say that they didn't know we has a dog in the trailer.
I have a ~75lb Boxer, he is always the hit of the park because of how friendly and active he is (plus he's the most awesome dog in the world 😀 ). I did find that down in KY at Natural Bridge SP they don't allow Pets on the trails. Which was a real bummer because there was a lot of hiking that we missed out on in the park. But we just went across the street to Red River Gorge and hiked around there.
I am in the group that doesn't leave my dog alone. He is a large dog and people that don't know breeds very well tend to place him in same catagory as pit bull and the like, and automatically think he is agressive. He is one of the most friendly dogs I have ever met, but I can understand other's thinking. I know in the summer time I don't think I could bring myself to leave him in the camper. I grew up in southern FL & it always has bothered me when people leave pets unattended in vehicles and the like.
We never leave Buddie (our diabetic Miniature Schnauzer) unattended, mostly because the rules in NY are not to leave your dog unattended.
However I happen to agree with the rule. I have seen other campers leave their dogs unattended, and you can't control what happens when you are not there. Say some children cut through your campsite, dog starts barking, that is what he is supposed to do, guard the homefront. At home my dog barks to warn us, when strangers come into the yard, and it is appropriate. In a campground, when you are not there, still appropriate, but not fair to your neighbors that you are not there to reassure the dog! And you don't know the kids didn't leave and tried to see what kind of dog it is...etc.etc.etc.
I have hated that neighbors left a dog tied outside pup all morning, and I had to listen to it whine, and cry, and bark at every squirrel or chipmunk! I was happier when they came home than the dog was.
Buddie lets out a quiet woof when someone approaches to warn us, but I doubt that he would stop at that if we left him unattended!
Lynn
WE've carried one of our dogs camping twice, once in our tent and once in our Pup. The tent weekend, I was glad to see it come to an end so I could finally unstrap him from my wrist. The Pup weekend, got very little sleep froam listening to him whine cause he couldn't sleep on the bunk. After that trip, I elected to leave the two of them home with daughter while we camp. THe other dog, I choose to leave him home because he is a biter, and therefore, I prefer not to have to deal with him while trying to enjoy a little time away from him.
Our little dog has been camping with us since she was a puppy and is now 10 yrs old. She is so quiet most people don't know we have a dog with us. We have always left her in the camper with the AC or furnace as appropriate for her comfort. If neither is needed we run the fan on the AC for noise and leave the tv on for her. We have never had a complaint and hope we never do. We have left her for most of the day or evening and so far so good. She is a great little camper.
The CGs where we stay are supposedly strict about not leaving a dog unattended but i saw lots of dogs that were "home alone"....I don't care but i wouldn't leave my dog alone b/c she is a shepherd and is as smart as she is codependent....haha....seriously, i would be afraid to leave her alone b/c she might get into some kind of mischief and/or bite someone.....but I was really proud of her this last trip.....she didn't bark hardly at all and really behaved herself ( it was her first time camping!).....the man across from us had a dog that he left tied up that would bark off and on during the night and that got old....i wanted to complain but the man had been nice to me so i didn't....but a barking dog after 10pm needs to be taken care of ...just my 2 cents.....SCmomma
we camp with our dog, now dogs. Again, one of the biggest reason we bought the pup was so that the whole family could come! Roxy is a 20lb mutt that looks like a fox, and is a wonderful camper, very quiet, in fact neighbors have commented that they didn't even know we had a dog.
usually, we just leave the a/c on and either the radio or tv and close all the windows so that she won't say hello to passer-bys lol
the interesting thing will be staying in a tent with the new puppy who whines when we leave the house....
I will be camping with my pug this summer. When I have camped with him before when it's hot, I just take him with me everywhere. My camper doesn't have air conditioning, and it's a canvas-top, so I wouldn't feel good about leaving him in it, afraid he'd get stolen. Car definitely a no-no. Has anyone boarded their pet for a day or two if they want to go to a museum, etc. Are there dog sitters out there. I mostly camp by myself, so there's noone to leave him with. Anyone have any hints for me? Thanks
I camp with my Char Pei / Fox Terrier mix. He is only 25#'s (He fits comfortably on my sons pillow pet) Camping with a pet can be challenging at times. Normally we have him with us at all times. We ran into a slight issue at Gifford Pinchot State Park in PA one time. Typically we would all go to the bath house together and one of us would stay outside with our Dog. We were in the pet loop but only 1/2 the sites were pet friendly. They had a sign up about 200 yards away from the bath house "No pets allowed". The host had his site and even told me, you can't go past that sign with my dog. I understand no dogs IN the bath house, but come on.....
We have left him in the popup for short periods of time when DW, DS, and I go to a pot luck dinner. We leave the baby monitor on and take the receiver with us so I can hear if he barks. DW and I have talked about what we would do in the future if we go camping and use it as a "base" to go to a museum or something. We will ask her mom to watch our Dog.
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Matt O 2006 Skyline Nomad 27' travel trailer. Previously owned 1986 Coleman Columbia / 1992 Coleman Senecca / 1989 Born Free Class C RV.
I had a problem at Cumberland Gap park last spring. My pug and I had hiked to the overlook, and he was worn out. Way after dark, and very cool, I left him in his crate in the back seat of the car with the windows cracked, and the car locked, while I went to listen to the dulcimer players. I was gone about 30 minutes. He was asleep and comfortable. Apparently a park ranger came along and looked in my car, and told the attendant to tell me I was breaking the rules, and she mentioned I could have gotten a fine. I was upset because I would never do anything to hurt my dog, but I guess there was a rule. I learned a lesson there.
We never leave our little pomeranian alone as he will howl like a wolf loudly if he cannot see me. He is a rescue dog that went through six homes due to aggression he is a much better dog now and I suspect with his physical injuries two legs were broken and his hip sits lower than normal he just was scared he would get hurt again. He loves camping and will run get his camping hat out of his little basket if I ask him if he is ready to go camping. Lucky for us he only weighs 4 1/2 pounds he fits into a a tote bag and goes everywhere with me
I see a lot of folks have said they may leave them for a little while. Don't take this wrong but please take every precaution when doing this. We live in FL and it gets mighty hot. We also take Bill our Boston terrier on every trip... He's my buddy! Last summer we were at a Salt Springs and the wife wanted us to go down for a swim but I insisted we couldn't leave him behind even though it wasn't terribly hot with the A/C running... Well the next week we had moved down south to a different CG and at 7:00 am the breaker for the A/C tripped while we were still sleeping with nothing else running on the circuit. Was a good example to point out to her that it can happen when you least expect it.
Easter weekend a family a couple sites down from us lost their pet under the same circumstances. Nobody knew the dog was there and the A/C quit while they were off at the beach in midafternoon heat. Not a good day for them...
