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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Camping with ddog?? Bonkers idea?

25 replies

Easterbunnyiscomingsoon · 15/03/2019 15:25

Is it possible? Will my ddog grasp she needs to stay inside the tent or chomp her way out??
Ddog is having surgery and if she isn't well enough to be left at home with family members we may have to take her!! It's wild woods camping so no 'neighbours' as such.
Cancelling is a last resort as dc are looking forward to it, its paid for and due to vet's bill is going to be our only trip this year.
Any seasoned ddoggy campers?
She loves the car so no worries with the journey - and only 2 hours away.
Oh and 2 week post op...

OP posts:

missbattenburg · 15/03/2019 15:29

Tents can easily get too hot or too cold so as long as you allow for that (e.g. plenty of snuggly blankets for overnight) and don't leave the dog alone in the tent I would have thought she'd be fine. Not sure how that works if you need the loo or a shower, but if there is more than one of you, you should be able to coordinate etc.

Depending on the dog, she might be a bit barky as strange noises will be heard easily in the tent. No neighbours is good for this reason, but the rest of you might have disturbed nights

In terms of surgery recoup. only your vet could let you know if she is physically up to the trip.

Original poster

Easterbunnyiscomingsoon · 15/03/2019 15:32

Could have a ddog rota? Would change the whole holiday but it might be her last days so not sure I could leave her behind anyway!
Will try playing it out with everyone and see what they think. Thanks.

OP posts:

Poppyfr33 · 15/03/2019 15:33

We took my daughter’s dog camping for a weekend, luckily he is crate trained and he slept in that overnight in his own bedroom. Just made sure no draughty. He loved it and slept so well.

CMOTDibbler · 15/03/2019 15:34

We take a folding crate with us so the dogs sleep in there overnight, and hang out in there for showers etc. When we are sitting outside, they have a tie out stake.

At night they wear fleece onsies and we drape the crate with blankets and put it on a foil backed picnic blanket and they are toasty warm

SlothMama · 15/03/2019 15:48

We took our girl camping when she was 5 months old and she loved it! Just be prepared for chilly evenings as she got cold and ended up in bed with us haha

Original poster

Easterbunnyiscomingsoon · 15/03/2019 16:14

My dh is 6'3 and 18 St. Def not room for a 35 kilo rottweiler on our airbed!! Maybe if she wore socks she could have her own airbed?

OP posts:

VanessaShanessaJenkins · 15/03/2019 16:18

We take our dog camping and lots of others always have dogs with them.

I thought camping was always thought of as a dog friendly holiday and is one of the reasons we go?!

NeverHadANickname · 15/03/2019 16:19

Ours slept fine but was a bit scared because there were more noises than she is used to.

DogInATent · 15/03/2019 16:56

Definitely possible ;)

We had two camping trips with ours last year, hoping for another couple this year - with at least one of them being abroad.

Get her a cheap sleeping bag (Tesco £8 job) to keep her warm at night.

TropicPlunder · 15/03/2019 20:48

I'm enjoying the image of a 35 kg Rottweiler in socks, bedding down on an air mattress and own sleeping bag!
I'm hoping to camp with our dog this year. Have just bought the tethering stake and cable. Expecting to never leave her unattended though, but think she'll be fine bedding down with us in tent. I think dog and kid will love it our case.... for you it depends on yours, but in theory, very possible! (Will need photos of be-socked rottweiler)

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 15/03/2019 20:51

The one thing that would worry me is whether there is a vet nearby in case we need that. You mentioned she will be post op.

willdoitinaminute · 15/03/2019 20:56

We took our young Labrador camping last year, she loved it. The first night she didn’t settle so we put her travel crate in the tent (plenty of room) and she was fine. We kept her on a long lead initially but she soon got the idea that she had to stay close. Ds13 was more of a problem. The campsite was a basic national trust (proper camping), he moaned about the cows mooing all night! We live rurally so he should be used to the country noises. I bought him some earplugs for the rest of the stay.

LadyOfTheFlowers · 15/03/2019 20:58

Camped with 2 labs in a tent and also a caravan. Have also done caravan with Jack Russell. . Tent was fine with them loose inside, but as others have said, you obviously can't leave dog in it like you can leave them at home.
They do get switched on to any noise and will bark.
Both breeds very different but both became very possessive of our camp and barked at anyone coming near. Even stayed on the beach next to our blanket they barked at anyone passing by - quite embarrassing as 2 labs barking like mad sound awful 😬
Other people may have had more mellow ones than ours - they were practically horizontal any other time, but camping and beaches made them strangely protective.... 🙄🤔

ScreamingValenta · 15/03/2019 21:01

We took a crate for Ddog to sleep in, and a stake and line so he could potter about during the day (under supervision). It was fine.

OrangeSamphire · 15/03/2019 21:06

We took our dog camping when she was 20 weeks old. She loved it as the tent space with all her people in one place really appealed to her. Plenty of lovely walks and all the fresh air meant she was chilled when back at camp and she slept really well in her crate.

The only tricky issue was how to store her food as she’s on raw. Luckily the campsite had a freezer!

reindeermania · 15/03/2019 21:25

I camp with two dogs regularly. First day they are more stressed/ alert but then they calm and relax and frankly- love it. They turn into cats. So much walking and stimulating means they sleep 3/4 the time.

Our biggest challenge is how hot a tent gets in the sun- they need shade outdoors as inside the tent can get horribly hot.

villainousbroodmare · 15/03/2019 21:27

Could you do a trial at home? Pitch the tent in the garden?

anniehm · 15/03/2019 21:38

Ddog goes camping with us. We trap him in the bedroom at night with us ensuring that the zip end is high up (he will unzip it if it's low enough!) we also bring a screw-in lead anchor and 5m line in case we need to secure him though rarely have to as he's very reliable. Only issue is he hates owls, I mean he howls loudly if he hears one, and once we camped in an owl filled wood! He sleeps on a dog camping mattress (yes they sell them!)

anniehm · 15/03/2019 21:43

Should mention the only issue we've had is he won't eat his dog food as he worked out years ago that on camp sites other people will feed him sausages, i kid you not, he scrounges big time by sitting near our tent with big brown eyes staring at whoever is cooking especially if there's a small child as he knows that they will feed him!

Weetabixandshreddies · 15/03/2019 21:49

We saw lots of dogs when we were camping (never braved it with any ours, I think they would have escaped under the tent flaps within seconds) but these others were always well behaved.

Most people had a ground spike that you can attach the lead to to stop them from running off.

feelingsinister · 15/03/2019 21:56

We've camped with ours loads. We don't go at the height of summer because it will be too hot for them. We take a crate for one of the dogs because he's a bolter and he feels secure in a crate. The other sleeps with us on an air bed which is an experience.

You can get ties and stakes so you don't have to hold their leads all the time. With an older dog that probably wouldn't be needed as much.

Ours love the outdoors, pub lunches and just being with us and we love camping with them. Most campsites are very welcoming but do check first.

We like fairly basic campsites anyway but we don't go to places that have any facilities like play areas etc.

Beamur · 15/03/2019 22:01

We've taken our dogs camping several times. Even our bad dog liked it, although she chewed through the lead we'd staked. Heat fluctuations need to be watched out for. Too hot/cold.

Original poster

Easterbunnyiscomingsoon · 15/03/2019 22:07

We are going to the Scottish border. No risk of overheating!!

OP posts:

PragmaticWench · 15/03/2019 22:13

A foil backed picnic blanket (as suggested above) is a really good way of stopping the cold seeping up from the ground; we put one under our dog's bed and a couple of blankets over him. We all slept well.

Japanesejazz · 15/03/2019 22:20

For my dogs the week we go camping is their favourite week of every year. They sleep in the tent at the end of the air bed. Attached to the tow bar on long leads when we are on site,.

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