# Camping



## doglover (Aug 4, 2009)

Even though winter is far from over, I am getting excited for spring. We love to camp but I am trying to picture how this will work. For those of you campers out there. Do you leash your dog at the campsite? I do not trust his recall at all! Do they stick close by if you do not? Do they sleep ok in the tent? Clyde is used to his kennel and I am not sure that we would bring it camping. Love to hear your stories!


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

We are also campers and were excited to take Penny last summer for the first time. She was about a year and did well. We used both a pop up camper and a tent and she did great sleeping in both. She is used to being in her kennel so sleeping with us was a treat. There might have been one "accident" on a sleeping bag, but if I remember correctly that was more our fault. In fact, imagine what it is like sharing a sleeping bag with a 40 lb dog. Very cozy.

As for leashing, yes. It was a rigid requirement everywhere we went. You could probably get away without if you go backcountry, but otherwise I can visualize a very fast dog running through the campsites with a string of hot dogs dangling out of her mouth. And her recall is decent.

We got a long lead that we tied around trees so she could essentially have free reign within our site. Of course she constantly got tangled around trees and would wine when we were standing out of her reach. She got better over time, though. The one stressful moment was arriving late to a site and having her bark at us as we were working quickly to put up the camper on a hill as the sun was setting. But there are definitely a lot more barking terriers and hounds at most campgrounds. 

Sometimes I felt like she was permantly attached to my arm with the leash, but it was worth it for the hiking and companionship.


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## jp (Nov 24, 2009)

I forgot the best part! She didn't like lying on the ground, so after dark sitting around the campfire I always ended up sharing a folding camping chair with a dog that didn't fit on my lap. Funny and uncomfortable.


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## Lisa (Feb 18, 2009)

We took Catan camping with us last year in July and August so he was 7 months and 8 months old. We took along his crate for the tent. Our previous dog figured out that if he dove at where the zippers came together he could escape the tent and go after the racoons and skunks in the night. Just not something I wanted to deal with in the middle of the night.

For the most part it went very well. We tied him off to the trees with a long lead. He earned the nick name Daniel Boone cause he would go off into the forest foraging for sticks and come back to his bed and chew them. He did this for hours. Also brought a bed for him which I covered in a blanket by adding some buttons to the blanket so it was secure. I did let him off leash in the trees to run but it was tricky as it was impossible for him to tell where the forest ended and the other sites started. Lucky for us the camp grounds were pretty empty mid week.

We had lots of rain so we spent a great deal of time hudled in the kitchen tent playing games which he didn't seem to mind. He loved the dog beach and took to the water quickly. Vizsla fur is great as he would dry off so quickly. Plus he spent so much time lying in the dirt and still looked clean.

However one night he took offence to the kids riding off on their bikes without him and started barking up a storm and caused us to get a noise of violation.

Overall it was very positive.


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## DragonTheRevolutionary (Feb 15, 2009)

keep the tree sap away from your v's feet


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## Big Rick (Apr 14, 2009)

We spend the summers traveling in our motorhome so last summer we took Dexter along for the first time. We had been taking our other dogs for a while and they were fine. With the exception of chewing on some of the woodwork and carpet Dexter did quite well. He was 5 months old when we started out and almost 8 months when we returned home.

We have some fencing sections that I place around the side of the coach where the awning is so the dogs could come out and sit with us without being leashed. If Dex got out of the area (by going under the coach) he would take off and go visit the neighbors. Most of the neighbors were OK with him. When I took him to the dog walk area I would let him off leash to run off some energy and he was very responsive on recall.

All in all it was a great trip. Oh, wait, we were making our way through downtown Cincinnati when he jumped against the door of the motorhome and it came open, slightly. Sandy grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him back in just as he was trying to go out. It was rush hour, raining and we were doing 55 MPH at the time. Almost lost him on that one. Scary.


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## Lunaa (Aug 16, 2010)

doglover said:


> Even though winter is far from over, I am getting excited for spring. We love to camp but I am trying to picture how this will work. For those of you campers out there. Do you leash your dog at the campsite? I do not trust his recall at all! Do they stick close by if you do not? Do they sleep ok in the tent? Clyde is used to his kennel and I am not sure that we would bring it camping. Love to hear your stories!


My girlfriend and I took her (OUR) 8 month old V for 3 nights in Algonquin Park for her first time and she was a lot better than we had thought. We worried she would try to jump out of the boat, that she would run away on portages, or that she would chase some squirrel off our campsite and not come back... We literally had no problems. I would only suggest leashing if you are on a *campground* as opposed to a campsite, because there will likely be other humans around with food and potential cars, etc... If you are in the interior of any wooded area, I think your V will likely want to be velcroed to your side. We put a little cowbell on ours, which almost paralysed her at first but after the first day she was running up ahead and then running back to us, making sure we were still there. She slept in the tent with us each night, and I'll admit I was worried she would get spooked and just claw right through the tent wall. She normally sleeps in her crate at home every night so I think she was just happy to be sleeping with us 'hooomans' and enjoyed being spoiled while it lasted. 

Definitely go on a trip with your V. It will make camping all the more fun. Best of luck!


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## cathyl (Sep 9, 2010)

We take Maddie and Alex camping all the time. We have a 5th wheel and they love it. They get to run in a field and go crazy, sleep, eat, and run and go crazy. We go for walks and they jump in and out of water, and sniff and point at birds, deer, moose and Maddie still loves her butterflies and moths. They know when the 5th wheel is in front of the house, it's PARTY TIME!!!!!!!


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## LynnieB (Apr 26, 2010)

Archie really loved his first camping trip at 8 months old. We attatched a long lead to a stake in the ground & he was fine with this which I was very suprised at. He slept inside the tent on the airbed & tried to get into my single sleeping bag!


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## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

Chester is 5 months old and we have taken him camping twice.

We took his crate but found we didn't even use this as he got a treat and slept in our bed!!

We put a metal stake in the ground and tied him to that when we were cooking or getting ready as the camp site was busy. The rest of the day we were out and about. He was so tired by the end we were able to leave him in the camper van and go out for a few hours in the evening.

Definitely get them used to it and it'll be a breeze


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

That makes me feel a bit better!

We're doing a trip to Algonquin in a week and a half, we are going to backpack in (only short distances this time!) and our pup will be 4 months.

I've been a bit nervous about how he'll be, more so at night, but I'm banking on the fact that he will be exhausted from spending all day outside!


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## fiona long (Feb 15, 2010)

we have done exactly the same as chestersmum and it worked well for us too x


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## doglover (Aug 4, 2009)

We ended up camping with Clyde 5 times this summer. We even took him from MN to CO. 3, 800 miles! He did GREAT everytime. He gets so exhausted in the day that he sleeps well at night. Many of the little towns had shops that were dog friendly, so often times Clyde just walked through the stores with us. Can't wait for next summer. Going to Banff!


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## Lunaa (Aug 16, 2010)

DarDog said:


> That makes me feel a bit better!
> 
> We're doing a trip to Algonquin in a week and a half, we are going to backpack in (only short distances this time!) and our pup will be 4 months.
> 
> I've been a bit nervous about how he'll be, more so at night, but I'm banking on the fact that he will be exhausted from spending all day outside!



Hey Dar, 

How was the Algonquin trip with your V?? Where in the park did you go?


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

We're actually going next weekend; quite excited! We're going to the Eastern Pines backpacking trail on the east end by Achray, because you don't have to hike very far to get to a campsite. No Highland trails this year, lol.


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

Well, we just got back from our first camping trip with the puppy (4 months old), and he was awesome!! The first day we hiked in, about an hour (offleash, *shhh*), got to the site, and he went bonkers! He really doesn't like laying down or sleeping outside, so when we showed him the open tent, he lept right in and fell asleep right away for the night. 
The next night was a bit cold, and he was pacing in the tent for a bit. So, my fiance offered to share his sleeping bag with Darwin, and he got in, and crawled all the way to the foot end, and slept there until morning. I have no idea how this would be comfortable, but he seemed to be happy .

He has had a bit of an issue readjusting to being apart from us now, just because I think he thought that we were always going to sleep in this "giant crate" together everynight. He should get over it quickly though, since he has all of his comforts of home again .

We've decided that bringing our pup along is a must for any camping trip from now on!


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## Keneomac (Oct 12, 2010)

I also love taking Darwin camping! He is loves it and we have found he is great off-leash for the most part. We do have to leash him every so often and have found that the Ruff Wear Quick Draw Leash http://www.ruffwear.com/Quick-Draw-Leash_2?sc=2&category=15 is amazing! Not to sound like a commercial, but it is great for letting him run and then having an instant leash when needed! 

The only issue we have is him waking us up all night in the tent every time he shifts we all get woken up! We need to teach him to stay at the bottom of the tent to keep our feet warm!


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