Pet camping secrets

[b.bodemer]

Paddy joins in on all the trips.

Her newest adventure:
http://auntbarbandauntrose.blogspot.com ... tures.html

Barb

[Angiewy]

I take my dogs crates with me whenever I go camping on the off chance I'll need them (spend night in a hotel, etc.). They LOVE IT. My Aussie/Heeler mix is protective of me and I have found out (the hard way) that even in a small town, a leash is a must. When I'm at the ranch I let her loose. The area I go camping is pretty remote so I let her off the leash/tie down only when I know there's noone else around.

When we were at camp this year, I had a chain attached to each side of the chair I sat in. Snoopy's was 30 ft, Baxter (my Dorgi pup's) was half that length. At night I had Snoopy's leash attached to my cot and (after Baxter chewed through his leash) Baxter's chain as well. Snoopy slept on a blanket, Baxter had the option of his crate or anywhere in the tent...he chose to sleep on Mama. Worked great because he sure kept my feet warm!

Biggest issue I found is barking in campgrounds and the heat issue. I correct the dogs when they bark much at other families, otherwise if its cool I leave them in the car and they settle down. I do any shopping/touring in the evening, morning or cooler days.

[S. Heisley]

I take my dogs crates with me whenever I go camping on the off chance I'll need them (spend night in a hotel, etc.). They LOVE IT. My Aussie/Heeler mix is protective of me and I have found out (the hard way) that even in a small town, a leash is a must. When I'm at the ranch I let her loose. The area I go camping is pretty remote so I let her off the leash/tie down only when I know there's noone else around.

When we were at camp this year, I had a chain attached to each side of the chair I sat in. Snoopy's was 30 ft, Baxter (my Dorgi pup's) was half that length. At night I had Snoopy's leash attached to my cot and (after Baxter chewed through his leash) Baxter's chain as well. Snoopy slept on a blanket, Baxter had the option of his crate or anywhere in the tent...he chose to sleep on Mama. Worked great because he sure kept my feet warm!

Biggest issue I found is barking in campgrounds and the heat issue. I correct the dogs when they bark much at other families, otherwise if its cool I leave them in the car and they settle down. I do any shopping/touring in the evening, morning or cooler days.

[Todah Tear]

This doesn't necessarily apply to camping, but it is a very good trick to get your cat to take its medicine.

If your cat has to take medicine that is a gel or liquid, there is an alternat to trying to putting the cat in a head-lock and prying the mouth open while getting scratched OR putting in their food only to have them shun the food (My cats have shunned food w/meds in it.) I simpley put the drops of medicine or gel on their paw on the furry part. I rub it is a little just to make sure it doesn't roll off. Invaribly, the cat will like every bit of it off. It's a win-win-win situation. The cat gets the medicine and cleaned, and I don't get scratched.

Todah

[Todah Tear]

..Snoopy slept on a blanket, Baxter had the option of his crate or anywhere in the tent...he chose to sleep on Mama. Worked great because he sure kept my feet warm!..

Snoopy footwarmers, I think you are on to something! They may actually sell better than those backward house coat thingies...what are they called?

Todah

[Jim Edgerly]

My dog free feeds on dry kibble. Sometimes he won't eat for a day and a half, next day he eats several times during the day, absolutely no set schedule what so ever. We normally leave down like a 3-4 day supply and let him eat at his leisure. He is NOT over weight, just eats when he needs to, never over eats his kibble. This is a problem camping because we need him to eat when WE want so bugs and tree stuff doesn't get in his food left down too long. We checked his kibble bag and found out how much he should eat per day. We take a small one pound peanut butter jar, add a teaspoon of peanut butter and a 1/2 cup water...then shake it all up real good. Add his half cup of kibble and shake it up again. Dump in his bowl and he would kill to get to it. He does the dance thing on his rear legs the whole time we are preparing his meal. Do the same thing again for supper. No problem getting him to eat when WE want him to. The "peanut butter gravy" is irresistible...cleans his dish like he hasn't eatin in a month!

[atahoekid]

We have two dogs and we take them everywhere we go camping. I built the Road Foamie with a cubbie hole for Mollie. Moose sleep on the bed, just like at home. We cook their food for them at home since Moose is a fussy eater and Mollie has GI problems. It's the only food that works for both of them. It's chicken, rice, peas and carrots. We just prepare enough food to take with us. On our last trip we took three batches. We froze two of the batches and stuck them in the cooler. We thawed them as needed and things worked out fine. Our dogs always stay on a 6 foot leash while they're camping with us. It's a regulation in California and we've just gotten used to it over the years of camping. We do sometimes set up a "running line" for them Suspend rope between two trees , run the rope through the handles of their leashes and it gives them some room to move.

This is Moose. He's my wife's 8 pound toy poodle. That's all fluffy fur you're looking at. We hate the traditional poodle cut and instead opt for the Teddy Bear cut. None the less, he is 8 pounds of disobedience and annoying.


This is Mollie in our Road Foamie. She fell asleep early after a rough evening of chasing off raccoons from the campsite. She is our pound rescue. We think she's had a pretty rough life before we took her in but she has slowly become less timid and afraid of people. She's a loveable, obedient dog. She also thinks it's her job to be Moose's bodyguard.

[DezPrado]

That Mollie is one cool looking pooch and a lotta potential fun. What's her ancestry?

[atahoekid]

The vets we have taken her to think she is part Beagle, part Lab and part Pit Bull. She's still got trust issues when it comes to new people. It's hard to convince her that most people love dogs and would never harm her. But apparently she was treated poorly by people in her past and she hasn't forgotten. She'll snarl and bark at anyone new who approaches her. Anyone got any ideas of how to break her of this habit? Once she gets to trust someone, she is really loveable but I'd like her to stop snarling and barking at people who approach her. Funny, if you ignore her, she'll stop.

[Roly Nelson]

My Pom was attacked some months ago, by a huge German Shepard. She got her belly bit, but no blood was drawn. From that day on, I always carry a golf putter with me to protect me and my dog. It serves as double duty, since I cut about 3 inches off of the shaft and twist a plastic bag into the opening, so I never have to look for the bag to pick up her poop. It is short enough, so that no one knows I am carrying it, since it fits right nest to my shoulder. Hey, it works for me. I don't ever expect to hit a dog, but if is comes to me or him, I'm gonna use the putter for protection.
Roly ~~

[Blue_Villain]

The vets we have taken her to think she is part Beagle, part Lab and part Pit Bull. She's still got trust issues when it comes to new people. It's hard to convince her that most people love dogs and would never harm her. But apparently she was treated poorly by people in her past and she hasn't forgotten. She'll snarl and bark at anyone new who approaches her. Anyone got any ideas of how to break her of this habit? Once she gets to trust someone, she is really loveable but I'd like her to stop snarling and barking at people who approach her. Funny, if you ignore her, she'll stop.

I have... well, what we think to be an Australian Shepherd Beagle mix, who was also treated awfully before I got her. She was picked up by animal control after three days of being tied to a tree. Her previous owners had apparently moved, and left her there. So no telling how bad they treated her when they were around. When I went out of town my dad would come over and let her out during the day, except since she was so afraid of strangers at the time that she wouldn't go anywhere near the door when he stood there holding it open. His solution was to open the back door, go outside and around the corner. Once she was in the backyard he'd go around to the front and shut the back door from the inside.

If it weren't for the white feet and the fact that she bays I'd never in a million years think she was a beagle mix, but once I pointed it out to the vet she agreed with me 100%. I think Beagle mixes probably have it worse than other dogs. Since people don't necessarily know what they're getting into when they get a hound mix. To be fair, the baying even gets on my nerves some times, but that's just her way of saying she needs attention. So a little bit of attention with her goes a long way. Nowadays when I take her to the dog park she's more interested in introducing herself to all of the people than she is the other dogs.

But there's no magic bullet here. It just took a little love and a whole lot of time. Now she's the most affectionate and lovable dog I've ever owned. (And she makes a great companion to my boxer/pit mix, who absolutely hates sleeping on the ground. The last trip I took him on he was tied to the hitch of my TV, he saw a deer and moved the back wheels of my Jeep Grand Cherokee nearly four feet sideways. Of course, he also routinely stole firewood to have something to chew on and the only place I could get him to sleep was the front seat of the Jeep, which I took as his indication that he was ready to go home. Needless to say, the two of them stay home more often than not.)

[PKCSPT]

Atahoekid, have you tried clicker training her?
Once she is clicker trained, anytime she even one steps toward a stranger I would click and treat. After she gets the idea let her take a few steps closer before you click and treat. If she ever just gets close enough for a quick sniff boy that would be big pets and treats. Be sure to tell the people to just ignore her.
It will take a long time no matter which way you go but eventually you may be able to give the treat to someone and when she approaches them click and they give her the treat. Slow and patient is the best way.

[atahoekid]

So far, the best thing is to tell people to ignore her. If they stick around long enough, she'll eventually go over and give them a tentative sniff, but again if they acknowledge her, she'll bark and growl. It just takes time. She loves running up to our neighbors now that she's comfortable with them, but strangers still arouse her suspicion. When they first introduced her to me at the pound, they put us both in a large room. I could tell she was nervous, so I let her sit in one corner and I sat in the other for about half an hour. I eventually got closer and closer and she let me pet her without barking. So slow and patient seems to work for her. She's a great pet, very loving, very protective. I just feel badly for her that people (and hyperactive or out of control dogs) make her so nervous.

[Bobcape]

My springer, Lum, loves to go camping. He gets to run for hours. I don't camp in campgrounds so it's never a problem. However, I'm getting ready to go on my annual 10 day trip to the Big Horns this week. I'll be isolated camping in national forest but there will be other campers and dogs joining me this year. I'm taking a tie-out chain and his kennel along.

He's all about investigating everything.








And he's a big help supervising camp chores.


Bob

[celticquetzel]

A coworker who is into serious competitive dog training said only way to break the neighbor's dog from barking was to stand there, not making eye contact which they view as aggressive, until he gave up barking. No, not a fun or quick solution. But she swears if you do it they will stop. But you have to be committed to see it through or you just make it worse.