How To Camp With Your Dog!

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Summer season is here and what a better way to get out there and enjoy it than to go camping with your dog! I love to camp and my dogs go everywhere with me. Last year we ventured out and went camping for the first time together since getting my pups and we learned quite a bit from this experience!

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Campground Rules and Policies

Most campgrounds are dog friendly! Just be sure to read the rules before hand to make sure that your dog will be welcome. I have found that most campgrounds have leash requirements, but there are some options out there that do have off leash dog areas. Most campgrounds also have rules on whether your dog is allowed on the beach or not or may have a separate area for dogs. Picking up after your pet is also a must!

While most dogs bark, many campgrounds will not put up with excessive barking. Aggressive dogs will also unlikely be tolerated so if you have a dog with behaviour issues then perhaps another outdoor activity might be more suitable.

Just be sure to do thorough research before booking to ensure that you and your dog have a great experience!

Plan Your Route

If you will be travelling in the car for a long period of time to get to your destination you will want to find spots that you can let your dog have a break and potty time! When I drove home in an RV last summer I made sure that we could stop about every three hours. But Benson does not do well with new situations and he needed more frequent stops on the way home…so we were pulling over at the roadside in potentially unsafe conditions. A little preparation here will go a long way!

Prepare

Now that you have planned and booked your camping trip, there are essential items that you will need to pack to make the trip successful!

Essential supplies for your dog include:

• Food and water bowls
• Extra water and food
• Treats
• Pet waste bags
• Tie outs and a tether or stake
• Well-fitting collars and harnesses
• ID tags with your contact information
• Pet first aid kit
• Toys and chews
• Extra towels
• Medications
• Brush and matte/burr removing tool
• List of nearby vets to the campground

Some other things you may want to consider include:

• Rain jacket
• Protective boots
• Cooling vest
• Thunder jacket
• Sunscreen
• Life jacket
• Reflective collar for night time
• GPS collar
• Activity Tracker

Tenting

Loving to be in a tent myself, this is how I prefer to camp. But anyone who likes to tent knows that they can heat up quickly in the sun. To prevent heat exhaustion, make sure that you do not leave your dog alone in the tent.

Make sure that the tent entrance is securely closed at night. If you think that it might be an issue, you can try placing luggage in front of the tent door to prevent escape.

Size matters! My dogs are BEASTS so I would need to have a much bigger tent than the little four man one I currently have! The larger the better so that everyone is comfortable and has enough room to move around. If your dog sleeps in a crate, you may also want to consider bringing it so you will need to have enough room to accommodate it!

Fire Safety

What would camping even be without a campfire?? I love the taste of food cooked over a fire! And who doesn’t find it mesmerizing to sit around the fire after dark?

Well…my dogs have about zero sense that a fire is HOT! Especially if food is involved! If given the opportunity Grace especially will try to get close. Oh the smell of singed fur!

To deal with this, I tie the leads so that they cannot reach the fire but can still get close enough to us for rubs. They aren’t necessarily happy about it but safety first! You do not want to be out in the middle of nowhere and end up with burns. Always make sure the fire area is cool before letting the dogs anywhere near it, as some of the embers and coals can still be hot to the touch after several hours. And be watchful for any embers that could land on your pet causing burns.

Wildlife

Wildlife is more than likely present where you are camping. Keeping your dog on a leash can minimize the chance of an unwanted encounter!

Keep your dog’s food in a sealed container and clean up any spills so that wildlife is not encouraged to come and check it out…the last thing you need is a bear at your tent!

Always be respectful of the local wildlife. Not only can your dog end up getting hurt but they can also injure other animals.

The Escape Artist

As much as we try to keep our dogs contained, there are inevitable times where they can become the best escape artists! Also, some dogs get scared by thunder or fireworks which can make them bolt. You can try a thunder jacket to keep them calm in this case.

But if your dog does manage to escape,make sure that you have your dog microchipped and up to date on shots. This way, if they do get away from you they can be returned if found. A collar with tags and your contact information can also be very helpful to get your pet back to you safely.

A GPS collar can add another level of reassurance as you can find your dog quickly if it gets lost rather than hoping someone will find them or that they will find their way back to you! I even want my mom to get these for her cats, especially after Zoey went missing for months a few years back. She made it back home, but her other cat Petunia did not. You can read all about that story here.

Water

Bring extra water with you! Your dog will likely drink more water than they would at home and keeping them hydrated when outdoors is very important! I packed a LOT of extra water when we had our RV adventure last summer and I was surprised that we went through most of it!

Keep the water bowl in a cool shaded place if you can, and change it when it gets dirty.

Don’t let your dog drink out of puddles and stagnant pools of water as it can potentially make them sick! Benson LOVES to drink out of any little puddle he can find so it is always a chore to drag him away from there! I even take water down to the beach with me…but he finds the lake infinitely more interesting and on bad water quality days if he gets in there I know I am in for a night of standing at the back door with him…

Dog Friendly Activities

Last summer on our trip what I failed to realize was that some of our planned sightseeing stops were not dog friendly…much to the disappointment of my daughter. As a result, we missed out on the Agawa Rock pictographs and stopping at the amethyst mines.

If your dog is reasonably active you can look for hiking trails to explore! When researching campgrounds check out nearby trails and check to see if they allow your dogs on them.

Some campgrounds are right on the water and have beaches. But not all of them are necessarily dog-friendly. Our first stop last summer was at an amazing campground that had access to a small private lake, but when we walked down there we realized that dogs were not allowed on the beach at all. At Agawa in Lake Superior Provincial Park we were lucky that they had a dedicated strip of beach where dogs were allowed off leash! Grace and Benson had an absolute blast! Pancake Bay Provincial Park also had a beach with a big section where dogs were allowed off leash. Always remember to check ahead!

Other activities could include boating or kayaking. Or if your dog is trained for it, paddle boarding!! We just got paddle boards and I would LOVE to train my dogs on them! I even have life jackets for the dogs! However, I have a strong feeling that Grace would just end up jumping right into the water anyways since she loves swimming. And Benson is scared of the boards once they are blown up…

Get Camping!

Now it is time to get out there and start your next adventure with your dog! Camping is a great escape for everyone and provides a great bonding opportunity! With a little planning and research it can be a great experience!

Any other tips for planning your next camping trip? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow us on social media for more adventures!