5 Tips For Camping With Your Dog(s)
Pandemic Pups—a phrase coined for the millions of humans that adopted dogs during quarantine. Since spring of 2020, so many of us found companionship within the walls of our local humane society. We picked a four legged, tail-wagging, heavy-panting friend to spend our days with—on the trails, on the couch, in the car, at the park, and in the tent.
With camping season right on the horizon, we are all yanking at our leashes to get out there. We yearn for the crack of the campfire, we crave the cotton candy sunsets, and ache for the quiet that satiates those early mornings in the backcountry. It sounds so picturesque—to sit beside your dog on the dewy grass, while the sun sneaks above the peaks. However, as we all know, tranquility can quickly become chaos if we are not prepared to deal with our pandemic pups. We want you to enjoy every bit of your camping adventure, so here’s five crucial tips we compiled (through our own trial and error processes) to ensure the best experience.
Dare we say, this is us throwing you a bone.
1) “WIPE YOUR PAWS”
If you immediately pictured your Aunt Karen’s door mat while reading this heading—stay with us. Keeping your tent clean while camping already seems like an impossible task. Don’t make it harder by letting your muddy, free-loading friend track through your sleeping space. Keep a dog towel in the vestibule for quick use to wipe their paws off before ever entering your sleeping sanctuary.
2) DOG LANTERNS-COLLAR LIGHTS
Not being able to find your dog while camping can quickly ruin the tranquility. Luckily, there are companies that created solar powered collars that slowly turn on while the world’s natural light fades away. There are also LED dog tags that serve the same purpose. We have found that placing a lantern on our four legged friends takes the anxiety away; they can quickly be found even when the campfire goes out.
3) CARRY YOUR WEIGHT- DOG PACKS
Your dog has it so easy-- you plan the whole excursion for them. You drive there, and you pack all their necessary items. The least they can do is carry their essentials in their personal dog pack. These dog packs come in very handy for hike-in campsites, as well as multi-day backpacking trips. What should you put in their packs, you ask? Answer: Their dog food, collapsible bowls for water/dog food, their favorite toy, their dog towel, wagbags (clean up after your pandemic pup, PLEASE), an extra leash, etc.
4) WHERE’S THE WATER?- CAMP BY A NATURAL WATER SOURCE
We understand that it’s not always easy to choose a campsite near a natural water source, but it certainly helps if you can plant your weekend-roots near a creek, river, or lake. Packing enough water for you and your dog can be very tough (as well as heavy), so our advice is to plan ahead—research the area, and see if you can reserve a spot near the water. This way your dog has an endless amount of water to drink in, play in, and cool off in.
5) DON’T BE A SARDINE- DO YOU HAVE A BIG ENOUGH TENT?
We know this one seems so obvious. It always seems obvious until you take two dogs and two humans on a backpacking trip with a two person tent. That two person tent quickly turns into the sweatiest, tiniest, most sardines-squished situation a tent has ever seen. It becomes a tiny arena of colliding appendages—attached to both humans and dogs. Our point being, think realistic about space. Panting can heat up a tent quicker than a zero degrees bag.
We hope that these five tips find you well. We hope you find the prettiest water-side campsite, with the best cotton candy sky. We hope you get to watch that cotton candy sky go down with a drink in your hand, and your pandemic pup at your feet.
