Your dog may not be able to join you in every vacation but camping and hiking is one of the best vacations that your dog can go and enjoy with you.
Be sure to plan the camping trip and include the needs of your dog. If your preparation is bad, then your camping trip may turn out to be disastrous.
To help you prepare for your camping trip with your dog. We will go over some great tips to make sure you and your dog will have a great time camping and hiking.
Some Things To Bring
- Tent
- Food and Water
- Dog supplies
- Cookware
- Sleeping bag for you and your dog
- Hiking boots
The Tent
When you are choosing your tent make sure to consider room for your dog too. Depending on the size of your dog you may need a tent that is for at least two people because your dog will take up that much space plus all your belonging that you will be keeping inside your tent.
One of the tents that we recommend is the two-person Midori. It’s great for you and your dog, it cost $159.95 which is cheap. This tent is lightweight and easy to carry around.
No matter what tent you get you should open it up at home and set it up, so you know how to set your tent up before going to the campsite.
Plus, you can check if there are any holes in the tent or other defects before going to the campsite. You can also practice getting in and out of the tent and let your dog get familiar with the tent.
Keeping Your Dog Happy
Some dogs get anxious when they are in the tent, most dogs do not have this problem when they are in the tent. In fact, most dogs love camping and being outdoors. You can tell if your dog has this problem if your dog starts to dig inside the tent, bark, or chew the tent walls.
Here are some tips if you have this problem with your dog. You can practice at home and try to let your dog get used to being in a tent.
One of the best ways to keep your dogs from being anxious in the tent is to train them before camping. Train them with the “go to bed” or “go to sleep” or “time for bed” command. This will help your dog to realize this tent is home now.
Another tip is to trim your dog’s nails before going camping so if your dog starts to dig inside your tent your dog won’t be cutting through the tent floor. You could also place yoga mats inside the tent floor then if your dog does damage anything it would be the yoga mat and not the tent floor.
Another way to keep your dog happy and not anxious is to bring along their bed so they could feel at home.
The point of the whole camping and hiking trip is to have fun together for both humans and canines which will help build a stronger bond.
Finding The Right Campsite For You And Your Dog
Once you got your gears ready your next step is to find the right camping site and booking it. When you are finding your campsite make sure it’s a pet friendly campsite because there are some that aren’t pet friendly.
Some campsites have restrictions surrounding dog size and breed so check online or call them to make sure that they allow your dog at that campsites because the last thing you want is to have everything ready and you get there to find out that your dog can’t stay at the campsite.
Luck enough most campsites allow you to bring your pets and families. If you can’t find campsites that let you bring pets, try going backcountry camping.
When you are at your campsite with your dog make sure you are being considerate of your camp neighbors by keeping your dog on a leash and don’t leave your dog unattended. Also, always pick up your dog’s poop at the campsite.
Vet Visit
You should go get your dog checked out before going on a camping trip so that you can make sure your dog is in good shape for camping.
When you are at the vet make sure your dog flea and tick medication is up to date because they are most likely to catch fleas or ticks while camping and hiking.
Dog’s Documents
Make sure that you have all of your dog’s documents that are up to date with their license, ID tags and current vaccinations. You should bring it along with you on the trip just in case something happens, and you need those documents.
Pet First Aid Kit
You should always bring a first aid kit for your dogs. It needs to be pet specific aid kit because it will have some things that you can’t find in human first aid kit. You can get this at any pet supply stores, or you can buy individual items and pack it yourself into a first aid kit.
Bring A Leash And Stake
We all know that your dog is the best doggie in the world who never misbehave but there are other campers at the site, and they might be afraid of dogs so we must take that into consideration so you will need to bring a leash and stake.
The stake is for staking down the leash when you can’t hold onto the leash. Plus, some campsites require your dog to be secured at your campsite or on a leash when walking around the camp ground.
It’s also a good thing to have your dog on a leash at all times when hiking on trails because you never know if your dog may run off into the wilderness.
Other Dog Supplies To Bring
Other dog supplies to bring on your camping trip would be water/food bowl and portable water container for your dog, kibble, dog sleeping bag, light up collar, plenty of dog treats, dog shoes, and poop bags.
You are going to need a light up collar so that at night you can easily spot your dog because when you are camping there is little to no outside light. Poop bags is a must because you need to pick up after your dog just like in normal everyday situation.
Dog shoes are necessary when hiking because you never know what is on the ground while hiking, there might be thorns on the ground or sharp rocks. You are going to need to bring the portable water container for your dogs while you are hiking so that you don’t have to always pour the water into a bowl for your dogs on the hiking trail.
Sleeping Arrangements
Once you are done doing all your camping activities for the day its time to head to bed. Be sure to have a sleeping bag and a dog bed for your dog. Try to make your dog comfortable as possible so that your dog does not wake you up in the middle of the night. You could let your dog sleep next to you and not have a sleeping bag but at least have a blanket for your dog depending on the weather.
Sweet dreams and remember to have a great time with your dog aka your best friend.