{"id":18059,"date":"2011-06-30T13:42:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T18:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=18059"},"modified":"2025-09-29T10:17:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:17:57","slug":"dog-camping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/survival\/dog-camping\/","title":{"rendered":"Adventures with Fido: How to Camp with Your Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2011\/06\/gracie_canoe_watching.jpg\" alt=\"Black dog sitting in front of canoe in lake.\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"\/><\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-bottom: 20px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/thirdparty.fmpub.net\/placement\/415488?fleur_de_sel=[timestamp]\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>When John Steinbeck traveled with Charley, his standard poodle, the result was one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0142000701\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=stucosuccess-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0142000701\">my favorite books<\/a>. Fifty years after its publishing it&#8217;s still a great read, and it wouldn&#8217;t have been what it is without Charley.<\/div>\n<p>The companionship of a dog can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a wilderness traveler.&nbsp; As opposed to humans, they are quiet, low-maintenance, and easy to please. Dogs cannot be jaded; everything is new to them.&nbsp; If you don&#8217;t believe me, watch your dog at a rest stop.&nbsp; The pet exercise area is like a giant olfactory newspaper, and my dogs must read every article, especially the ones left behind by an interesting female.<\/p>\n<p>But like anything, the key to a successful trip is preparation, and then more preparation. There are many more considerations in your wilderness trip prep work when taking a dog, and failure in one of them can create drama. &nbsp;You are responsible for the health and safety of your companion.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Training<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"pup2\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2011\/06\/pup2.jpg\" alt=\"Dog wearing backpack.\" width=\"450\" height=\"299\"\/><br \/>\nYou don&#8217;t need a dog with a Ph.D, but be honest with yourself.&nbsp; Does your dog listen to you?&nbsp; When you give a command, does she* listen and respond?&nbsp; I spent a long time training Gracie, my Black Lab, to respond to the important voice commands.&nbsp; She doesn&#8217;t roll over or play dead, as they are cute tricks but have no value other than entertaining kids.The important commands that need consistent responses are:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Whoa<\/strong>:&nbsp; I use this for stop, freeze, don&#8217;t move.&nbsp; Useful for bird dogs so they don&#8217;t flush a bird when they&#8217;re on-point; it&#8217;s also useful when they see a squirrel and start chasing it across the street.&nbsp; Whoa can save a life.<br \/>\n<strong>Come<\/strong>:&nbsp; Self-explanatory.<br \/>\n<strong>Down<\/strong>:&nbsp; Lay down, don&#8217;t move until I tell you it&#8217;s okay.<br \/>\n<strong>Okay<\/strong>: &nbsp;We&#8217;re cool. &nbsp;As you were.<br \/>\n<strong>Leave it<\/strong>:&nbsp; Whatever is in your mouth, drop it.&nbsp; If you&#8217;re sniffing a dead crow, don&#8217;t even think about it.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever words you decide to use, you need a dog that will stop, come back, lay down, and drop the thing in her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Non-essential but useful is also the <em>hurry up<\/em>, which is basically urinate and defecate quickly.&nbsp; Useful at rest stops.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you don&#8217;t need all these commands if you&#8217;re going to keep your dog on a leash all the time, but that takes away a lot of the fun for both you and your dog.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Aggression<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Whether it be toward humans, other dogs or any wildlife, an aggressive dog has no place in the wilderness.&nbsp; It doesn&#8217;t matter if it only happened once.&nbsp; If your dog is aggressive, leave her home.&nbsp; There are too many ways this can go wrong.&nbsp; I don&#8217;t need to list them.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Breed and Temperament<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18062 size-full\" title=\"dana_tank1\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/dana_tank1.jpg\" alt=\"Dog jumping on man in the canoe.\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"\/><\/strong>Let&#8217;s be honest.&nbsp; We are asking a lot of a dog to do the things we want her to do.&nbsp; If a dog hasn&#8217;t seen a porcupine before and won&#8217;t <em>whoa<\/em>, you better have your Leatherman pliers and a day off trail to spare.&nbsp; My experience is that <em>most<\/em> smaller terriers don&#8217;t handle things well.&nbsp; Not that yours won&#8217;t, but a Jack Russell that sees a porcupine will most likely bark <em>bring it on!<\/em> in dog language and go for the throat.&nbsp; That&#8217;s what they were bred to do, and they do it well.<\/p>\n<p>The dogs I have known who handle wilderness tripping the best are usually smart and compliant.&nbsp; Retrievers of all sorts tend to do very well, as do Chesapeakes. Pointers and other sporting dogs can do well, but a lot of that is individual temperament.&nbsp; Our German Shorthair, Winnie (R.I.P.), was great, but she was a very chill GSP.&nbsp; Some are more high-strung.&nbsp; Standard poodles tend to do very well with a good short clip.&nbsp; With a show cut, other dogs and animals will mock them.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our Great Pyrenees puppy Alice is&nbsp;yet unproven, but she does appear to be a burdock magnet, so consider coat maintenance when taking longer-haired dogs.<\/p>\n<p>Border Collies can be wonderful.&nbsp; My friend Dana has a great BC who listens better than most teenagers. &nbsp;Others would try to herd every animal in a five mile radius. &nbsp;Again, individual differences.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Behavior Issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>Barkers<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sound carries a long way over water.&nbsp; I can recall camping on an island in the Boundary Waters and a dog barked constantly for hours.&nbsp; It seemed like she was just across the channel, but in fact the campsite was almost a mile away, within earshot of a dozen campsites.&nbsp; Non dog-owners would have wanted to shoot that dog; I wanted to shoot the owner. The dialogue went thusly:<\/p>\n<p>Dog: &nbsp;Bark bark bark!<br \/>\nOwner: You shut up!<br \/>\nDog: &nbsp;Bark bark bark!<\/p>\n<p>Repeat for three hours.<\/p>\n<p>If your dog is a barker, leave her home.&nbsp;&nbsp;If she becomes a barker, train her to not bark. I&#8217;m not a trainer, but it&#8217;s possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;Yappers (Yorkies, Maltese, Shih Tzus etc.) are likely to drive everyone nuts.<\/p>\n<p><em>Wanderers<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If your dog is a wanderer, you&#8217;ll want to find a way to put her on a leash at night before bed time, and bring her into the tent when you turn in.&nbsp; A friendly dog might visit the neighbors, and that can be a disaster.&nbsp; Let the neighbors come to you.&nbsp; If she steals a nice piece of hard-earned cheese off a rock near the campfire, you&#8217;ll hope for a friendly chastisement.&nbsp; You may end up with an earful of profanities.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Physical Capabilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Just as a low-rider doesn&#8217;t do well off-road, it doesn&#8217;t take a genius to figure out that a Basset Hound would be a poor choice for backpacking over rough terrain.&nbsp; Larger dogs are more suited for that sort of hiking.&nbsp; For smaller dogs, consider smoother trails or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/outdoor-survival\/dog-paddling-how-to-take-your-pooch-canoeing\/\">even canoeing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Like a person, dogs need training.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t use a backpacking trip as a weight loss program for your 90-pound Lab.&nbsp; It&#8217;s bad because your dog won&#8217;t tell you she&#8217;s out of shape&#8230;she&#8217;ll just suffer, stoically.<\/p>\n<p>You will both lose weight naturally.&nbsp; This is the time to increase, not decrease caloric intake for both of you.&nbsp; If your dog is on a low-cal diet, consider mixing a little more caloric food in her regular chow.&nbsp; Do it slowly: a radical change in diet creates a lot of stomach distress.&nbsp; Gracie can&#8217;t use words to tell me, so she lets her gas do the talking.&nbsp; She can clear a room with one SBD.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"dog\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/\/2011\/06\/dog.jpg\" alt=\"Dog with backpack hiking on mountains landscape scene.\" width=\"444\" height=\"585\"\/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Backpacking dogs should at least partially support themselves.&nbsp; They should be able to carry about a week&#8217;s worth of kibbles packed in a dog pack.&nbsp; Again, don&#8217;t make the trailhead the first time she puts on the pack.&nbsp; Get it a month or two out, get her used to it, and gradually add a little weight.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18060 size-full\" title=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/gracie_leanto.jpg\" alt=\"Dog lying down next to fire campsite tent.\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dogs are not wild animals, and some dogs may need something to keep them warm in spring and fall.&nbsp; A small fleece blanket works for Gracie, but Alice doesn&#8217;t need anything. In fact, she&#8217;s a furnace and can add heat to your tent.&nbsp; My buddy&#8217;s Border Collie finds a way to slip into the foot of his sleeping bag without waking him up.&nbsp; Smaller dogs may want to share, so consider a larger bag rather than a mummy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18063 size-full\" title=\"underDOG_Dexter the paddling pup\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/underDOG_Dexter-the-paddling-pup.jpg\" alt=\"Dog with life jacket in kayak on water.\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A canoe trip won&#8217;t require the aerobic capacity that a long backpacking trip would, but you might need a dog PFD.&nbsp; Canine personal flotation devices are a must for non-swimmers, of course, but even dogs that can swim could use a little help.&nbsp; A friend has a Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull) that loves the water but swims like a U-boat.&nbsp; Dogs can get tired too, and like people, they can drown if they don&#8217;t monitor their fatigue level, and most energetic dogs don&#8217;t realize they&#8217;re tired until they&#8217;re <em>really<\/em> tired.<\/p>\n<p>In some areas, I prefer to give my dogs water that has been purified.&nbsp; This may sound overly cautious, and it&#8217;s true that most dogs can drink stuff that would send us to the ER.&nbsp; But in some urbanized areas, there are pathogens in the water that you wouldn&#8217;t drink, so why subject her that same stuff?&nbsp; Amoebic Dysentery can give your dog the runs.&nbsp; Not good for disposal etiquette. Whether it&#8217;s filtering or a chemical treatment, just consider it.<\/p>\n<p>So that&#8217;s the dog stuff.&nbsp; What about the owner stuff?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Trail Etiquette<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You love your dog, clearly.&nbsp; Not everyone does, so if you&#8217;re backpacking, the etiquette is to step off the trail and control your dog.&nbsp; An overly-friendly Lab can knock a backpacker off her feet, causing embarrassment at best and injury at worst.&nbsp; So <em>control your dog.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A dog that runs back and forth on a trail is fine, if you&#8217;re in a low-use area.&nbsp; On some trails you&#8217;ll see a lot of people, and some of them came to the woods or water to escape civilization.&nbsp; Some of them don&#8217;t like dogs.&nbsp; Assure them your dog is under control and not aggressive.&nbsp; I would stress the <em>under control<\/em> part first.&nbsp; &#8220;Oh, she&#8217;s harmless&#8230;&#8221; is subjective, and if the other hiker or paddler has had a bad experience with a dog in the past, &#8220;she&#8217;s friendly&#8221; means nothing, whereas &#8220;she&#8217;s under control&#8221; means everything.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>About Poop<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you came across a hiker taking a dumper in the middle of the trail and walking off, you&#8217;d be mortally offended and likely grossed out.&nbsp; Dog feces are not pleasant for anyone.&nbsp; No one expects you to carry out the poop, but you should handle it as you would your own, depending on the environment you&#8217;re in.&nbsp; If you&#8217;re in cathole country, dig a small hole and put your dog&#8217;s little gift into the soil.<\/p>\n<p>Now I can hear some of you saying, &#8220;Does a bear, well, you know&#8230;&#8221;&nbsp; Yes, a bear is an arboreal defecator.&nbsp; You can choose to take your dog off into the woods and make a steamer, but you are bringing a different type of poop to an area that is not used to it.&nbsp; If a gentleman takes a dog as a companion, a gentleman deals with the ramifications.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18112 size-full\" title=\"dog3\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/dog3.jpg\" alt=\"White dog on snowy trail taking rest lying down.\" width=\"443\" height=\"594\"\/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Dog First Aid<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A dog can be injured just as surely as you can.&nbsp; Your dog is not necessarily a good judge of what she can and can&#8217;t do.&nbsp; Winnie was cautious and trustworthy. Gracie is fearless, and she pays for it sometimes. Scrambling over rocks may be fun for you, but it&#8217;s an invitation to an injury if you&#8217;re not careful.&nbsp; If your dog does hesitate, this means you should wake up.&nbsp; Dogs can be smarter than you.<\/p>\n<p>The most common injuries are to a dog&#8217;s foot pads.&nbsp; They are not thorn-proof and a little thorn can cause a lot of pain.&nbsp; Dog&#8217;s feet have a lot of innervations, just like ours.&nbsp; There&#8217;s no walking it off.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it&#8217;s a thorn or a fishhook, a lot of the first aid for dogs is the same as for you.&nbsp; The big difference is pain management.&nbsp; Dogs do not tolerate human NSAIDS or pain relievers.&nbsp; Your veterinarian can prescribe a few good pain relievers, such as Rimadyl and Tramodol.<\/p>\n<p>Rimadyl is the equivalent of Ibuprofen for adults.&nbsp; It can help with aches and pains and is good thing for your older dog the morning after an overly exuberant climb.&nbsp; Tramadol is a synthetic opiate, so it&#8217;s more powerful but can make your dog drowsy.&nbsp; For aches and pains, my vet recommends Rimadyl.&nbsp; For more chronic pain, Tramadol works well.&nbsp; When Alice strained her shoulder we put her on Tramadol for a few days.&nbsp; It helped her stay a little more relaxed so she would heal better.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are other critters, large and small, that can be a threat. Larger mammals such as bears and moose generally avoid humans if we avoid them, but a curious dog can be killed with a moose kick in seconds, especially if there are calves.&nbsp; Porcupines, as previously mentioned, can be nasty.&nbsp; Skunks and raccoons can transmit rabies with just a nip, and skunks have other capabilities that are unnecessary to explain.&nbsp; Small mammals can scratch the nose of a curious dog.<\/p>\n<p>Ticks can be a problem in tick country.&nbsp; We do tick inspection every night, and it might take a little bit of searching, especially with deer ticks, the carriers of Lyme Disease. Wood ticks are easier to find.&nbsp; Treat them as you would with a human.&nbsp; If they&#8217;re not embedded yet, it&#8217;s easy.&nbsp; I throw them onto the fire grate, where they sometimes make a satisfying pop.<\/p>\n<p>Consider immunizing your dog for Lyme.&nbsp; It&#8217;s a controversial subject, but I have done it for years with no ill effects.&nbsp; Your dog, your call.<\/p>\n<p>The big thing to remember when it comes to first aid and your dog is that if your pooch gets hurt when you&#8217;re out in the wilderness, you will have to find a way to get her back home. Keep that in mind when you&#8217;re planning your trip, thinking about the terrain you&#8217;ll be covering and how far out from civilization you&#8217;ll be, and calculating whether to take a risky detour.<\/p>\n<h3>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-18111 size-full\" title=\"dog2\" src=\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/dog2.jpg\" alt=\"A dog under shelter in a snow.\" width=\"401\" height=\"531\"\/><\/p>\n<p>All this shouldn&#8217;t discourage you from taking your canine companion on a wilderness excursion.&nbsp; It just requires more planning and a little more awareness of your dog&#8217;s capabilities.&nbsp; In finding that out during your pre-trip planning, you just may end up growing closer to your loyal pooch.<\/p>\n<p>Some of my best wilderness expeditions have been solo trips with a well-behaved dog.&nbsp; Sometimes they&#8217;re the perfect companion&#8230;they watch, they learn, they love, and they snuggle you at night. They&#8217;ll sit and watch the glowing coals of a campfire and fall asleep on your feet. There&#8217;s nothing better than that at the end of a long day.<\/p>\n<p><em>*I use she because a) I hate the he\/she thing, and b) all my dogs have been bitches.&nbsp; My experience is that they tend to be smarter and lower maintenance once the plumbing has been removed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When John Steinbeck traveled with Charley, his standard poodle, the result was one of my favorite books. Fifty years after its publishing it&#8217;s still a great read, and it wouldn&#8217;t have been what it is without Charley. The companionship of a dog can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a wilderness traveler.&nbsp; As [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":18061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42259,277],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-18059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills","category-survival"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/gracie_canoe_watching-500x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/gracie_canoe_watching-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/gracie_canoe_watching-320x224.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18059"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137133,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18059\/revisions\/137133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18059"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}