Camping with Dogs-Ten Commandments

CAMPING WITH DOGS – THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

In the U.S. alone, more than 30 million people each year take
their pets with them while camping. Yet, when we first started
RVing with our dogs, we were unable to find much written on the
subject. Sure, there were the occasional articles in magazines
that reminded us to use pet ID tags, bring plenty of water, and
take their favorite toy. But in terms of providing genuine
support or bottom-line information, there was nothing out there.
Since it was something that we felt was badly needed, we decided
to write this article. While there are numerous issues to
consider while camping with dogs, these are some of the most
important.

1. Make Sure that Your Dog Can’t Get Lost It’s one thing if your
dog gets free in your neighborhood. It’s another when you’re at
a rest stop, nine hundred miles from home. Either train your dog
to come when called or make absolutely sure that they’re on a
leash at all times.

2. Get All of their Vaccinations Up to Date If your dog gets
into an altercation with another animal (or a person), the
central issue will become their rabies shots. If you stay at a
campground that has a demanding pet policy, you’ll need to
verify your dog’s vaccination records. If you cross into Canada,
you’ll have to confirm that your dogs have had their shots. You
get the idea.

3. Make Your Dogs Easy to Identify If your dog does get lost
(unfortunately, it happens all the time), the ability to easily
identify them will become critical. For permanent identification
purposes, consider tattoos or microchips. At a minimum, make
sure they wear tags that show their name, your current phone
number, and the date of their last rabies vaccination.

4. Clean Up After Your Dog The biggest complaint about dogs has
nothing to do with their bark, their bite, or their behavior. If
you pick up after your dog, you’ll be helping dog owners
everywhere.

5. Learn How to Provide First Aid to Your Dog If a medical
crisis occurs while at home, you drive to your local
veterinarian. But if you’re heading down a dark highway in a
strange town, it will seem like a bad dream. Although there are
ways to get help while on the road, it always takes more time.
In the meantime, your ability to provide competent first aid
could save your dog’s life.

6. Involve Your Dog in Everything You Do If you really want your
dogs to have a good time, include them in your activities. Take
them with you on long walks. Buy a cheap plastic wading pool and
let them play in the water. Throw a ball. Cook them up a
hamburger. If you do stuff like that, they’ll do cartwheels the
next time you decide to take them camping.

7. Call the Campgrounds Before You Go Even if a park claims
they’re pet-friendly, always call ahead to confirm their policy
regarding your dogs. We’ve arrived at parks (with our two German
Shepard dogs) after a long day on the road only to discover that
“pet-friendly” meant dogs weighing under 20 pounds.

8. Plan Ahead for the Unexpected Have a plan (for your dogs) in
case of a flat tire, a serious accident, or a fire in your RV.
Start with a few extra leashes, a pet carrier, and an extra fire
extinguisher. Then have a fire drill to identify potential
problems.

9. Learn About Your Camping Environment The U.S. is a huge
country with a vast assortment of dangerous wildlife,
treacherous plants, unpredictable weather conditions, and
demanding environmental challenges. If you don’t know what
you’re doing, you might inadvertently be putting yourself and
your dog in danger.

10. Recognize and Respect the Views of Others While some of us
can’t imagine traveling without dogs, others can’t image
traveling with them. If you keep your dog under control and
clean up after them, you won’t give others much to grumble about.

Happy Camping with Rover!