Pet Information > Others > Pet Articles > Planning On Camping With A Dog?

Planning On Camping With A Dog?

2016/5/3 11:57:23

Planning on Camping With A Dog?

So, you are planning on camping with a dog? If you already usually do bring your dog along with you and your family on your camping trips, you probably know it can be a lot of fun, but then there are the times when things just do not go very well.

My family and I usually go camping every year in the Summer with our dogs, all five of them! Well, it used to be five until just last year when our beloved beagle mix, Attila, had to be put down due to cancer. We still miss him, and I know it will seem odd when he is not there this year when we do go!

Well, anyways, I am getting sidetracked! What was I supposed to be writing about again? Oh, yes, planning on going camping with your dog!

Plan Ahead

If you are going camping somewhere that you have not been to before, I recommend that you check to make sure that the campground that you are planning on staying at allows dogs on the premises. There are some that do not, so it is better to find this out before you get there!

Another good idea to save you some grief, is to also check the local area and see what, if any, type of stores are nearby. This way you know that if you have something run out or goes wrong there is always the option of buying more or replacing a needed item!

So, if you have to, you can always buy some more dog food, drinking water, batteries, etc. from a store that is located nearby to the campground. That way it will not be the end of the world if you run out of something!

Okay, that is just great! Store is closed!

Just last year, we had a bit of a problem or predicament, you might say, while we were camping...we thought we had packed enough extra batteries for the lanterns and flashlights...well, lo and behold! We found out the first night we got there that we did not!

Check your checklist!

Our lanterns all work off of batteries and every one of the miserable things started going dimmer and dimmer! Pretty soon we could barely see anything, even a few feet away...and, of course, the flashlights did not work right either! Too darn dim to see much of anything...I'm just glad our dogs are used to camping and paid no attention at all to our plight!

Of course! Why not?! Oh, of course the only store for miles and miles is closed for the night! So, knowing this already, since it is in an area pretty much in the middle of nowhere, now what? How are we going to see anything at all once they go completely? There is absolutely no electric here either...for miles! Ha, ha..we won't be able to find the bathrooms!

...and then, finally a light bulb goes off!

After getting all worked up and in a tither, we finally remembered that we did have one last resort! Whew! At last, we happened to remember that there was an emergency work light stored in one of the trucks! So, we plugged it into the truck and our problems were solved. We had light! Otherwise, we would certainly have had a very looong night, since it gets pitch black out there once the sun sets!

Stupid thing is, we had batteries on our checklist that we had made a few days before. We did not realize as we were leaving that just because we had them on our list did not mean that we actually had them packed up with everything else. They were still at home the whole time sitting on the kitchen table so we would remember to bring them!

So, my advice when you are going camping with your dog next time or on any kind of trip...make sure you write out a checklist and actually check everything off as it goes into the vehicle!

Have fun camping with your dog this Summer and stay safe!