Posted in portal.gznq.com | edit | March 11th, 2010
We are going to take my dog (7 month old sheltie, will be 1 year 4 months by the time we take her) camping at my uncles annual campout for the family. she is going to stay in the tent with us. i just wondered how we can keep her from messing up the tent when we are asleep or can't be with her. pet kennels are too expensive, her crate is to small for this purpose (it fits her, but she doesn't like being in small areas for too long of a period of time), and we could put her in the van but we aren't sure how that will work either. i just wanted to know ahead of time in case we have to buy anything.I certainly wouldn't leave her in the car alone. She could do all kinds of damage. If she is going to be in the tent, and you don't want to have her get into things while you are asleep, just buy her a new crate that is the right size. It will be cheaper than what could happen without it.Don't leave her in the car all by herself - she could easily get way too cold or overheat, depending on where you live, and she may be anxious in there all by herself and chew up your car.
Most dogs are actually pretty good in tents. What do you mean by "messing it up?" If you're worried she might chew or run around inside, give her a lot of exercise beforehand so she's tuckered out, then leave her with a couple of kibble or treat stuffed Kong toys so she can chew herself to sleep.
If you're worried about her eliminating in the tent, just take her out right before you go to bed, limit how much water you allow her (don't let her get dehydrated, though!) and take her out immediately if she acts restless or sniffs around. you might consider putting her on a chain that's attached to a stake in the ground. the stakes are screwed in and cannot be pulled out by the dog. It will also let her be "outside" when nature calls. This could also preserve your tent when you are not able to be with her. Well when we went camping with my husbands family in Sept we had lots of dogs there (we didnt bring ours because my doxie isnt very nice and we thought 6 dogs was too many for our campsite) Anyway his aunt had their Siberian Husky and their corgi mix and his grandma had her shih tzu and chihuahua. The little dogs stayed in the trailer and the big dogs stayed in their sleeping crates. During the day they were all on chains tied to trees and we walked them all at least once a day. It worked very well. I wouldnt' leave her unattended inside the tent because she may try to dig out to get to you all and rip a hole in the tent. Does she sleep in bed with you at night anyway because she should have no problem at night if she is used to sleeping with you anyway. If the crate you already have is big enough to keep her in where she can turn around then I would just use that if you have to leave her unattended and dont want her tied out to a tree. My doxie doesnt like her crate either but she knows as soon as we get home that she gets to get out again so shes ok. Put some toys in it if you have to use it. Well I hope this helps.Email me if you have other questions. Good luckBuy a crate, or board the dog at a kennel. Good question. How well trained is she on down and stay commands?
We took our lab camping and she's a wonderful camper. She's happy just to be able to sleep besides us at the bottom of the air mattress. Its a treat to her as she never sleeps in our room. She is very good on staying on her blanket and not getting on the mattress.
If you allow your dog to sleep with you, you might have a problem if you are using an air mattress in there. Most dogs will probably be fine inside the tent. But you can't leave her in there alone - she has to be with you all times when you are in camp. If you can't watch her, put her in the van - otherwise she probably will be ok.They make camping tents/hard cases for dogs that have removable ground cover that can be washed. Otherwise i'd opt that the last person going to sleep put her in the van with some puppy pads in case she can't hold it. I would also elect a person to wake up with a battery alarm & check/walk her before dawn. Other than that, a leash, post & shelter outside would do it. #If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |
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