OB Approved Overlanding/Camping with a dog

[FireMedicPQ1]

Can't help but share this photo of my Adventure Pup Banjo. She goes everywhere with me and is an amazing travel partner. She rides shotgun, stays close by, loves to explore the streamside while I fly fish, and is a great trail dog. The only weakness she has is that she loves to roll in piles of poo from different animals. She can cross off cow and bear poo off her bucket list. Makes for interesting trail showers.

 

[l_vandyke]

In Va with a Tacoma also. There are some really beautiful places here to camp especially in the mountains. We live in the foothills so sometimes this can be a 45 inute drive to get where we are going. We bought a pet sling for the rear seat. It clips around all 4 of the headrests, covers the back seat completely, and prevents her from being thrown into the floor board in case of quick stops or when off road. She loves camping it seems but acte completely different when we go almost never making a sound. It just makes my trip more enoyable. Yes it may limitt where we go at times but our time with her is worth that to me.

Izzy really seems to enjoy camping. She loves the car ride up and gets super excited when we pull into the campground

 

[Jrhodes]

Great post. We brought our two with us this weekend. Ellie the golden doodle is my wife’s dog. She slept with us in the tent. Forest the black lab doesn’t care much for carrying him so he camped out in the back seat of the truck. Once it starts to get cooler I’ll be leaving a 12v heating blanket in the truck for him to stay warm.

 

[Casper66]

My little buddy Crocsy (yes named after the shoes) goes ost places with us camping unless there's something we want to go do where we know she can't go. I will not leave her in the camper all day locked up.





yes she has her own chair. She is what you get when you cross a lab with a Dachschund. we call her a lawennie

 

[MrWilsonWJ]

If we're sharing dog pics...this is Tinkerbell, 4 yo Great Dane/ Brazilian mastiff. Her first camping trip was at 9 weeks old, she loves camping whether we are in the our camper or in the jeep with a tent. She's a big goof and tries to catch mud that gets flung up by the tires, pretty funny to watch in the mirror when going down a trail.

 

[lgifford156]

Wow I'm obsessed with this feed.

I have three dogs a 9 year old rescue shepherd, a 3 year old border collie, and a rescue catahoula somewhere between 1-2.

My two younger dogs get secured in my trunk of my wrangler and my older boy either snuggles up with them or sits on the seat by himself.

They go with me everywhere. The younger two are yappers at campgrounds but love to hike and are super friendly when we hike but get stressed out at campgrounds. Does anyone have advice for this? I went to Pittsburg NH at Lake Francis and there was a lot of commotion but the border collie relaxed once the neighbors started playing ball and he joined in on a leash tethered to my hitch, but my catahoula scared me because a drunk woman came into our campsite and got all in her face, she was trying to hug her but my catahoula was quite traumatized and is very cautious of new people in certain settings. Once the campsite quieted down they were relaxed. Any tips on helping calm them down? I gave them bones and they loved that.

I also always end up leaving my dogs in the car here or there. When I steal my moms Tesla I use the dog mode. But I have gotten reemed out because I left my shepherd in the car for maybe 3 minutes on a warm day, the car was on with the AC, all four windows rolled 100% down and with a bowl of water. I do find the best ways to keep a dog cool and safe is to turn on the remote start, or leave the keys in the ignition and set a timer for however long your remote start is on your phone. Label the timer about the dog in the car. That way if something happened to you someone would see the timer and know there's a dog in the car.

My dogs all go off leash when we hike on lightly trafficked trails. A trick to this is to count cars at trail heads and how many groups/people you pass. It's also so important that your dogs recall. I know this was said before but it has saved me so many times from porcupines that my dogs come when called. Although the catahoula learned a hard lesson with this one (not while I was walking her though)

Please remember bright colors or safety vests for dogs when it's hunting season!

Here are my three mutts post skunk bath after I let them out and didn't watch them at home.
Tiger(shepherd), Kuvarro (Border collie), Ellaria (Catahoula)

 

[keith.gowan]

Thanks for the write-up. All good information. We have 2 Aussies that we want to bring along - now we know to be better prepared.

 

[Lou Skannon]

Good thread. I'm not a dog owner but have looked after a remote campground in the Rocky Mountains this last Summer. I was very lax about the "Dogs on Leash" and "No Dogs On The Beach" rules and overall there wasn't a bad dog on the place while I was there. The same can't be said about the humans, DUI seemed to be a way of life for many, boats, cars, atvs and pwc. Total disregard for rules and regulations and because of the remote location there was no law enforcement. Infact you could get away with just about anything and nobody would say a word..... except if your dog did a pooh and you didn't clean it up. Most dog owners did the right thing but the ones who didn't soon felt the wrath of their neighbours especially from the mothers with young children.

 

[64Trvlr]

This is my yellow Lab Max, he's been going everywhere I go since he was a pup and he loves camping! He also loves "cruzin" down the road.

 

[Outdoordog]

My dogs have been with me on all of my trips. They love it as much as I do.

 

[TJDon]

My spoiled boy. He’s my shadow. Won’t let me go anywhere without him

 

[Munga Brown]

She gets the entire back seat to herself. I've got one o' those seat hammocks now. She loves to come with us. She's great on long road trips. Two, maybe three stops on an 8-9 hour road trip. I always have a leash, collapsable water bowl (which she hates & refuses to drink from, so I pour water in my hand instead. Who's smarter, her or me?), poo bags, dog brush, snacks, ball & quilted pad in the truck for her. She's smart, friendly with dogs & people and only leashed when around moving cars. I openly & blatantly ignore leash laws. She's always on an invisible leash... my voice. When we go for a walk, we walk for her. Not me, not us, her. When she walks, I walk. When she stops to sniff, I wait. If she walks too fast, she "waits".

She's nearly perfect. :-)

 

[KonzaLander]

What steps are you all taking to protect your dog in the rig?

What happens to a dog riding in your rig during aggressive braking, an accident or even extremely rough trail conditions? They can be thrown around the cabin of your rig potentially injuring their selves or even you. Should a dog have some form of restraint while traveling or are they more likely to avoid injury by being free? I have not looked into statistics for this.

I had always let me rescue lab sit on a seat in my rigs. If it was a truck he would ride shot gun, if it was a car or SUV he rode in the back seat. On the few occasions I had to brake for deer he would end up on the floor board. Now with two new rescue pups I am wondering if there is a better method.

Enjoying the view on California Pass outside Animas Forks, CO in 2016. [Squirt: 2008-2018]

 

[Daryl 32]

We have always camped with our dog at the time. Ernie our current Shepherd loves to travel now and camping is his thing too. The back seat is his - he shares it with some gear in floor boxes, gives him a bigger bad.

 

[Munga Brown]

What steps are you all taking to protect your dog in the rig?

What happens to a dog riding in your rig during aggressive braking, an accident or even extremely rough trail conditions? They can be thrown around the cabin of your rig potentially injuring their selves or even you. Should a dog have some form of restraint while traveling or are they more likely to avoid injury by being free? I have not looked into statistics for this.

I had always let me rescue lab sit on a seat in my rigs. If it was a truck he would ride shot gun, if it was a car or SUV he rode in the back seat. On the few occasions I had to brake for deer he would end up on the floor board. Now with two new rescue pups I am wondering if there is a better method.

Enjoying the view on California Pass outside Animas Forks, CO in 2016. [Squirt: 2008-2018]
View attachment 136784

I've got to get a harness for mine. But I do rock a Kululu dog seat hammock that keeps her from slipping/sliding/falling off the seat, plus, I can reach back and access stuff on the floor. There's a net that allows her to see us & us her that's between the two front seats. Mine just lays on the seat perfectly content until I stop. Then she sits up to check out where we might be.

 

[USStrongman]

I am taking our Great Dane/Bull Mastiff on a 2 week trip to CO and Overland Expo Mountain West in August. He is an excellent traveler. He has his own roof top bin with all of the essentials including a fleece foal warming jacket, towels, Furminator brush and LOTS of jerky.

Upsides
He is excellent on and off leash
He is more friendly than I am
Loves being in the Jeep
Sticks his head out no matter the temperature until 45mph
Sleeps peacefully
Is an excellent deterrent for anyone interested in approaching our campsite
He is my best friend

Downsides
Takes up a lot of room in my tent (172lbs!)
No Jeep camping. I barely fit let alone him
Has a double coat on his shoulders and hips so he sheds
He eats a metric ton every day

I simply can not buy into not allowing dogs on trails. Overly sensitive ecologists have ruined so many things in the name of preservation. A few douchebags ruin the simplicity of a guy and his best friend taking a stroll on a trail. Wild animals are no more scared of my dog than they are of me. Dog takes a crap, clean it up. Maximus will go everywhere with me this trip. He had a BLAST in Terlingua and Big Bend this past fall. We have been to Caprock Canyon State Park, Ouray, SIlverton, Palo Duro Canyon, Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, Bottomless Lake, etc, etc.

Dont be the douche who ruins it for everyone else. Know your dog. Clean up after them. Keep them on a leash and have fun with your friend.

 

[Scott T]

Our Sidekick goes just about everywhere with us..

 

[CHAURY08]

These post inspire me to bring my pup. I have been wanting to take her from the start but I am still new to this style camping along with taking a 4 and 5 year old. So I have been working on my gear and storage so I can make room for here. I have a WSGD that is about 2 1/2 years old. Great pup and lots of energy. She does great in the truck bed which I have a shell on but is huge 90lbs and lengthy so right now making room for her is my goal this spring.

 

[TraumaJoe]

I think taking your dog(s) on adventures is a great idea. My pups love going on adventures with me in the Jeep. It helps that all 3 of them have been professionally trained and listen to commands when off leash. I agree with other posters on here about cleaning up after them and being a responsible pet owner. I travel with 3 Jack Russell Terriers, I put the back seat down in my 4 door Jeep and built a platform that I secure with straps. I then secure their crates down to the platform. The crates have comfy beds in there. They wheel everywhere with me, even on the Rubicon Trail.

 

[GreyMudder]

Can't help but share this photo of my Adventure Pup Banjo. She goes everywhere with me and is an amazing travel partner. She rides shotgun, stays close by, loves to explore the streamside while I fly fish, and is a great trail dog. The only weakness she has is that she loves to roll in piles of poo from different animals. She can cross off cow and bear poo off her bucket list. Makes for interesting trail showers.View attachment 122896

rolling in poo I hear is a way for a dog to mask their smell and blend in. They seem to have stealth technology before us wee humans.. :-( Mine does the same.