Great article Jennifer! Sounds like you're really trying to think through as much as you can in advance with Monty. My wife and I won't be overlanding full time like you and Monty, but we're preparing in a similar way with our Chinook, Buck. Our niece is another part time overlander with her Bernese Mtn. Dog. Chinooks are a sled dog breed, and also super snugglers. Buck, at a little over a year and a half, got over gas station and post office stops pretty quickly. He does get highly vocal as soon as we get off pavement - or head up the mountain - but it's with excitement about hitting the trail. Buck's had obedience and agility training and rattlesnake aversion training. He's also had some eCollar training and I will be getting additional eCollar training with him next week. I'll check out your link and look forward to following your adventures and work. Let us know if you get to Taos sometime.
Overlanding with Your Dog: Jennifer & Monty
- Thread starter Corrie
- Start date
Enthusiast III
That it is. Last year I had to say good-bye to my first Vizsla 'Fayston' who loved road trips, adored camping and was an all around wonderful adventure companion. Much love to Remi who doesn't look a day older than seven!
Enthusiast III
Thank you so much for saying! We've come a long way since our travels with Chris. I eat a lot more veggies cooking for just myself! LOL
Enthusiast III
Thank you for reading and following out story! How's the eCollar training coming along? We'll be coming through Taos area sometime in late November/early December! Happy trails from Monty and I!
Beuatiful Ridgeback...looks like he's posing
Mine does the same thing…..maybe they're genetically predisposed to be divas...
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We are working on design for our gypsy wagon that will include two gypsy dogs. Any suggestions for cooling for times we might need to leave the dogs for a few hours and it's hot outside? We'll have power and I'm wondering if an evaporative cooling unit might work.
Started with Herm Sprenger prong collar then using eCollar for recall on long line. He's getting the hang of it and a totally different dog at heel in town with the prong. We ran into a mtn. lion kill last week, then Buck sussed out the cat. Big cat growl. I called Buck off - which he smartly agreed to - and we headed back down the trail. Let me know if you need any Taos info. My wife and I would be glad to help. Safe travels!
17! That's awesome. Remi looks very happy. I just started bringing my little girl, Pepper, along with me.
Enthusiast III
Goodness, sounds like something of an adventure, though on our travels people were far more concerned with us encountering a mountain lion than a bear! Glad it ended ok! I would love to explore Taos, never been! When it comes closer will circle back around here!
Enthusiast III
Incredible rig and gorgeous dog - LOVE Ridgebacks. Occasionally people ask if Monty is one, and I chuckle because while he is not a small dog, he's about 1/2 that of a Ridgeback! LOL
Enthusiast III
If you have the auxiliary power to support, any sort of portable A/C and fan, plus really insulating will help deflect the heat in the warmer regions. This was a challenge for Monty and I. I simply took him everywhere and timed grocery runs and such early in the morning or after the sun went down. I also have battery-powered fans, non-spill water bowls and portable shower I fill and use to wet him down to help him stay cooler when it's hot. Much of my travels the last two months have been influenced by the hot weather and avoiding! :/ Look forward to seeing how your wagon comes along! Please post photos!
Enthusiast I
Hey Jennifer, really like your story. Monty looks like he's enjoying the outdoors and adventure. I too travel with a Vizsla (Vegas) they're lots of fun aren't they? keep on exploring.
A
Hey Jennifer, great story and thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the tips. Travelled through Southwest US in May and had a ball with my Vizsla (Vegas). keep on exploring.
Al
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A
Hey Jennifer, great story and thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the tips. Travelled through Southwest US in May and had a ball with my Vizsla (Vegas). keep on exploring.
Al
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Enthusiast III
Now that the weather is getting cooler - dropping to 40F at night (though days are 75F) - what do people do to keep their dogs warm at night when in a tent (or in my case an AT Habitat)? Remi has a thick coat for a corgi, but does not like to be covered up at night, but will get in the sleeping bag with us if it gets too cold. There aren't many great tent heating options - Mr Heater is too risky to run at night, though we have used a small one in the morning to take the chill out. And Zodi tent heaters have either been discontinued or out of stock for ever. Suggestions...?
We just went camping in CO south of Telluride in the mountains and stayed in our trailer without the heat on. My wife and I were comfy in our sleeping bags, and Buck was comfy in a nest I made for him at the foot of the bed. In your rig, sounds like your dog would be fine if you used duffles to surround a well insulated sleeping pad.
I've camped with my dog in the early spring and fall when it gets in to the 30s in the sierras. I have a moving pad that I keep in the jeep that is her bed. When I camp that pad goes in the tent so she has "her spot". I also have a kids sleeping bag I got at kmart or target or someplace that is smaller and inexpensive. With the moving pad to keep her insulated from the ground and the sleeping bag to curl up in, she seems pretty content. (of course in the morning when I get up to make coffee, she immediately crawls in the bag and takes my spot next to the better half)
Advocate III
I love camping with my dog. Sadie is a Bluetick Coonhound. She’s great company, she doesn’t complain, and she loves to just chill. The only thing she doesn’t like is getting cold, so as long as i have blankets she’s good. 
Enthusiast III
Monty and I don't do a lot of ground camping due to our interior build. I've made reflective insulating panels for the interior of the Jeep to help maintain a warmer interior temp to keep us both warmer. I tend to run the heater (Jeep) till it's silly toasty ahead of bed and instead of a sleeping bag, have found thick sleeping pad, proper layering (smart wool, etc) and a fleece blanket with down comforter have kept Monty and I quite toasty, He often thermoregulates and sleeps on top till late morning when the chill really seeps in and then can be found curled up UNDER the blankets at the foot of our bed (makes for a wonderful foot warmer!) They are fairly intuitive with wanting to be warm and think the trick is being comfortable with letting them snuggle up when cold weather camping, vs maybe having them in their own space/spot. :)
Advocate III
I use wool blankets from a website called alpaca4less.com. My hound likes to be covered with them. My retriever likes to lay on them. Either way they provide excellent insulation from the ground when they are bunched up or folded and that makes all the difference for pups in a tent. The best part is that they are really affordable as wool blankets go.
Dogs are the best! I went hiking with my GF and her chocolate lab yesterday. I generally find hiking boring (if it's rideable on my mountainbike, I'd much rather do that), but with a dog along it was a blast. Watching him run up and down the trail and clamber up and over rocks was so entertaining. He's been an apartment dog his whole life, until last year with him at 8 y/o I started taking him running with me. Recently it's been hiking, and who knew he was part mountain goat? My gf was amazed at how much he likes being in woods. Fortunately, all the training she did with him when he was a puppy paid off, as he's a perfect gentleman off leash, he doesn't chase animals or birds, and leaves other dogs and people alone unless he's given permission.
I also took him mountainbiking with me once last fall, and he was great at that too. He likes to run, so with me on the bike he got to stretch his legs a bit.
I don't have a rig yet, I'm currently in a spirited debate with myself over what to get, but whatever it is will have room for a dog (or two), as I want to get my own soon.
I also took him mountainbiking with me once last fall, and he was great at that too. He likes to run, so with me on the bike he got to stretch his legs a bit.
I don't have a rig yet, I'm currently in a spirited debate with myself over what to get, but whatever it is will have room for a dog (or two), as I want to get my own soon.
