Mcintosh
Lake RV Park
Camping Articles Index
Camping Articles Sitemap
Camping Articles RSS Feed
More Camping Articles
 Having Fun Making Arrow and Practice Archery While Camping
Camping Food That Works for You
Camping on the Beach Where to Go and How Not to Get Caught
A Safe Camping Adventure Starts with the Right Camping Gear
3 Essential Tips for Successful Camping with Kids
The best parts of Camping gear
New Technologies in Camping Outdoor Clothing Enhance the Camping Experience
Camping With or Without a Remote Control in the Great Outdoors
Wal Mart Camping Parking Lot Pleasures
Florida Camping
|
 |
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!
About the author:
About The Author: The authors of Camping & RVing with your pets
are avid pet lovers and campers. They are full-time RVers, who
RV in a Class A with 2 large dogs and 3 cats, at last count!
Jack and Julee Meltzer have traveled over 100,000 miles with 5
cats and 2 dogs in a Class B and Class A RV. They have stayed in
campgrounds, public lands, state and Federal Parks, and the
occasional Walmart parking lot. Subscribe at
http://www.petsrv.com
Written by: Julee Meltzer
|
|
Camping Food that is fun and easy to make
You would think that choosing camping food to bring would be as easy as saying "I'll take what I like to eat at home", unfortunately not all the...read more
Camping Tents - What the Tent Ratings Mean
Been shopping for a new camping tent? Wonder what 3-season or 4-season means? Confused about what a family tent or convertible tent classification...read more
Getting Ready To Go Camping
So you want to take your kids camping just like you did as a child with your parents of grandma or grandpa. Opps the camp ground they took you to is...read more
RV Camping
RV camping can make for a great trip almost anywhere, but I
think it is best in the west. In many areas, you can just drive
into the desert, and...read more
Unique Camping Gift Ideas for Christmas
As November passes quickly, it is time to start thinking about
buying Christmas gifts. Here's a primer on unique Christmas gift
ideas for people...read more
|
