So I had a house/dog sitter lined up for our upcoming trip. He had an unexpected health crisis resulting in hospitalization. He's ok now, but unable to sit for us.
Plan B was to kennel one dog (the dog who doesn't like camping and doesn't hate the kennel) and take the other with.
We're going camping in a Nat'l Forest, so it's as dog friendly as it could possibly be...but...the weather forecast is looking crappier by the minute, and the dog we would take is large--85lbs of clumsy, hairy, dirty GSD who has never been camping. She's an adult rescue. We've had her for a year, so we have a good idea of how she'd do, but we've never tried her. She's mellow. I was thinking we would leave her tied outside at night, but she's terrified of thunderstorms. It could be that she would need to be inside a tent. She has been in a tent before, but she's never been confined to one overnight. At home, she doesn't have bed privileges because she's a bed hog. I don't want to sleep in a tent with her--and I'm afraid she'd stretch out her big clumsy legs and tear our tent. I could also confine her to our van if I needed to--but wow, she gets *really* dirty, especially when she's wet.
Oh, and we also have a maniacal toddler
Camping in the rain with a bolting-can't-stand-to-be-pent-up toddler and a filthy dog who hates thunderstorms...really? Does it still qualify as a vacation?
Plan C would be to kennel both dogs. That brings up the vax question. She's fully vaxxed, but the expiration date has passed on parvo, distemper, bordetella. I vax every other--not yearly. I would really hate to give her another round of unnecessary vax--but the cost of titers is prohibitive & our time window is running short. I would vax her if it came down to it.
Plan D is to find another sitter. Have two leads, but they're both v. young and not "dog people." The dog we were/are going to take with requires a dog person. She's v. picky about who she likes--and she's protective of our home.
So, thanks for reading! Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Plan B was to kennel one dog (the dog who doesn't like camping and doesn't hate the kennel) and take the other with.
We're going camping in a Nat'l Forest, so it's as dog friendly as it could possibly be...but...the weather forecast is looking crappier by the minute, and the dog we would take is large--85lbs of clumsy, hairy, dirty GSD who has never been camping. She's an adult rescue. We've had her for a year, so we have a good idea of how she'd do, but we've never tried her. She's mellow. I was thinking we would leave her tied outside at night, but she's terrified of thunderstorms. It could be that she would need to be inside a tent. She has been in a tent before, but she's never been confined to one overnight. At home, she doesn't have bed privileges because she's a bed hog. I don't want to sleep in a tent with her--and I'm afraid she'd stretch out her big clumsy legs and tear our tent. I could also confine her to our van if I needed to--but wow, she gets *really* dirty, especially when she's wet.
Oh, and we also have a maniacal toddler
Camping in the rain with a bolting-can't-stand-to-be-pent-up toddler and a filthy dog who hates thunderstorms...really? Does it still qualify as a vacation?Plan C would be to kennel both dogs. That brings up the vax question. She's fully vaxxed, but the expiration date has passed on parvo, distemper, bordetella. I vax every other--not yearly. I would really hate to give her another round of unnecessary vax--but the cost of titers is prohibitive & our time window is running short. I would vax her if it came down to it.
Plan D is to find another sitter. Have two leads, but they're both v. young and not "dog people." The dog we were/are going to take with requires a dog person. She's v. picky about who she likes--and she's protective of our home.
So, thanks for reading! Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I went camping with my dog one time during inclement weather - I'll never do it again. As I said in the other thread, it took ages to get the intense "wet dog smell" out of my stuff. It was a miserable trip because it was pouring rain all the time, the tent was beyond muddy, I couldn't dry the dog off enough so that he wouldn't do the shake thing inside the tent. And the hair .... oh, the hair. It was everywhere.
