Traveling with Dogs

jdawnc

jdawnc

Cathlete
Do any of you guys take your dogs with you camping? My husband wants to buy a travel trailer and bring our large dog. I am kinda worried that it will be way too cramped! We are going to bring his kennel and some sort of chain lead to tie him too while outside. He is not a very social dog and that's the number one thing that concerns me.

I am just throwing this out there to see what everyone else does.

Thanks
 
I take my dogs everywhere. We drove from Arizona to Minnesota last year with two of my dogs. We took the kennel, extra leashes, food, water, etc. But then again, those two are social butterflies.

We took all 5 of them camping two months ago and they were fine. One of my dogs was a little iffy, as he always is because he gets easily bent out of shape with other dogs and people who approach too fast.

If he usually travels well in the car, I don't see a problem but if he is one of those dogs who gets sick, too excited, etc. he (and you) will probably be better off to make other arrangements for him.

When you say "he is not social", do you mean with other dogs, or with people, too?

I don't go anywhere without my dogs and try to expose them to as much as I can.
 
When I travel w/my pug & my puggle, the pug sits in front w/me (harnessed) & the puggle is crated in the back. The pug is super good natured & travels well (he loves to co-pilot & watch stuff whiz by), the puggle is a nervous wreck & hates the car. At home she sleeps in a large travel crate in my BR, so I just put the same crate in the car since she's familiar w/it & is relatively comfortable.

I don't worry too much about confining her for a couple of hours--if you think about it, I sleep 6-7 hours a night & she seems quite content in her crate for that amount of time. Dogs seem to have an amazing ability to sleep at the drop of a dime. :)

Also I have a great lead w/a base that looks like a ginormous corkscrew, so it's very easy to plop into the ground wherever you end up. I think it cost around $20 at the pet store, it's very handy.
 
Whatever you think would create the least amount of stress for both you and doggie. I have the opposite problem; my dog's super friendly and loooves people. So if we tie him up and he's separated but within view of us, he'll whimper unless someones goes over to sit with and pay attention to him.

But if yours prefers more solitude, it might work out easier for you. I have an 80 lb boxer/lab with a giant kennel and a tiny ford focus. It's cramped, and stinky, but I can't imagine leaving him out of our big adventures. For me having my buddy with me outweighs the fur/space/whining issues.
 
He is not social as in he is very protective and needs a few hours/days to adjust to strange people he doesn't know. Also I have never had him on a long lead. We had an incident with a local kennel and let's say it didn't go well. He busted loose and ran away. I think if we are around and he has all the usual smells around him he would be fine.
He loves us so much I think that he would prefer coming with us then staying home by himself. He either stays in his kennel or is outside.
I think I will have to buy a lead to get him use to it. He is a very friendly dog with people and animals he knows but he is one of those Dr. Jekly and Mr. Hyde types. There has only been one stranger that he had zero problem with, it is a guy that I work with. It was the most bizarre thing ever, it was like he was my husband or something, Max had no reaction at all!
Maybe a trip out to wear we are going to stay might be in order so he can mark his territory ;-)
 
I agree with Nadia - whatever creates the least amount of stress.

I've taken my dog camping before, and she was very nervous the whole time. She's not used to strange people or dogs - she's pretty isolated. Making her deal with strange people, strange dogs, strange smells, a strange camper... well, she did not enjoy herself at all.

I don't go camping often at all, so I'd probably never put her through that again. But if you plan to go frequently, it'd probably be okay to get your dogs used to it.
 
Well, we won't be too far from home if we have to make an emergancy trip back. I just don't want him to get loose and worse case scenerio bit someone. He never has but definatley could just like any dog. We have every mussle imaginable but he is miserable with them on but his temperment is diminished.

I think well just have to jump in with both feet and make the most of it. Lots of familar toys and treats.
 
Just wondering if your guy is territorial? Does he exhibit this behavior at home or everywhere you take him?

My boy is territorial. I can take him to Petsmart, been through several dog training classes with 100's of dogs/people and he is fine. No stresses, doesn't show any interest or aggression towards strangers.

At my front door, he is not good with strangers. A nightmare in fact.
I've taken him to 2 different dog behaviorist to evaluate him. They both say he is territorial but very predictable.

If your guy is predictable, it's safe. If not, I would not chance it.
I understand about the muzzle. I use the caged one for my guy as a safety precaution when new people come over.
Here are some tips my behaviorist gave me in regards to the muzzle....
Put the muzzle on him randomly. For no reason at all. Then feed pieces of hot dogs or treats through the muzzle.

I feel your frustration. I have to hire dog sitters to come to my house when I travel (my son's teenage friends who need money and know my boxer).

I love my boxers, but after they go to the bridge, my next breed will be small so I can travel with them in my purse. I love having my fur kids with me and I wish my boxers could fit in my purse!
 
Max is territorial and protective of me and family. We went to dog training classes and I waited till he was one year, the advice of my MIL, and it was a total nightmare. We were the "special" kids in the class. It wasn't till we were introduced to a Halti that really changed his attitude. I made my husband take him one time and he refused to use the Halti and decided to use a manly choke chain and well an instructer got nipped and it was complete choas. DH had to sit on a bench and watch while I handled Max with the Halti. After those classes Max became my dog.

I can handle him on walks and stuff but sometimes I am dragging him down the street with the leash tight while he is flipping out on the other end. It's usually because of another dog behind a fence is barking at us. In the back yard he is really well behaved when we are around him, ie listens when we yell at him and seems some what content, but alone he is a complete rageaholic at every squiral, bird, and neighbour.

We could totally predict what Max will do, which is go crazy over everything and we usually anticipate the worst so we aren't disappointed and go by the better to be safe then sorry rule which sometimes makes him sad which breaks our hearts. We are prepared and would never take our eyes off him and if he gets carried away the muzzle is our resort and he will have his kennel there. I just hope that he isn't too old to adjust to different situations.
 
We paid a behaviorist $300 to evaluate our boy. I know that's a lot of money, but I need professional help.
Anyway, he very first thing the behaviorist did was switch us over to a halti, which was total opposite of dog classes! I tell you, I've made more mistake with my fur kids! I keep trying though!

Good luck. I know it's not easy.
 
The dog trainers were very helpful in teaching me how a dog behaves and what to look for and what situations are not good. They also told me I propablly coud never give Max away because he is so pertective over us that no one else could probably handle him. Granted the one trainer made it look easy when she was controlling Max with the Halti for the first few times. She bread Aussy's and had one old boy that was difficult and she was very helpful in telling me how to handle aggressive dogs and how to enjoy them.

I would be interested in seeing what a behaviorist would tell me. We have watched that Ceasar Milan on Discovery and always wondered what he would tell us. I stopped watching because I couldn't stand some of the dog owners complete ignorance in dog training and how submissive the owner were and a lot of the times the cases were handle with what I already knew.

I am going to go home today and put his muzzle on and give him some hot dogs. Really make him feel special and try to get him to wear it with pride, if that's possible.
 
We don't camp, but we have traveled with Rascal twice to Maine. Actually, we planned the vacations around the fact that we were bringing him, like staying in dog friendly locations with lots of outdoor dining.

Rascal is the first dog I ever considered traveling with. He's very social and pretty even keeled.

One thing we do is make sure he gets plenty tired out - take him hiking, running on the beach, etc. That way he was a lot less excitable when meeting people, other dogs, etc.

Hope this helps.
 
Our behaviorist was NOT a fan of Cesar. The last one we took Maximus to worked off the praise and reward system. She gave us a lot of safety tips handling Maximus' territorial issues and conditioning exercises to follow.


I love Cesar's theories to a point. It's like anything I read. I take what I can use and toss the rest out. I agree with Cesar that we often give affection in place of structure. I let my boxers get by with more than I ever let my human children do!
I also agree that dogs are not human and do not think like we do. I also believe we should exercise them with daily walks to help gain a good relationship.

I don't follow Cesar's correction techniques simply because my boxers would not respond well to it. They are very eager to please and so it's not necessary. Anything harsh coming from me crushes them!
I am more firm with getting them to do what I want. What I mean by that is that....if I ask them to do something, I don't walk away if they won't. I keep trying until they understand what I want them to do.
 
"One thing we do is make sure he gets plenty tired out - take him hiking, running on the beach, etc. That way he was a lot less excitable when meeting people, other dogs, etc."
Yes, we don't run Max as much as we should and that would probably simmer his behavior.

Yesterday we went for a run in an effort to try to get out everyday and he sliced one of his pads on something! We got home and there was blood all over my carpet. ;( We might try to go out in a couple days with a boot on it. I felt so bad.
 
Oh gosh. Pad cuts are the worst! They take a very long time to heal.
My girl boxer cut her pad on a sharp rock and it kept re-opening. It finally healed after I used green clay on it(someone on a dog forum suggested it).
 
I've camped out a lot -- ever since I was a little girl. And I absolutely adore dogs. I have four of my own. We always took our dogs camping with us. We loved having them there, and they had a ball.

With that said, though, I don't think I would take yours -- for the social reasons you mentioned. People are just friendlier in campgrounds, overall. People speak to total strangers, and many will walk through one another's campsites occasionally. A lot of people, especially kids, will pet and love up every dog they see.

If your dog is territorial and a little anti-social, I can envision something unfortunate possibly happening, especially if the dog is left outside in his kennel without direct supervision at all times.

I just wouldn't want your baby to get in trouble for something that is easily preventable. Maybe you could try just taking him for the day sometime to see how he does. You might also want to consider taking him, but keeping him inside when you're inside.

Shari
 
jdawnc you hit a horrible memory with me,

I would suggest to practice using a lead and a leash first before going camping with him. Please train him to be socialized. Also the danger of an unsociable dog is a recipe for disaster amongst people and other pets. You will have to be on guard every second and just maybe something awful won't happen.

If you train your dog to accept a leash and being amongst pets and people, then maybe a trial run like a weekend camping trip in the back yard with other people around is in order. Until then I wouldn't even consider it.

I wouldn't put him in a situation like that unless he was use to it. The problems that could occur are just simply not worth it. If he were to be tied up make sure it is safe for him and others.

Sorry about the negativity of this message, but I've been near untrained, unsociable and unleashed dogs. It was so scary that I panicked and cried as the dogs barked with their hair standing on end thinking I would get bitten many times and still the owners didn't know what to do except yell at them! What else could they do? In my experience the owners thought their dogs were in control, and well it was horrible.

I know this is not what you want to hear, just be considerate to other people and other pets while out and about with your animal. Make it safe and pleasant.

Janie

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The idea is to die young as late as possible.
 
If he isn't social, I would not take him. I think it will be too stressful for everyone. He may not even enjoy it.

Colleen
 
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