Acclimating Puppy To Camping

John & Jodi

John & Jodi

Novice
We have a new puppy addition to our family, a very young shiba inu. In general, these are tough, little (~ 20 pounds fully grown) dogs with a strong prey drive. They are mischievous, independent little thinkers that enjoy puzzles and creating drama (for you). As we are preparing for the 2018 camping season, would anyone be willing to share some tips to help our puppy become a successful camper?

We have already started introducing her to the camper, and within 10 minutes, she figured out how to open the door from the inside. Now, we know to always apply the inside locks when are inside with her.

She has also sampled all the wood, windows, screens, curtains, and latches in the trailer. (Did I fail to mention that puppies and shibas throughout their lives experience the world through their mouths?). Unfortunately, she has developed a taste for Nature's Miracle Pet Block and thinks "Bitter Apple" is a perfume designed for her rubbing pleasure. Seriously, she loves that stuff! Hates peanut butter, but we are drawing the line before applying peanut butter to any surface we don't want her mouthing/tasting/sampling. Hoping that as her adult teeth come in, this will decrease.

Any help is appreciated.
 
I would take the dog hiking.

My guess is Doggy prefers trailer life to the carcinogenic smells of home life. Decaying humus vs Polyurethane. This assumes you speak dog and can read the dog signals like "I need to pee", "I need to exercise or I will get your attention with bad behavior", "You see these growing teeth? I need to gnaw on a bone very badly right now or I will shred your mattress ", "I will shred you pillow to tell you I don't like to be left behind when you are away" etc...

I can can diagnose cancer, epilepsy and diabetes, FOR FREE with one sniff of my nose and you cant figure out I need a walk? Ha ha ha. Kind of odd the dog can understand us but we cant understand the dog.

Camping is a doggy vacation just like our vacation. First time will be strange but after that its routine. I am sure you are already, but continue to watchful and vigilant with a small dog (or any dog). In case of loss. consider chipping with up to date info in the database, For faster return and/or no chip, consider having the collar embroidered with its humans phone number and other useful return information.

When we go to wild places we meet much smarter wild creatures. Around here Coyotes are risks to tame dogs and Great Horned owls are risks to small domestic pets. Leave your dog tied up while you go out to dinner or for a walk and you may find a skeleton when you return!

Other than that all the dogs that I have had the privilege to live with or been friends with adapt to nature instantly. I have helped rehab dogs adapt to new homes with heavy doses of hiking to the point of tiredness to provide drug free stress relief and diversion.

Adaptable dogs are great travel companions. Many state and federal campgrounds now offer dog friendly areas to camp.

Bob Wells has some info regarding pets and full timing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmtL5E3Mws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mggFAa_yAPc&t=584s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhcm9q7gX5Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRPcpuvEmlA&t=789s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBplLmK-B7I

=Cosmo
 
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John and Jodi,

So sorry you are having trouble with the puppy in the camper. I wonder if keeping her in a crate inside the camper would be helpful, slowly allowing her to "earn her freedom" as her behavior improves and putting her back in the crate if she does something destructive? Just a thought.

Camping with my Vizsla Rika is one of the joys of my life, we bought the camper just for her! :) The picture below was taken just minutes after our new camper arrived, she jumped in and claimed it as her own. She loves being in there and begs to go in when she is tired or when it starts getting cold. The only thing that ever happened is that she jumped through the zip up door screen once, scared the daylights out of her. She was actually trying to get in! The 560 is great for her because she sleeps on the sofa leaving the bed for us (although if its cold she eventually works her way down between us!)

Anyway, hang in there, I'm sure it will get better. The first couple of puppy years can be challenging.

Randy & Rika

full
 
Thanks for the advice and encouragement, please keep it coming. Koki is 13 weeks and we are puppy naive. We have been orienting her to the camper and found she does much better with her kennel on the couch. Weather permitting, we are heading out with her next weekend...
 
This stepstool is great for allowing the dog to climb into the the camper. It's a little spendy but really slick. Grab one handle and it instantly unfolds. Grab the other and it closes right up and folds flat. It's the perfect height for the camper and I just fold it up and lean it against the fender when I'm not using it. With your little dog you may not need it though. Rika weighs 50 plus pounds so it's tough to lift her in there!

Amazon.com: Range Kleen SS2 Double Step Gray Folding Stool 19.5 Inches L by 20 Inches W by 17 Inches H: Home & Kitchen
 
You say you are "puppy naive" - does this mean you are having the dog professionally trained, or are you, the puppy-naive folks, doing the training?

If your dog isn't trained, don't bring it camping. You'll end up with an expensive ticket from a park ranger and will likely piss off a bunch of other campers and hikers.

If she (and you) ARE trained, that's a different story. I love dogs.

-Al (not Cat)
 
I would 2nd Al on his comments. Like children most dog owners think everyone else adores their "pups". Not true.
Well behaved-yes. But this takes a lot of time and dedication. Do yourselves a favor and invest the proper training
methods and techniques including socialization with other dogs. And, my suggestion is until you've accomplished
the basics and have your dog under control do some boon docking or go someplace secluded where you won't bother other folks who most likely want to enjoy nature and peace and quiet. And, we know it's not easy. We're on our 9th golden retriever and they all offer different challenges. Oh, and long hikes (on leash-no chasing the wildlife) will do
more for both you and your dog's well being. Good luck!
 
Consider limitations within a park when you have a pet along. Many parks don't allow pets (on leash or off) unless they're on a paved walkway. We enjoy trail hikes but it is becoming more difficult to find areas accepting of pets. Beaches in CA are notorious as are state and national parks. We know what to expect now and take our dog along and plan accordingly. I agree- better trained than not trained and that applies to us as owners.
Our dog Bella understands restrictions (doesn't like them bur wears the leash and harness anyway) but the trade-off for her is being with us. Side note: Our pet decides when it's bedtime and heads to our TD when it's dark where she snuggles inside and waits for us to join her.
Happy trails.
 
As we prepared for taking Koki, our puppy, camping the first time, here are some tips we gleaned from various sources:
  • Training
    • Responds to name when outside at a distance
    • Is solid with following commands: Come, Leave it, Drop it
    • Is generally "polite" around people and other dogs knowing basic commands
  • Vaccinations
    • Complete the core vaccines before going
    • Consider “lifestyle” vaccines: leptospirosis, lyme, rattlesnake (dog will still need treatment ASAP but does slow down the rate of venom progression to give time to get off trail to treating vet)
    • Take a copy of shot records with you
  • Know what’s in the area: wildlife, Valley Fever, Foxtails, etc.
  • Beef up the first aid kit to account for what the dog might need.
  • Dog’s collar has an ID tag and rabies tag
  • Know the pet rules for where you will be staying.
 
By puppy naïve, I mean we have only adopted adult dogs before. Adult dogs usually come with no instruction books and while manners usually need to be improved, there are usually some rudimentary ones in place and they have some life experience, both good and not-so-good. But, it's a discovery process to figure out. Puppies come with no instruction book, no manners, and no idea of what to do. Part of raising them is teaching them what is and is not appropriate by shaping their behavior to live peacefully with us.

My experience of raising this pup is that other well-meaning people undermine her training by approaching her in excited high pitched “Oh, it’s a puppy” voice and bee-lining to her, falling on their knees and encouraging her to jump on them and other obnoxious behaviors. Poor pup has nowhere to go when she is on a leash and others are grabbing for her. That said, once the other person’s approach to the pup is slowed down, she behaves beautifully.

Part of training any dog is to give them multiple experiences in multiple areas where they can learn what is expected of them and how to behave/cope in various situations. For instance, when Koki learned to sit, she learned in the living room, but she had to relearn it in the kitchen (a more exciting place for her), then on the back deck, the back yard, the front yard, a store, a park, until she had the light-bulb moment that no matter where she was, “sit” always meant the same behavior was expected from her. Now she is going through the same sequencing of learning to solidify other initial training commands. As behavior improves, the breadth of available experiences to her widens because we are more willing to engage with her in more varied settings.

All of this is a prelude to saying that Koki did GREAT on her first camping trip. It was a simple overnight trip planned entirely to observe her in and around the camper. One of the things we did to help her/us was put down a beach mat where we primarily wanted her and a pet bed for her to lounge on. The beach mat was because she is in the middle of teething and has taken to picking up all sorts of rocks and what-nots. This gave us an area where we could be reasonably sure she was not sampling the asphalt. The pet bed was to continue one of her home routines so she knew exactly where we wanted her to settle when we sat and ate. In camp, she settled easily but did maintain alertness while watching flocks of black birds come and go. We had her kennel in the camper, and similar to home, she walked right in and settled/slept the entire night. Her leash walking has improved dramatically this past week and it continued to improve at the campsite. Koki is not at a point where she can be off-leash outside, but we did have opportunity to observe her behavior and now have ideas for shaping it so camping with her can be even more enjoyable for her and those around her.
 
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