I have been tent camping almost all my life and am comfortable prepping for any type of camping be it winter, summer, spring, fall, remote … you get the idea 😉

My daughter and I were camping up at Lake Superior in Northern Ontario Thanksgiving 2020, when we decided that we needed to have a puppy along on our trips. A little fur baby to come on our adventures. Getting a puppy wasn’t something I decided on a whim. It had been discussed for a number of years. It was that very trip when I decided it was finally time to get my dream dog.

The things I knew to prepare myself …

One of the things I looked at for our first camping trip with pup was that it wasn’t too far from home and that it had some fun trails in the woods and other things to explore. In this case, we were going to be a mere 45 minutes from home, had a boardwalk, forest trails, a lake and caves … yes, caves to explore! Perfect!

The reason for being closer to home was in case Juni had a rough first experience in the tent and we had to drive home in the middle of the night. I knew that she’d potentially be on edge a bit with how you can hear EVERYTHING in a tent. Little did I know what was in store for us that night! Anyone living in Southern/Central Ontario can vouch for the stormy summer we had. Every weekend that there was a storm, tornado warning, flood warning, end of the world … you can guarantee we were in a tent somewhere. Builds character, right? Right!

The other items we knew we needed were a separate cooler for her food. Juniper is raw fed and I didn’t want any contamination between our food and hers. We also went shopping for a campsite hitching system. Where we are, dogs are to be leashed even on a campsite. This is for their safety and out of respect for fellow campers. I wanted something that was off the ground so she could still have her freedom to roam but we wouldn’t be tripping over a stake or her line. The best one by far that we came across was the Knot-A-Hitch Campsite hitching system by Ruffwear. And, after 8 trips this summer and countless storms (it stormed EVERY trip!) I can vouch that it is durable. (no I’m not getting paid for this). We use a 10 ft rope leash from Wilderdog with this system which allows Juni to roam the campsite freely but keeps her on our site.

The next item was a shelter, we had a small sun shelter for us for beach camping so that was packed.

Towels, toys, poop bags, treats … lots of special treats for just in case a distraction was needed … her own bowls for water and food, and a mat to put her bowls on. We grabbed one of those really tough plastic basic food bowl mats with the raised edges. They’re indestructible and cheap.

So, now we were ready! Or so we thought …

The campsite was perfect! Trees, sunshine, chirping birds … and other campers! This is something I had not considered. That fact that now there were no walls. Juniper could see EVERYONE and their aunt walk by the campsite or moving around on their own site and she thought she had to make it known to all that she had arrived. Whenever someone walked by to fill up their water, go up to the washhouse, just go somewhere past our site, Juni would bark! Okay, so at first I got a little embarrassed because well, when we go camping, we go to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, the fresh air and the sounds of the chirping birds … not barking dogs.

One of the ways we started dealing with her enthusiasm was that, every time someone wandered by, we’d say “they’re okay, they’re friends, they can be here”. She knew what that meant from back at our place but still needed to alert people that she was there.

Then came the inevitable, people stopping to see the cute puppy and, once again, Miss Juni showed that she was quite the protector. I learned from a fellow camper on a later camping trip that this is just what dogs do. They realize that this is now their place, this is their ‘home’ and they protect. To avoid any unhappy encounters for Juni or our fellow campers, we would put her on a shorter leash and walk her off our campsite to meet people. And this worked great! We even got lucky with some very nice tent neighbours who said to bring Juni over to see their site as well. She got invited onto someone else’s territory and it made it easier to have people walk by or onto our site later. I always love the neighbourly feels of a campground 😀

The first day was coming to a close and it was quickly getting dark. We had spent the day hiking and exploring and it was now time for a fire. She was very curious at first, tried to eat the fire wood and then settled in the warmth for a bit. Juniper was starting to show signs of being very tired, so we brought her over to the tent and put her inside. She had her blanket from home in there and was quite happy to snuggle in between the blankets and sleeping bags. We joined her a short while later after extinguishing the fire. And this is where the fun really began.

Once our fire was extinguished, any and all other light became more visible. Shadows being cast onto the side of the tent by the moon or someone’s headlamp were a source of danger. A voice carrying through the night from four campsites over could be heard as if they were right near the tent. We finally got Juni settled with a lot of reassurance “It’s okay! That’s just a flashlight.” (and we’d show her our flashlight) or “It’s okay, those are friends, they can be here.” The sound of our voices and gentle pats finally settled her enough to fall asleep.

Not even half an hour later, the first major storm of the summer hit! We’re talking lightning, thunder, torrential downpour for a good hour and a half. It really was an intense storm, I could feel each clap of thunder pound in my chest. Poor Juni! Because she never got up from her spot or started pacing around the tent, we decided to wait it out. After 20 minutes of staring at the roof of the tent trying to figure out what the cause of this infernal noise was now, she settled once more and we made it through the night safe and dry. One thing that I swear by and have always sworn by is our tent. It has gotten us through some crazy East Coast Atlantic storms without us getting the least bit wet. It thankfully held up that night too.

We spent the morning hiking and exploring, discovering the lovely flavour of goose poop (puppies are so gross!) and came back to a campsite that was still drying out from the storm. Soggy forest soil everywhere. A quick scan of a map on our phone and we found a pet store in a town not too far away. Juni deserved a real special treat after a night like that. This was a decision that changed our camping summer for the better. The store not only had great dehydrated animal bits and pieces, it also had these cots that were completely collapsible and could be assembled in less than five minutes! Bingo! With our chicken heads and new cot in hand, we headed back to the campsite.

The second night, Juni knew the routine. She had her dinner under a tree, tried to bury half of it for later, stole some firewood to chew on and, when she got tired, wandered over to the tent. She stood in front of it and looked over her shoulder at us letting us know she wanted to go inside to sleep. She curled up and there was not a peep from her all night.

Things I learned…

Having a cot at the campsite for Juniper really made a difference. And why shouldn’t it! We bring camping chairs for ourselves don’t we? She now had the option of getting off the ground and this was her own special space that could be moved around. We could put it under the sun shelter for shade or move it beside the campfire for the evening. It was perfect and we will never go camping without it.

Depending on the time of year, bring a cooling vest, mat or bandana with you. It can get hot camping and they may not have a lake to lounge in all day.

Your dog may try to bury their dinner in the woods for safekeeping…it’s nasty if it’s raw! I don’t know if you ever spilled your spaghetti onto the forest floor while camping but, it cannot be recovered without half a tree, leaves and dirt stuck to it. We would just pick up her bowl for a bit and offer it to her later. If she showed no interest, then she was done.

Their eating habits may be completely different when out camping. New environment, new smells and now there are no walls to protect them while their face is in their bowl!

Have a good tarp set-up or day shelter big enough for all of you to fit under in the event of a storm. Trust me, storms happen when you least expect it. But with a good shelter that is big enough, you can wait out anything mother nature throws at you in comfort. We moved Juni’s cot under it with our camping chairs and just enjoyed watching the deluge from there. The tarp we found on Amazon is fantastic and can be set up a million different ways. We purchased two extending poles as well in case there are not enough trees and are able to raise or drop corners as needed depending on which side the rain is coming from.

One of the most important things to remember …

No matter how prepared you are for that first camping trip with your pup, you cannot anticipate how they will react. The smells, the strange sounds, the shadows on the tent and not having four walls can be a bit overwhelming. Patience is your best friend. Be patient and don’t be too hard on yourself. Even the sweetest pup may bark at people walking past THEIR campsite.

Know your pup and don’t be afraid to leave early. It is not a sign of failure and no one will judge you. If Juni had freaked out during that storm our first night in the tent, we would have come home for the night and driven back in the morning.

A quick recap:

• Set up the hitching system when you first get to the site. This way, your pup is secured while you argue with your fellow campers about where to set up the tent.
• Having a special blanket or cot for them to be use outside the tent, gives them a space they know is theirs.
• Pick a spot that is a bit sheltered for their food dishes. Either by the picnic table or by a big tree so they don’t feel so exposed. You can have more than one water bowl set up around the campsite if it’s really hot.
• Bring a special camping toy. Juniper has a set of toys that she only gets on camping trips and is excited every time we bring those out.
• A small portable dish washing tub is your best friend for throwing the wet toys, soggy hitching system and leash into when packing up. This way you can keep everything else free of mud and slobber until you get home and can wash them properly.
• Keep foods and treats in a spot that you can easily access. We stash Juni’s treats in a dry bag style bag with a clip. This can also be used if your pup feeds on kibble 🙂
• Having meals already pre-portioned really helps keep things easy. I now use the 1 lb packages of frozen raw for camping. They’re the right portion size for Juni (she’s a big girl). I defrost what I need for the first day and keep the remainder frozen so it stays fresh longer in the cooler.

Thank you for stopping by and have fun camping 🙂

PS: the pictures in this article are from various camping trips to highlight some of the items mentioned.