Hanging with a dog

**TaoJones** · 01-13-2019, 22:58

Originally Posted by Federico

I suppose you are right

my Jackie has not yet arrived...still to be born, but I am getting ready.

It would probably fit with me in my hammock, but 1) it may become really warm for it under my down quilt, but really cold for me without it or with it on the side. 2) I am a little worried to squash the dog in my sleep as I struggle to imagine there is enough space for both in my hammock. I use a Hennessy explorer XL and am over 6 feet but quite lean...perhaps I need to get used to a more cramped space

Perhaps, when really cold, if my dog will follow, I may think to downgrade and sleep in a tent myself with her

There is an American hiker and author named Kyle Rohrig who did almost the entire AT with his female Shiba Inu, Katana. He wrote a book about their epic journey in "Lost on the Appalachian Trail".

He and his then-girlfriend co-owned the pup, and he had set out on his AT hike with Katana in the care of his girlfriend's parents in Florida. That didn't work out, though, and after he had made it through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (no dogs allowed in national parks in the US), his girlfriend brought Katana to him for the rest of his time on the trail. That would be almost 1300 miles. She also hiked with him for the first several hundred miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Kyle is a hammock camper and Katana slept with him in his hammock. A Shiba Inu female is 15-20 pounds, so not a large dog but not a miniature breed either. I'm citing this example because Kyle Rohrig is 6'3" and about 235 pounds, so about the size of a pro linebacker - and Katana was never in any danger of being crushed as they slept.

If you have some other reason for not wanting your dog to share your hammock, it would be interesting to know what that is. But you really shouldn't have any worries about harming the dog in your sleep.

And if you ever get a chance to read "Lost on the Appalachian Trail," you may conclude that hiking with your dog and sharing your hammock with him/her are exactly what you want to do. But there is no good reason for you to give up hanging, getting a tent and sleeping on the ground, Federico.

TJ

**SilvrSurfr** · 01-14-2019, 01:20

Originally Posted by SteelPlayer

I'm trying to teach my 6 yr old beagle mix to sleep with me in the hammock. We've been doing this inside the house so far. She like joey prefers to sleep on my chest or under the top quilt between my legs. The problem is if I move and disturb her she is ready to get up and crawl back into her bed. I'm debating buying a crate for under the hammock. Being so Beagle if she got on the scent of something during the night camping and was not restrained in some way I would probably never see her again.

We're easing into this thing and trying out options.

There was no easing into this thing for beagle Joey. When my wife told me she wanted to wanted to get a new beagle, I told her that any dog we got was going to be a hiking and camping dog - and she had no choice in the matter.

The first time I took him hammock camping, it was summer. He kept waking me up to go for a walk, maybe three or four times. It got old quickly and I began to wonder if beagle Joey just wasn't a camping dog. But the first night was just him getting used to being out in the woods. Since then the overnight temps have been progressively colder, and he might wake me once for a walk, but usually not. When the sun comes up, he's ready for a walk. Waking up at the crack of dawn is not my idea of fun, but it's such a pleasure to take your dog out in the wilderness, with so many things to sniff and investigate. On one trip, we hiked about 8 miles and he forced me to go to sleep at 9 pm. He was exhausted and even jumped up into the hammock himself to demonstrate to me that it was beddy-bye time. I haven't gone to bed at 9 pm in years, and haven't since that night.

Nowadays, Joey knows there's probably going to be midnight brats grilled over the fire, so he will just take a nap, usually wrapped up near the fire in a wool sweater. When the brats start sizzling, he pops up for his share! Since Joey is a beagle, I can never, ever let him off his leash - he would be gone chasing scents and I would never find him again.

Joey got a new leash last month, and it took my wife and I a while to get it adjusted and figure out how it worked. He escaped from his new leash four times in the last month, and I had to chase him for miles before I finally caught him. Talk about exhausting! Luckily, he always heads to the river, so even if he gets a few blocks ahead of me I just keep running towards the river, knowing I'll find him there. He doesn't like to swim, but he does like the smell of rivers!

**SilvrSurfr** · 01-14-2019, 01:56

Originally Posted by SteelPlayer

I'm trying to teach my 6 yr old beagle mix to sleep with me in the hammock. We've been doing this inside the house so far.

I tried this too - didn't work. Beagle Joey had no interest in a hammock inside the house when there were his familiar couches, chairs and beds all around for him to snooze in. Once out in the woods, with nowhere else to sleep, he accepted the hammock.

Joey's first 4 nights were in a Dutchware Chameleon. The zippered bugnet kept him contained. Then I got the bright idea for us to sleep in a Dutch Netless with Fronkey bugnet - bad idea. Joey could see the ground - he could see escape so close he could taste it. I got no sleep that night. So, as much as I dislike zippered bugnets, and enjoy going netless in winter, I can't do that with beagle Joey. To see escape so close, he just can't handle it.

**GadgetUK437** · 01-14-2019, 03:41

My collie is usually waaay too wet and muddy to come anywhere near my hammock and quilts!!

**Ssplash** · 02-08-2019, 19:36

I have a border collie who hangs with me, sometimes we wiggle a bit between us getting comfy but he hops right in. On one hang we got super cold and I wrapped him up in a blanket and kept poking him through the night to make sure he was warm, that annoyed him but he's a blast to camp with.

**ThreeTracks** · 02-09-2019, 04:25

You guys that sleep with your dog in the hammock, you don't find there's a problem with their claws harming the fabric?

**OlTrailDog** · 02-09-2019, 19:16

Originally Posted by ThreeTracks

You guys that sleep with your dog in the hammock, you don't find there's a problem with their claws harming the fabric?

My border collie(s) are not allowed in the hammock, but one possibly could put dog booties on prior to letting Fido hop in.

**SirChesserWare** · 02-11-2019, 22:12

Dutch offers a dog canopy type. Also there is slings they offer that sit underneath your hammock connected to you tree straps or ridgeline. Kammock makes one. I just started making my own hammocks and gear. It’s basically making a smaller hammock considering the size of the dog and adding extra long cordage to connect it sonit can hang freely underneath your hammock