i have a choc lab and have been thinking about this as well, as i have yet to bust my cherrie camping in just a hammock my concern for my bestest buddie is weighing heavy. my dog, who has always slept with me in my tent, is now on his own...
i have a choc lab and have been thinking about this as well, as i have yet to bust my cherrie camping in just a hammock my concern for my bestest buddie is weighing heavy. my dog, who has always slept with me in my tent, is now on his own...
Like Rev says, for car camping JD's dog, SkyDog, has her own little popup tent. When backpacking, JD hangs his hammock very low (almost on the ground) where Sky can bump up next to him and he can reach out and pet her. He puts tyvek on ground next to him for Sky to lay on and he takes a blanket for her in cold weather. He ties her leash to his belt buckle at night. Both fit under the tarp.
Bug-Bait has a Newfi, Misto, and she has a pack to carry her own supplies.
Exercise, eat right, die anyway -- Country Roads bumper sticker
Fall seven times, standup eight. -- Japanese Proverb
I've not had good luck trying to camp with my three dogs (two Pembroke Welsh Corgis, and a Corgi/Aussie mix). In fact, I actually had to bail from the first annual Colorado Winter Hang because my dogs weren't doing well. It was a major bummer
I tried them in the hammocks with us, and that was a miserable failure. And out here, in the woods, coyotes, bears, and mountain lions are all at least somewhat of a concern, so I would be very leery of leaving my dogs somewhere that I couldn't see them. I'm actually thinking about trying to DIY an enclosed tarptent with doors and a floor, and two openings for hammocks to hang inside, so the dogs could sleep on the ground beneath us and we could use bugnet-free hammocks. It might be easier to buy a large-ish tent from an REI scratch-n-dent sale and mod it.
This is a great thread.
I have some questions for you all.
Do you keep your dog on the leash for the hike? (I have to due to Pete enjoying a good face rubbing in ElK poo, and his lack of regard for his own safety with the wildlife/lizards/snakes)
How do you handle the threat of Rattlers? (I got the vaccine for our dogs, but who knows)
What about wild life being attracted to the dog smell and coming to investigate? Black Bears, mountain lions are in our areas, but I have yet to see one. Just deer, squirrels, and coyotes we see and hear.
We have 2 dogs, a cocker spaniel and a Golden Retriever. My cocker spaniel Pete is my Son, and would probably sleep with me in my BB. But if he is really dirty then he's booted out of that option.
We do have an old REI roadster 1 man tent. Perfect for our terds, but I have a feeling they would not use it as Pete is a Mama's boy and would want to be near me and Jake (golden) is a Daddy's boy always near him. Rook and I try to hang near each other, but that never works out as close as I like.
I do have a fear of bears, and I would want the dogs to alert us, but not be an attractant either.
Help?
It's not the pace....it's the experience.
SKITTLES
always on a leash!
how about a doggie hammock hanging below yours. one member here has a picture of the one he made for his dog. ( i need one of those, but i don't sew)
i attach my dog leash to my ridge line with a carebiner.
Peanuts
"A womans place is on the trail"
i found the dog hammock pic.
and its a blck lab hammock
This may sound like heresy, but I'd suggest a tent for your dog. I built the dog hammock in the picture, and there a some things I would change if I did another one. It's pretty complicated to make ... and to use. My sewing skills are up to the task (been making stuff for a long time), but my dog took a while to get used to sleeping on something that moves when he steps into it. He still would rather be next to me instead of underneath. It would be easier to make a very small tent than a dog hammock. There are some advantages to a hammock, though, such as being able to camp on a steep slope.
I thought this was funny.
I would not want my dog to love hammocking like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMTIbSOCls
It's not the pace....it's the experience.
SKITTLES
A dog won't be any "safer" in a tent from a mountain lion or bear than you would. Two of mine don't wander of while I'm sleeping and one does. The one that does is on a long leash, and I keep it wrapped around my wrist or arm.
If your dogs sleep close to you at home, they'll sleep close to you in the woods.
If you have a big enough tarp, I don't see any reason to have another cover just for the dog. Also, sleeping on a ground cloth on top of duff is going to be just as plush as laying on the carpet in my house if not more. Heck, they lay on a concrete patio sometimes. Why would they need their own hammock?
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