Hammock Hiking with Dog--sleep arrangements

[OlTrailDog]

Since I will be launching on the AT with my Border Collie in a month and a half I came up with the following setup. I use an Alcott explorer pup tent that was surprisingly inexpensive and light. I also modified the tent poles by replacing the 7.5 oz poles with 1 oz arrow shaft sections as can be seen in the pictures. The arrow shaft poles are to be suspended either from a tree or from the hammock suspension. I also mad a fleece/tyvek envelope that is the same dimensions as the Alcott tent floor. I have a piece of reflectix that fits inside the envelope. I have been sleeping in the dogtrot almost every night since before Christmas to experiment with hammock system, mostly under insulation. My BC appears to enjoy sleeping in the tent even though there are other options for her to choose from. The minimal tent with arrow shaft weight is 14.5 oz. Since our ground is snow covered about 16" I set the contraption up under the only bare spot under the P pine to take pictures of it.
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[Snydman]

The Alcott works great. I have two goldendoodles one loves the tent my second is still getting used to it.
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Are used half of a Thermarest foam pad as sleeping mats for the dogs
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[gr8brew]

You may want to listen to episode 19 of this podcast. . It's all about through hiking with dogs.

http://www.soundsofthetrail.com/?p=180

I day hike with my dog. Haven't taken him on a multi day trip yet when I'm out for a few days I feel like I'm missing something.

There are allot of considerations brought up in the podcast about through hiking with a dog that I never considered.

[OlTrailDog]

Hey! Thank you very much for the podcast link. After I got through all the blahdity blah blah about blogs, it had some very valuable information. In fact it probably made my dogs day. I decided that I will not have her carry a pack. I will have a harness for the tough sections in Maine and the White Mtns. Simply an excellent podcast with great experience and advice.

[bear snack]

I made this pole-less tent that snuggles under the end of the hammock with a silnylon floor, noseeum netting, and a bit of ripstop. I stake out the 4 corners and attach it to the ridgeline with shock cord so that it flexes when my dog leans on the side. I throw a CCF pad on the ground (which folds into the spot where the sit-light pad is supposed to go in Gossamer Gear's Mariposa pack), and when it gets cold I put a DIY fleece sweater on my golden because he is useless about staying under a blanket, even when he's sincerely cold.

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This set-up works for me for a few reasons. 1. My 100 lb Golden retriever was crate trained as a pup, and then learned to tent camp. He hates bugs and will beg to be let in to anything that looks remotely like a tent when he's tired but won't relax on a pad in the open. He's also dumb about being tied up and gets tangled around everything, so this lets him sleep off leash, but in a confined space. 2. I like being able to reach him in the night to pet him or hush him when he's growling at the leaves blowing through camp, or any other perceived intruders. I can pet him through the mesh since the shockcord flexes. 3. It's light and that's important to me.

[HangTen808]

I've been wanting to take my trusty companion Bella (My Boxer Dog) on my hammock adventures or even just join me on my backyard hangs. But the idea of having a 60lb dog in your hammock with you doesn't conjure up comfortable thoughts. Not to mention the wear and tear a dogs claw can do to your ultralight high tech fabric hammock. I don't think ripstop was designed with animal claws in mind. Anyone conjured up a prototype or a working Doggie Hammock? I was thinking a DIY project using maybe DL cotton canvas so you can slip in a pad for insulation. Maybe in a shape that can fit a ready made doggie bed. I don't foresee a calf ridge problem with dogs but there might be other concerns. I'm sure I'm not the first to wonder about this. Would like to hear what other hammock hangers have tried and come up with for our four legged companions.

[Billiard Pete]

For those who sleep with their dogs and let them sleep with them in their hammock, do you use anything to protract your hammock from the nails?

I was thinking of hooking in a fleece blanket with utility connections (like Dream Hammock) so it would cover the area they are lying in.

Any thought, ideas or suggestions???

[kattdogg]

I use a light small blue tarp and A frame it over a piece of paracord and stake the ends. Then put his pad and sleeping bag in there and he uses it all the time, if windy I wrap an end around a tree and use my poncho as a wind break, usually he is so tired he crawls right in and pass right out

[kattdogg]

I've been wanting to take my trusty companion Bella (My Boxer Dog) on my hammock adventures or even just join me on my backyard hangs. But the idea of having a 60lb dog in your hammock with you doesn't conjure up comfortable thoughts. Not to mention the wear and tear a dogs claw can do to your ultralight high tech fabric hammock. I don't think ripstop was designed with animal claws in mind. Anyone conjured up a prototype or a working Doggie Hammock? I was thinking a DIY project using maybe DL cotton canvas so you can slip in a pad for insulation. Maybe in a shape that can fit a ready made doggie bed. I don't foresee a calf ridge problem with dogs but there might be other concerns. I'm sure I'm not the first to wonder about this. Would like to hear what other hammock hangers have tried and come up with for our four legged companions.

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[alifeoutdoors]

I use a light small blue tarp and A frame it over a piece of paracord and stake the ends. Then put his pad and sleeping bag in there and he uses it all the time, if windy I wrap an end around a tree and use my poncho as a wind break, usually he is so tired he crawls right in and pass right out

Beautiful GSD you have there.

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