My dog loves camping, too!

Oscar the dog, he knows when we're getting ready for a camping trip.  He's been known to take a quick, unexpected jump into the truck an hour before we roll out and refuse to get out.

Why are you taking my picture??

I have a few friends that don't take their dog camping, mostly because the dog barks too much.  Oscar rarely barks.  Oh, he makes noises to let you know his feelings about things, but he rarely barks.  He also makes a fun old-man coughing noise that's just delightful at 5 am in the camper - old dogs are fun!

Of course, we keep him comfortable while we camp.  He's got a bed in the camper, just like he does at home.  Oscar, he's funny, he loves to be covered up with a blanket.  He'll bring you his blanket so you can cover him up.  Then, I'll hold the blanket up over his bed, he'll walk around on his bed in circles to find just the right way to lay down, and drags his head under the blanket as I start to cover him.  Dog likes to be cozy.  So, he's got a blanket in the camper, too.  He sleeps on the floor on Husband's side of the bed.

For outside, we have a corkscrew tie-out.  We used to have a fancy self-retracting tie out, but it died last winter and we haven't found a replacement in our price range.

Our main leash (we have a back up in the camper, just in case) is a 4 foot long leash.  I like the 4' length, it's easy to get him immediately right next to me for any reason.  Attached to the leash is a container holding poo bags.  Whenever takes a dump, the bags are right there for easy clean-up.  There may have been some teasing about the pink and purple poo bags for our male dog, but, hey, they were cheaper than all blue.

Manly dogs use pink poo bags

For food, I keep it in a Rubbermaid container.  There was this one trip a couple years ago where Oscar's food was left outside right next to his food dish.  And, the food had all sorts of mold by Sunday morning because of the sun and lack of ventilation.  That mistake has not been repeated.

While we're on our camping trip, Oscar stays outside.  He goes on walks with us, hikes with us.  He's on his tie-out while we're playing outside games and games on the picnic table.  He's right there at the campfire when we're talking at night.  He still goes with me on my runs like he does when we're at home.  When we get home, he's exhausted from the extra activity and sleeps more than normal the next day.

Oscar is just like the rest of my family, he loves camping.