How to Camp with Your Dog

The companionship of a dog can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a wilderness traveler. As opposed to humans, they are quiet, low-maintenance, and easy to please. Dogs cannot be jaded; everything is new to them. If you don’t believe me, watch your dog at a rest stop. The pet exercise area is like a giant olfactory newspaper, and my dogs must read every article, especially the ones left behind by an interesting female.

But like anything, the key to a successful trip is preparation, and then more preparation. There are many more considerations in your wilderness trip prep work when taking a dog, and failure in one of them can create drama. You are responsible for the health and safety of your companion.

Training

You don’t need a dog with a Ph.D, but be honest with yourself. Does your dog listen to you? When you give a command, does she* listen and respond? I spent a long time training Gracie, my Black Lab, to respond to the important voice commands. She doesn’t roll over or play dead, as they are cute tricks but have no value other than entertaining kids.The important commands that need consistent responses are:

Whoa: I use this for stop, freeze, don’t move. Useful for bird dogs so they don’t flush a bird when they’re on-point; it’s also useful when they see a squirrel and start chasing it across the street. Whoa can save a life.
Come: Self-explanatory.
Down: Lay down, don’t move until I tell you it’s okay.
Okay: We’re cool. As you were.
Leave it: Whatever is in your mouth, drop it. If you’re sniffing a dead crow, don’t even think about it.

Whatever words you decide to use, you need a dog that will stop, come back, lay down, and drop the thing in her mouth.

Non-essential but useful is also the hurry up, which is basically urinate and defecate quickly. Useful at rest stops.

Of course, you don’t need all these commands if you’re going to keep your dog on a leash all the time, but that takes away a lot of the fun for both you and your dog.