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Dogs in Tents?

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How do folks who trip with their dog handle sleeping arrangements? Dog in the tent? Any special precautions to protect the tent floor from fido? What kind of bedding for the dog (Spring, Summer and Fall trips)? Thanks in advance for any tips!

Al
 
Dog never ripped up the floor. Dog always got to my sleeping bag first. A dog blanket helps avoid that. More important is how will you dry the dog.. I recommend a pile of microfiber towels.
Sometimes our dog wanted out of the tent.. and sometimes in.
We did have our dog in a raincoat during rainy weather.. see dog in tent.. thats why. She did not really like it but tolerated with "that look"
 
She gets her own bed to keep her off mine but I have to keep an eye on her because mine is a lot softer. Generally she's not allowed in the tent for more than a few minutes if I'm not in there. I don't really worry about her getting into things but it's not the time or place for dumb things to happen. I can see her scratching at my down top quilt in an effort to get it positioned just right and then I return to a pile of feathers.

Having her own bed keeps her happy and gives her a place where she feels comfortable. I usually place a foam pad under it for some extra cushion and insulation. During the day the pad goes in the bottom of the canoe to give her traction and insulation.

One year the bed was the foot box cut off an old sleeping bag and sewn back up. I thought she'd like being able to crawl inside it but she didn't. After that my mom sewed up a simple round bed with synthetic sleeping bag stuffing. For fabric we used some sort of lightweight nylon or other such synthetic. We didn't stuff it super full to cut down on pack space and while not as comfortable as her bed at home it's better than a rock.

No issues with the floor. If she was in the tent she was generally on her pad.

Alan
 
My boy sleeps in the tent. I try to get him somewhat clean. He starts at my feet, but if it gets cold, he eventually spoons with me under the quilt. He's special, so I don't imagine anyone else treats their dog so well. I do like the idea of taking a bed for him. Maybe some thinsulate covered in fleece. Hmmmm.
 
Holly gets her own bed though she rarely uses it. I sewed some fleece to a layer of waterproof nylon just to keep her off the damp ground though she has a thicker bed for winter. I have always ben surprised that no one sells a self inflating Thermarest style mat for dogs.

We have a 3 person canoe tripping tent specifically to allow extra room for her inside the tent if she wants but she mostly sleeps in the vestibule or out the front of the tent on a long leash that I keep fastened around my wrist. She will often stick her nose in through the zipper in the morning then push her way in to greet us for the day ahead. The only time she really wants in the tent is when she is being harassed by horse flies, she impervious to mosquitoes but bigger flies drive her nuts. If she does come in we have to be quick to direct her to her bed and not ours, once she is down and asleep there is no moving her.

Not a lot of point using sleeping bag fill as a mat, it just compresses down to nothing. One useful product is a polyester batter called Insul-Bright that has a mylar reflective sheet woven in. It is quite resistant to being compressed and easy to work with.
 
Boomer goes where he wants. Most of the time that is outside, sometimes it's in the tent. I bring a bed for him on glamping trips but the bed gets cut around the same time the chair gets cut. He is big and heavy and hasn't put any holes in the floor yet. I try to trim his claws a week before big trips thinking they will then be duller by the time we leave. He does get bothered by flies or mosquitoes on occasion. This happened two nights in a row on one trip last summer when I was hanging. I mostly covered him with my raincoat and maybe a little deet but his nose was swollen after that trip from all the mosquito bites so I've been brainstorming ways to DIY him his own personal shelter that I can set up next to or underneath my hammock. I've thought about cutting an old hammock of mine (with netting built in) in half, hemming the cut end and adding grommets for stakes. Other thoughts have been just a big piece of bug netting that I can hang close enough to me to drape over him after he settles in and/or buying one of those screen doors with the magnet enclosure to modify so I can stake it out. This week I'll be back in MN and I'm going to cut that hammock up and see how it goes. I wonder how much one of those mini display model tents weighs?
 
If you use an extended Fronkey style bug net he could lay under the hammock, though from my experience dogs are not great with netting, they have trouble finding the door so tend to make their own!

I wonder if one of those clip-on bug repellant devices would work?
 
I don’t know about the clip on repellants, but I once did a trip in Florida where a local recommended one of those thermocell devices. They’re about the size of a VCR tape (yes, I now feel old). It was kind of like magic... I could sit outside at the picnic table, and there were no mosquitoes. I haven’t used it since, so maybe different mosquitoes in different locations would react differently, but I think it cost me about $30 for the thing and a pack of extra pads and cartridges. The directions specifically say to not run it inside a shelter or tent, so putting it by your hammock, leaving your pooch in the open, might be perfect.
 
I set up my bedding, clothing, etc. inside the tent and cover everything with a guide tarp. So if dog is dirty and/or wet nothing gets dirty or soaked.

Nothing like waking up in the morning with the dog snuggled next to you.

Gerald
 
My recent winter trip my pup slept in the tent when I did and slept with me under the stars too. I bought a tent that lets me hang my hammock through it so she can then be in the tent with me, can't wait to try it out this spring. In the past she has slept under my hammock on a blanket.
 
When my dog is with me I have an appropriately sized CCF pad for her. I have a fleece blanket as well but she rarely uses it. The one time I was worried about her during a cold spell (it was 21 F when we climbed into the tent) I covered her with a wool blanket I had as well as a light quilt. About an hour into the night she woke up and shook everything off. She pulled it all together and slept on top of everything. I did worry about her a bit until I heard her snoring contentedly a bit later. Long story short, the temperatures dipped into the upper teens but she slept through the rest of the night without a hitch.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
Jake is a 60 pound Vizsla. He had very short hair with no under undercoat. He dries REAL fast. However, he is susceptible to becoming cold if he is wet, or if it is windy. Also Vizslas are known for always wanting to be touching their human. He sleeps under my blanket with me, snuggled up next to me or at my feet. We sleep most often either under a tarp or in a CCS Lean 1 which has no floor. If it had one I would worry not about Jake ripping it up. Once inside he looks for the blankets to plop on immediately! We both use sleeping mats, I have a half mat, inflatable and he uses the foam matt I keep in the canoe on travel days to keep him off the wet bottom.

i would post pics, but my putter is on the fritz do I am using my iPad.
 
Oh man - what a goof up ... not sure if that was auto correct or if I am that poor of a typist - good grief.

Here are Jake and I after a long day snuggled up in a wool blanket in the tent.
 

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Good to see this thread spring back to life! Since posting, I took my pup with me on a trip and he was a champ in the tent. He slept on a bog bed with his back up against my air mattress and sneaking his head up on it. I opened up my sleeping bag like a quilt and spread it over us. He was totally content and so was I.
 
My dog goes everywhere a female Border Collie. She sleeps on my bed at home and I take naps with her. She sleeps in the tent, under the tarp and lying next to me in the open. She is in charge of camp security at night and is my first line of defense.
 
ppine.......
Nice to know someone else here has a Border Collie best friend. I have a male, Forrest, from Kinnic Creek Kennels near River Falls, WI. I have had a female Border Collies for companions since I was in the fourth grade. The males do not seem as smart as females, which maybe true of all species. Fun to look at the pictures, others post of their canoe dogs, some people tell me that after awhile dogs and their owners begin to look and act alike so, you must be a smart, good looking guy. Nothing beats a Border Collie, they are just like a black and white hockey puck, always on the move, always ready for a new adventure. Most people are not active enough to have a BC for a best friend. When BC's become bored they find a activity that might be destructive, like herding cars. All of mine really liked to keep a eye on the red squirrel population. A couple were great Ruffed Grouse hunters, grouse would hop up on a branch keeping a wary on the dog that was laying on the ground staring at it. The bird would concentrate on the dog, unaware of me approaching with my trusty .22 rifle. The Border Collies I have had liked tent life, they took to canoeing as eagerly as they did to going for a ride in the truck.
 
I have had herding dogs for over 50 years. This is my third BC all females. Ruby Begonia is the best dog I have ever had. I play games with her and giver her exercise. She grew up in the outdoors and is ready for everything. It is hard to describe how much she means to me. She goes everywhere.

Ruby went on her first week long canoe trip at 6 months. She likes the raft but falls off it once in awhile. She is a big fan of drift boats because she can see out and it is easy to move around. She has her own spot in the fishing boat.
 
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This topic reminds me of a man and his springer spaniel I ran into on the osswagochie. He used a small bivi tent and the dog slept under the pourch fly. The night before, something was around the camp (he assumed a bear) and his dog wormed his way under the tent and under him and shook all night! When he flipped his canoe over in the morning, his dog jumped in before he had time to drag it to the water.
 
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