I am going camping. Possibly with the dogs. Here are my concerns.
1. Water. Where I plan on going camping I am out most of the day hiking. I'd love for the dogs to come along. However my pack gets pretty darn heavy because I bring everything with me. I get to my destination and set up camp. I was thinking of maybe getting the boys to carry a bit of their own water. Get them each a backpack and put some water bottles in it. Spanky is about 37 pounds, Bandit is close to 45 and Miley is a whopping 5-6 pounds. Now I know the boys can carry a backpack. They are buff dogs (lean and extremely musclar, we hike at least for an hour and a half EVERY morning and then go biking at night for another hour at least) but my question is how much weight can they carry? Miley wouldn't carry her own because well... that's just mean.
2. Getting cold. The boys I have no concern about. They have proven to me that they don't experience such a thing. They are all weather dogs. They actually pant when they are in the house if the heat is above a certain degree. They are much more comfortable outside (as am I for that matter). Miley on the other hand is very sensitive to the cold. She has several different jackets depending on the weather but when night falls I have no idea if she'd stay warm. Would it be wiser to get her a babysitter?
3. Sleeping in the tent together. My boys aren't overly fond of each other. When tired they behave but Bandit does get a bit grouchy if Spanky is around him all the time. I haven't had a fight in a long while and would like to keep it that way. Anyone have any suggestions on how to make that work? My tent is the type that has the sleeping area, then the gear area. I was thinking I could have one boy in the tent sleeping area and one in the gear area. Thoughts?
(a firm AH-AH! stops their posturing and grumbles. They will distance themselves from each other. So I am able to stop their macho behavior. I'd rather it not get to that point.)
That's pretty much it. Any other things you think I should think about would be great. Suggestions, stories send them my way. Not only do I want to take the boys, I sort of have to if I want to go camping. Unless I died or was ill in the hospital I do not know a single soul who would be able to tolerate, let alone enjoy my boys. My mom would take them if I died or was ill but that's it. If I'm fully capable of taking care of my boys no one will help me out. So I'm sort of stuck with them.
I think it'd be a ton of fun though. The boys love hiking and sleeping outside. I just want to make sure I'm prepared.
1. Water. Where I plan on going camping I am out most of the day hiking. I'd love for the dogs to come along. However my pack gets pretty darn heavy because I bring everything with me. I get to my destination and set up camp. I was thinking of maybe getting the boys to carry a bit of their own water. Get them each a backpack and put some water bottles in it. Spanky is about 37 pounds, Bandit is close to 45 and Miley is a whopping 5-6 pounds. Now I know the boys can carry a backpack. They are buff dogs (lean and extremely musclar, we hike at least for an hour and a half EVERY morning and then go biking at night for another hour at least) but my question is how much weight can they carry? Miley wouldn't carry her own because well... that's just mean.
2. Getting cold. The boys I have no concern about. They have proven to me that they don't experience such a thing. They are all weather dogs. They actually pant when they are in the house if the heat is above a certain degree. They are much more comfortable outside (as am I for that matter). Miley on the other hand is very sensitive to the cold. She has several different jackets depending on the weather but when night falls I have no idea if she'd stay warm. Would it be wiser to get her a babysitter?
3. Sleeping in the tent together. My boys aren't overly fond of each other. When tired they behave but Bandit does get a bit grouchy if Spanky is around him all the time. I haven't had a fight in a long while and would like to keep it that way. Anyone have any suggestions on how to make that work? My tent is the type that has the sleeping area, then the gear area. I was thinking I could have one boy in the tent sleeping area and one in the gear area. Thoughts?
(a firm AH-AH! stops their posturing and grumbles. They will distance themselves from each other. So I am able to stop their macho behavior. I'd rather it not get to that point.)
That's pretty much it. Any other things you think I should think about would be great. Suggestions, stories send them my way. Not only do I want to take the boys, I sort of have to if I want to go camping. Unless I died or was ill in the hospital I do not know a single soul who would be able to tolerate, let alone enjoy my boys. My mom would take them if I died or was ill but that's it. If I'm fully capable of taking care of my boys no one will help me out. So I'm sort of stuck with them.
I think it'd be a ton of fun though. The boys love hiking and sleeping outside. I just want to make sure I'm prepared.