Wild Camping With Greyhound

[Gilly91]

Does anybody have any experience?

 

I tend to pack a bag and go off hiking for a few days and camping wherever i end up. Does anybody know how greys are with camping?

 

Obviously sometimes it can get abit cold so there is that. Also when my grey is properly asleep next to me, he starts growling if im moving around too much (he gets kicked off the bed when he does that), but obviously in a small space such as a tent, he wont be able to get away. How will this work?

[macoduck]

You asked so I'll say: don't do it.

 

You've only had Trevor since November. His personality is still emerging. He may become more or less sleep startled. He may become more or less stubborn on walks. Will his feet be conditioned to the terrain you will travel? Are you prepared to carry him if he is injured? It would only take a swipe of his paw to rip the tent and escape. Do you have a tracking tag of some kind for him and would it work in a remote area? Will your cell phone work if you needed to call for help for Trevor or yourself? Have you located regular vet clinics and emergency clinics in the area? Do you have emergency contacts/friends/adoption group folks who can help you search for Trevor if he runs off?

 

Too many ifs for me.

[buddibear]

only camping I would consider will be in a motor home. Pay attention to door safety,as usual.

[cleptogrey]

Quite a few good points made by ducky. Get to know your dog better before you attempt this. We camp with our dogs but a organized state run campgrounds and we use a tent. There have been nights that I have slept with the leash teathered to my wrist especially during storms or when coyotes and raccoons are in the area. And yes, they do get cold. My dogs will sleep ontop of us when cold. Emergeny situations are a good concern, but my neice who backpacks and camps never considers it. It's all a matter of style.

 

Annie who was rather feral hated camping. She was up and alert 24/7 &never could relax when camping. We did 3 weeks in Gaspe area of Canada with her and Felix.both lost a good 8 lbs even though we upped their caloric intake. Annie never liked any form of tenting Felix sees a tent and runs in!

 

Wait a tad and let your dog blossom, try a short excursion in a campground and try. All of ducky's comments are very wise. Do think about them.

[Gilly91]

Ok thanks for the comments. I was going to wait until summer anyway which is another 6months or so. I will try him on a dog friendly campsite to start with and see how he goes.

[NeylasMom]

Good things to think about, but I have to laugh at the escaping from the tent part. Tents are a bit tougher than that.

 

I've done a lot of camping, hiking, and backpacking with my greyhounds. Our backpacking was always to very primitive cabins, but we've also done a lot of tent camping at campgrounds. There's no reason you can't do it, but I would consider doing a few car camping trips first to get a feel for how he likes it and what you need to determine if backpacking is realistic. Also consider the extra weight of carrying food for him. There are a number of freeze dried foods that you can reconstitute with water. I would recommend using one of those, but test it for a few days at home to make sure he will eat it and his stomach will tolerate it. I assume you have some sort of water filter, but if not consider the water you'll have to carry for him as well.

 

Finally, I do think you want to do some conditioning through hikes that gradually increase in length and difficulty. Back in the day I did as much as 12 strenuous miles in a day with Neyla and Zuri, but we built up to that. My current greyhound, on the other hand, got rhabdomyolysis on a hike about 5 years ago on a slightly warm day. She would have died if we hadn't been able to get to an ER so for her I probably wouldn't risk more than day hikes or car camping (I'm also not in the shape I used to be ).

 

Bottom line, I think it's doable, but I would start with some short hikes and car camping and see how that goes.

 

ETA: not sure where you live, but consider starting in spring before it's too warm. These guys tend to be pretty sensitive to heat and that's probably one of the biggest dangers you'd face.

Edited January 15, 2019 by NeylasMom

[krissy]

We tent camp with our greyhounds in the Alberta mountains. Even in the summer it gets COLD at night (about 4C sometimes overnight in August). Kili can be a bit of a grumble puss about her space, but not usually when we're camping because she wants to stay warm. We have 2 sleeping bags that zip together and we squish 2 adults and 2 greyhounds into it so that we can all share body heat and stay warm. I'm also going to buy the Hurtta dog sleeping bag this year to try out.

 

We do long hikes during the day, but so far we have not backpacked so we're always returning to a campsite near town and have our vehicle. I'd like to try backpacking but we just haven't found the time yet. I don't really have any concerns about backpacking with my guys. You just need to think of everything you would need for them. We feed a dehydrated food when we camp (less smell and less weight) so that would be the way to go for backpacking. And make sure you carry appropriate first aid supplies for the dog. I also really want to buy a rescue harness. It's a special harness that allows you to carry your dog like a backpack in the event that they get sick or hurt and can't walk out.

[kudzu]

People have made a lot of good comments. Ducky mentioned a dog's ability to quickly claw through a tent. NeylasMom mentions tents being made of tougher stuff. Neither is totally right or wrong. There are cheap tents made of thin, weak fabric that could tear easily. Most are sturdier than that, but a dog could still go through one without a lot of effort. The noise of that, though, would almost certainly wake you up, unless you are very heavy sleeper. Just bear that all in mind. On my tents, it's the no-see-um mesh & zippers that have been the weak points.

 

As the above would indicate, we've tent camped with my dogs. Two humans & 3 large hounds in a 4-man tent. It was tight. My dogs haven't had space issues so we've been lucky there. Perhaps you could put things like backpack, boots, & coat between you & your hound as a small buffer area.

 

We've not done backpacking with the dogs. Like krissy, we've done campground tent camping mixed with day hikes. That's what I think of as car camping.) Definitely try some car camping first. If you wouldn't backpack until Summer, you'll have time to learn more about your hound, working on increasing hiking distances, checking on how his feet hold up to the terrain, etc. Also, krissy's harness idea is a very good one. For us, it wouldn't just be a rescue harness. These can also be helpful in some tricky terrain that's harder for the dog to safely negotiate. It can help you lend your dog support and lift them up or down from rocks. I wouldn't do any serious hiking or backpacking without a good harness.

Edited January 15, 2019 by kudzu