Dogs Go Camping

03/13/2021

Little Dogs on Logs, our favorite tree at FDR State Park, Spring 2021 edition.

11/06/2020

Little Dogs on Logs, Piedmont Park After-a-Storm Edition.

I hate losing live trees. :-( Yukon Cornelius sez, "Where are the squirrels?"

08/03/2020

Yukon enjoys the amazing Vogel State Park as much as his humans do. So many squirrels! Last evening he pounced on a lizard and got a mouthful of tail; he did NOT enjoy the taste at all, but I doubt it will quench his prey drive for lizards one bit.

03/05/2019

Little Dogs on Logs, Hard Labor Creek Edition, twilight after a storm.

We haven't had much sun on this trip. A storm landed on us Sunday and dumped a fair amount of rain; park ranger came and told us it was getting bad and tornadoes were quite possible, so if we heard the sirens we would need to leave our little camper and hoof it to the comfort station to hunker down. We told him we'd be bringing our dogs in their crates (dogs aren't allowed in the restrooms at state parks) if that happened. He said that would be fine, so we prepped to get in the car, glad as always that our dogs are happily crate trained.

We got lucky--the worst part of the storm wore itself out west of us--but we learned later that 23 people died in Alabama.

Are your pooches prepared for emergencies? You might find this blog post I wrote helpful:

http://carpek9.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-value-of-preparation-second.html?m=1

12/20/2018

At Thanksgiving we camped at FDR State Park. Near the Trading Post, we saw a cute little hay bale painted to look like a camper, so naturally we staged a photo shoot.

Our 18-year-old Chihuahua mix Lily got a little confused and tried to go into the camper. Talk about realistic! The other dogs are nonplussed at her faux pas, as you can see.

The park also has this cute mural of a possum with face cut-outs, so since we are convinced that Lily looks like a possum, we thought it would be funny to pose her and her brother Paco in it.

Aren't dogs the best li'l troopers? Well, we certainly are amused by them.

11/24/2017

Tugaloo State Park. Morning on the lake.

06/28/2017

When we think of summer, we think heat. And when we think heat and dogs, we worry about dogs locked in hot cars (understandably) and dogs' feet being burned on hot pavement (also a risk).

But many people don't realize how hot our furry friends get during regular walks or runs. Because dogs are stoic and generally love to be outdoors on walks or playing, we see their desire to "keep going" as evidence that they aren't too hot yet.

This can be a dangerous misconception. Dogs aren't always good at regulating their body temperature, especially during an enjoyable activity. So, we must do it for them.

Think swimming is exempt for heatstroke worries? Not so fast. If the water is tepid and the dog is overexerting himself, he can still be affected. Swimming creates a lot of body heat, so make sure your pooch takes lots of breaks.

Know the signs of heatstroke and how to prevent it as summer kicks into gear:

http://www.carpek9.com/A_SummerHeatDrag.html

WARNING! If you have a full-size (human) pool that your dog likes to get in, please do not allow him access to it without supervision! A dog can easily tire when swimming and may not be able to get out. Teach him to go in and out in the shallow end so that if he falls in, he can get back out.

06/02/2017

"No way in H-e-double-hockey-sticks are you getting back in the camper, Buddy."

02/19/2017

Little dogs on logs, living logs version.

01/29/2017

Just made the first camping reservation for the year. Sadly, it's not until April, but we are already looking forward to it.

12/23/2016

Driftwood Beach is gorgeous. Yukon wanted to get a better view.

You gotta love beaches that allow dogs.