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Hi to you, I am new to camping to, we have a folding camper which we are going to take out for the first time in a couple of weeks, as far as I understand it you cannot leave a dog alone on camp unless you have a caravan or motorhome so you might have to take it with you and leave it in the car when you go anywhere that dosen't allow dogs, but obviously on hot days this is not an option, I make room for mine in the car by putting most of the stuff in the roof box.

                                              Yvonne.

Where you carry a dog in the car depend on the space you have available. Many people use the boot space of a hatchback or estate car and install a fitted crate there. Others fit a barrier between the boot space and the passenger compartment to keep the dog confined. I've seen the front passenger seat sacrificed and the dog travel curled up in the front footwell, though I'd want to be confident of the dog's behaviour before I tried that. Ours is trained to lie on the rear seat, and is connected to the seat belt system by a proprietry harness to prevent her from being hurled forward in the event of an accident. If you find you need all these spaces, then you can fit a 'flight deck' style carrier to the car roof. Or consider taking less equipment!

We tend to think of our dog as part of the family, and having her with us modifies the activities we do on holiday. I wouldn't be happy leaving the dog in the car for full day. However, if you have children, you obviously need to cater for them on holiday as well as the dog. If you want to visit a theme park or other place where the dog is not welcome, you will usually be able to find a kennel business local to your holiday area which offers a 'day creche' facility for dogs. It will probably cost as much as an extra adult ticket to the theme park, but it's part of the expense of keeping a pet.

For eating out, you can find lists of 'dog friendly' pubs on the 'net. One list is at http://www.doggiepubs.org.uk/ They may take a bit of finding, but they are there. And it's always worth asking, especially in rural areas.

We invested in a folding 'Portable Pet Home' for our dog, rather than a crate, and she sleeps quite happily in it inside the trailer with us. During the day, we have a large stake which screws into the ground near the trailer wheel, and the dog is secured with a 5 metre wire. This gives her access to the body of the trailer, the awning, and the immediate area of the pitch outside. We have never had any trouble or complaints from other campers when using this system. Though I appreciate that not everyone is a dog lover, dogs and camping can mix quite well.

Ian

We have a dog and we also have a large cage for him which fits nicely where the underbeds go on the trailertent.

Hello all

I am suprised that nobody has mentioned the nuisance barking and whining that can be a great anoyance to other campers if you leave your dog on site (which most camp sites dont allow you to do) as happened to us when the people camped next to us left their dog for half a day.

We have a dog of our own but she is not a barker! and i would not dream of leaving her on site and going off for a while.

If you do not have friendly neighbours that can help out and hate the idea of kennels (as we do) then have you thought about contacting your local vets as sometimes the vet nurses do dog sitting to add to their income (my wife did this when young / training)

Just a thought

Regards

Andy

Sorry cant really help on the theme park question..as in the 3yrs we have had our springer we would never leave her for long periods in the car or TT(Did leave her once for an hour..Got out...Jumped in the river..Then came back to the tent and waited for us(neighbours witnessed this)For long holidays we take her cage to sleep in at night and a stake(metal) to tie her to when shes outside...Only heard her bark 5-6 times since we brought her home as a pup...So no probs with noise...and shes had all her basic training...so no probs with unruly behaviour...Our Yorkie on the other hand..is very territorial in a tent...Yaps constantly...and growls at anyone who comes near(not like this at home)So her camping days are over...we drop her at the In laws to look after when we go on our main holidays in Yorkshire...

Jelboy.