Message Forums

Has anybody else had any experience of taking elderly dogs camping?  Normally we would leave him at the kennels but Jack is now 14 and I don't like taking him there any more.  But he has cataracts, a bit deaf and arthritis.  I'm not sure if taking him with us would be a good idea either.  He's certainly well behaved as he doesn't have the energy anymore to do very much!  He just likes to sleep in the sun mostly.  What do other people think?

Hi there

We've taken our 13 or 14 year old mutt camping in the past, and are taking him away this weekend coming.

He loves it - the attention and the freedom.  We hook him up to those corkscrews and let him get on with it.  No problem at all.

If you enjoy it, then so should he !  Better than kennels any day !

Also, if it's cold at night, you have a free hot water bottle.

cheers

Z

I'm taking my dog this weekend because her health has recently deteriorated so can't go into kennels. From past experience I know she won't go in the tent, but is perfectly happy sitting outside (tied to a peg for obvious reasons) and then at night her bed is placed in the car and she's perfectly happy in those familiar surroundings, and probably warmer than in the tent.

I'm going to be more comfortable being able to see her all day every day than wondering how she's doing in kennels, and I think she will be happier too.

Our dog isnt elderly but does have mobility problems now, but we still take him with us. We just scale down our activities to suit his pace. If its a nice day and we cant go off and leave him in the car on his bed then we just sit outside the tent with him, which is probably all we would do on a nice day anyway. We insulate under his bed  with a picnic rug and he is fine at night.He loves camping so much we couldnt put him in kennels.

Carol

Quote: Originally posted by borntoshop on 02/5/2007

---

Has anybody with arthritic dogs tried glucosamine tablets for them? Worked wonders for my dog (arthritis in hip and knee), she hasn't needed painkillers for nearly 18 months and walks without a limp. 2 years ago she couldn't put her back leg to the ground and the x rays showed the hip to be severely affected. Bit expensive but worth it - I'm going on them at the smallest twinge!

---

Our 14 year old springer spaniel takes the 'Seven Seas' doggy version of these and it certainly does her power of good .. and at a fraction of the cost that the vets charge for something similar. Also, it is much cheaper to buy Fortiflex on line than buy from the vets, and very easy as it doesn't need a prescription.

As for old dogs camping, if our one makes it to half term she will be coming camping with us - she has badly formed hip joints which are now arthritic, and 6 months ago slipped a disc in her back which left her paralysed for a couple of months. But amazingly she is walking again now. I must admit she does prefer to sleep in the car when we're away.

I'm more concerned about camping with our 18 month springer which we bought as a 'replacement' when we didn't think the old dog was going to make it. He is an adorable failed ex-police sniffer dog with a complete mental block regarding the concept of 'HERE!'. He would much rather be 'THERE' and sniffing out every bush, tree or plant in the area!! He's much better behaved now in our local woods, but new places to explore are just SOOOOOOOO exciting!!! But he won't survive being kept on a lead for a whole week, so I'm hoping we'll be able to find a safe place for him to have a good run. Look out Devon!!