Quote: Originally posted by Breeze on 11/10/2007
I've taken two dogs camping this year, one being only 4 months old at the time. I have had to buy a new tent with a SIG because they kept trying to "escape". A dog stake and flexi lead were invaluable just to give them some space. The rest is common sense.
We take a folding crate for our dogs so we can shut them in the tent if we have to during bad weather or anything. Ours are a small breed, so a crate big enough for the pair of them doesn't take up too much room, and we put a small sheet of ply on top (fits inside the crate when it's folded up) so it becomes a very useful place to put things too. (OH talked briefly about making a set of folding shelves to fit on top of it I pointed out that it was in danger of becoming a Welsh dresser with dog strage beneath, and vetoed it.)
Could I just ask people not to leave dogs tethered on flexis or long lines while they've all gone off to shower or whatever? Twice this year I've had to untangle dogs who'd got into the most fearful mess with their long lines. One young lab was in danger of throttling himself, he was trying so hard to pull tangled flexi lead off his legs, it was tightening round his neck.
We use a running line along the ground, goign through the loop of their leads, and tethered at either end with a dog stay. We have easy-hitch leads, where the loop unclips, but you can achieve the same result by running the lead under the line and joining the loop to the rest of the lead with a carabiner. Just as much freedom, but safer if you're going to leave them on their own for a few minutes now and then.