Safety For Your Dog While Camping

Safety for your Dog While CampingThe best thing you can do to help keep your dog safe is prepare and take all necessary precautions before taking your dog camping. Please read the section Prepare Your Dog Before Camping to get a full and detailed list of what should be done before camping with your dog. If you do not check the health of your dog and prepare him before camping, it is far more likely that you will run into problems. Take the time to plan and prepare your dog before camping.

Safety For Your Dog

Keeping your dog safe when camping is probably a priority on your list, here are some suggestions on how to do that:

  • Before camping take your dog to the vet and get up-to-date vaccination/inoculations, rabies shots and a tag for his collar, flea and tick preventatives, medications, prescriptions, paperwork and overall physical and behaviour analysis.
  • Buy a First -Aid Kit and add some additional items especially for your dog. Become familiar with the contents of your first-aid kit and know what they are used for. We have a First-Aid Kit Checklist For Dogs Camping which may be a good resource.
  • Try and keep your dog’s stress levels as low as possible before/during camping.
  • Keep your dog hydrated with shade and water at all times. Watch for signs of heat exhaustion/ stroke and deal with them accordingly by cooling him in the shade and giving him lots of water. Since dogs cannot perspire, if he appears to be very hot you can also wipe the inside of his ears and bottom of his paws with rubbing alcohol – this will cool him down. Allow extra food for your dog as he will be burning more energy than usual.
  • Make sure your dog is warm enough in the day/night especially in the cooler months. Remember that even in summer months the temperature at night can drop and become quite chilly. Keep your dog warm with his bed/blankets and be sure to put a plastic tarp under his bed to keep the cold and wet from soaking into his bed.
  • Before you go camping, locate and retain details of the nearest vet to the campsite; this way, if your dog needs medical attention, you know where to go straight away. Your goal when administering first-aid to your dog is to prevent further injury, stop bleeding and comfort your dog so that you can transport him to a vet.
  • If your dog tears his paw, rub antiseptic ointment on it each night and have him wear a sock to protect the wound.
  • Check for ticks (small bugs that burrow under the skin) at least once a day. Use Tick Tweezers, Tick Key or Tick Release from your first aid kit (take the tweezers to get hold of the tick close to the head and pull all of it out). You should also do a general overall body check of your dog to make sure everything looks as it should.

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Author: Kaitlyn
(The CampTrip Team)

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