In the past I've had dogs who were completely comfortable being off-lead and / or in-tent overnight.  My labs might chase a 'coon but they came back to the tent when the offender was gone.

The one time that I've camped with these two, I left them in the Jeep overnight (it's a really big crate, yes?) while I slept in the tent.  During the day, they were either on 15ft leads with me or on a 30ft lead attached to the Jeep with water and shade in the Jeep (I left the back hatch open).

One of my main concerns about taking them camping is that I *know* that if Avalanche gets loose, he's gone.  He won't know where he is and I'm not at all comfortable that he'd find his way back.  Sasha tends to stick closer to me and I don't think she'd run - other than some exploring - but I do think she'd come back if I called her (as she does here on the desert).

So, to set the 'feel' for this topic how do you handle these two situations:
1) How do you restrain them overnight, if you do?
2) How do you restrain them during the day and still give them a degree of freedom?

I have a series of tethers that you can buy at walmart, tractor supply,petco, etc - they are red vinyl covered aircraft style cable. Any where from 10 - 30 ft. Depends on the setting - sometimes I wrap it around the leg of a picnic table, sometimes a tree, the subaru has a tow loop under and behind the back bumper (used when the car was delivered on a car carrier) which I sometimes use if nothing else is available. The best way, since these can kink, crack the covering and rust, is to take a small one and make a loop around the tree then attach a longer one to the loop. Sometimes I run a cable between 2 trees and then attach a stanley "thingy" (like a carabiner only stainless steel) and heavy and use that as a runner. He is ALWAYS on leash - he sleeps with us in the tent and, again, he is on leash with the other end of the leash wrapped around my hand. I wait until no one is in the bathroom and take him in with me. And his tethers have and extra snap shackle as he knows how to undue one (when he finds he's not loose, he seems to give up.) And he gets his walks. He loves camping.

With 2 dogs, if you are using this covered cable stuff, you need to be exceedingly careful that they are far enough apart that the cannot get caught in each other's line - wrapped around a leg, this stuff could sever a tendon!

Don't forget the poop bags.

Mine sleep in the tent with us. It's a little tight with two people and two dogs but it's a two room tent so the dogs get their own room and we get ours, though Kenzi sleeps in bed with us. they are loose in the tent. If someone is trying to open the tent that isn't one of us I want the dogs free to bite them. The rest of the time they are tethered to me or they are staked out. I have one swivel stake I take with us and two lines that I attach to the one state. Never had any issues with them getting tangled from the one central location. Wrapping around trees have always been mine's biggest issue.

we have a 6 person square tent, fits a queen blow up and 2 camping dog beds. their leashes stay on them in the tent but are not attached to anyone. they end up sleeping on the bed with us or the dog bed. i also keep water for them in the tent (NO FOOD). i do "lock" the zippers with a thin carabiner so the zippers can not be opened from the outside or IN SIDE by a dogs nose, ask me how i know this i believe locking the zippers some way is the smartest thing to do.

as for hanging around camp, our camps are based around hikes, we show up later in the night set up, let them sniff around and we are in bed. we start the next day with a climb (wear them out) by the time we get back to camp i can just tie a really long yellow lead to them and let them sleep, if they were to run off the rope would get tangled into something and stop them.... we also have the plastic coated wire tie outs Amy has that we use when they are not tired, and hook they to something.
i love camping with the pups

Most of our camping is trailside and we have a small two person bivy that our girl sleeps in with us. She is usually tuckered out from the days hike and curls up at our feet. When on trail she is ALWAYS on a leash that is either in one of our hands or attached to the hip belt on our packs. We usually spend about an hour or so at our site before going to bed and we wrap one of the red plastic coated wires around the base of a tree where she is out of reach of the tent. She usually just sits down and plays with sticks while we cook and get settled in for the night.

The first night she slept in the bivy with us, every time one of us looked at her she went NUTS! She would start growling and nipping at us and we couldn't figure out what was going on. After a few minutes we realized it was our headlamps that were blinding her. We took them off and set them in the corner of the tent so it lit up the tent and she was fine. We felt pretty dumb after that incident haha.

jbealer wrote:

. i do "lock" the zippers with a thin carabiner so the zippers can not be opened from the outside or IN SIDE by a dogs nose, ask me how i know this i believe locking the zippers some way is the smartest thing to do.

Ahhhh...I read your previous post (laughing all the way) a year or two ago...which is why Ami's leash is looped over my hand

We have a two person tent and both dogs were on leash in tent with a carabiner on the zipper and the leash loop on hand. They were tired out from the hike so no biggy. I do know that I have met people that have a tent big enough for the crate (two room tents) and the dogs are crated at night. This is what I would do if we camped alot. Get a larger tent to fit the crates. Where we live too hot in a car for a dog due to humidity, need that open air movement for comfort.

At the site we use the picnic table or tree as tie outs using a loop on the object attached to a line to the dog for a swivel. We do have a stake swivel that we use on the one dog that is docile (the aussie). They just chill at the site munch sticks and watch us for breakfast!!!

I do have a waist belt walking belt that I contemplated wearing to bed if the leash slipped off but did not need it as the dogs are usually too tired to do anything but squish into the tent with us and sleep. Bathroom was the only tricky spot but we did shifts one stayed with the dogs etc

I tether my dogs for overnight camping trips. I find a tree I can tie them to, and I make sure they have shade and water. I see to their comfort as much as possible, and I include them in our activities wherever it's appropriate. But when we're doing things in which the dogs can't participate, I have them tethered.

Bodhi is in the tent with me when we camp.
I put down a space blanket on the tent floor, and under it a piece of closed cell foam where he will sleep.
Bodhi likes his kennel, so when he doesn't have it, he looks for someplace confining.
That means the small end of the tent.

I keep his harness and tether attached to him, but not me.
He doesn't cause any problems when I have to get up in the night to water a shrub.

This is the usual order of things.
He is compliant and no problem.

Then two weekends ago, on the way back from eastern Oregon, we were camped at Ochocco Summit.
Our campsite was a USFS campsite a quarter mile off the road.
Right at sunset we heard a terrific crash, and then nothing.

The next morning at sunrise, two packs of coyotes on either side of the tent began a terrific caterwauling.
Bodhi went berserk.
I had to hold him back.
I thought he was going to rip through the tent's mesh door.
When they stopped, and we got out for breakfast, he was not interested.
He kept trying to get into the woods to meet up with his new friends.

When we struck camp and drove west on the highway, we discovered over why the coyotes were
howling.
Off to the side of the road was a big ten point buck that had been hit the night before.
The coyotes were just calling each other that it was breakfast time.


trail boss Bodhi in the Painted Hills National Monument, Mitchell, OR


more Painted Hills vistas

Wow, Michael!  Stunning pictures.

Haven't gone camping with our husky yet, but I have camping experience with a few other dogs. We tried a few things, but what worked best for everyone was crates and tethers.
Sleeping in the tent with us was a nightmare. If someone rolls over, it wakes the dogs, then the dogs want to go out, or play, or cuddle. If one dog wants to go out, then everyone is woken up by the commotion. It's hard enough to get good rest camping, but with all the added issues of dogs, it's nearly impossible.
We string up a long tether line (20-50 feet depending on where we are camping) between 2 sturdy static points (two trees, tree and a vehicle, etc). Then I attach the dog to that line with a normal 4-8 foot leash attached via carabiner clip. I then position the crate along the line so the dog can freely enter it at any time.

This way they have ample room to move around, can lay down in a familiar place at any time they want, and can relieve themselves at their leisure without bothering anyone. Any movement or noise from tents is less likely to bother them also, and they stay more relaxed.

A single fixed point tether never worked well for us. The tether would get caught on stuff or wrapped around stuff (or the dog itself). It was also harder to deal with due to the size of the camping areas or trying to control access to certain things.

The only trick is positioning everything so they can roam a bit, still be close enough to interact with people, but far enough away to not get hurt by the fire, or get into food, and still be able to have a good spot for the crate.