Cold Dogs

[TheKO]

For all of those who have hiked with their dog, what did you do with Fido at night when it was cold? What about cold and rain? My question centers on what sleeping araingments were in effect. Did he sleep in tent/tarp with you? Did you bring him his own pad, blanket etc?

[RiverWarriorPJ]

tuff 1 there.......can't tell u what i do in a public forum.....lol..

[Hikes in Rain]

Back when I was hiking with my now non-sleep-outdoor! wife, we'd zip our bags together. We had a little terrier mix that loved to hike, loved to eat supper outside, but then couldn't understand why we didn't head back home. She'd head back up to the trail and start back, until she noticed we weren't coming. Nothing else would do, but that we'd have to let her sleep in the bag with us. Neither of them asked my opinion, since it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

[Skyline]

Coleman makes a dog tent. Looks like a human's dome tent but is miniature. Goes up similarly. Problem is that like a dog house, the front door is always open so a hard driving rain can get somewhat inside. Still, better than nothing for sure. It weighs a couple pounds, and can be packed inside a larger dog pack.

Our dog is about 55 lbs. and has not had a problem carrying it plus a ground cloth we put inside her tent.

Before finding the tent, we had to put up a tarp for her which was no better protection from a driving (sort of horizontal) rain and was a lot more hassle to put up/take down.

My previous dog was only about 30 lbs. and she slept in my tent. Occasionally that meant a wet dog inside but we coped.

[SawnieRobertson]

Claire always slept with me in the tent. There were those nights that I would lie trembling the entire time due to the low temperatures. She too, in spite of her thick Standard Poodle coat, would also be trembling. The problem was solved (for her at least) when I got a size XS fleece woman's shirt for her. I folded up the sleeves so that they did not drag, and slipped it onto her. From then on during such nights, she trembled no more. This was on some tiny sections up in the Northeast, so Campmor was accessible by rent car. If I were ever to take a dog out again when the possibility of such temps existed, I'd carry that shirt for back up. No, she never shared her warmth--just her low grrrrr whenever she heard something that she did not like "out there" at which time the something always disappeared immediately.--Kinnickinic

[Wheeler]

when it gets real cold, I use a piece of an old ridgerest and a thick piece of fleece. The dog sleeps in the vestibule. My friend has a bag made especially for dogs that worked quite well in very cold weather. It sealed with sections of velcro so the dog could break out when/if he wanted. Can't remember the company name.

[CrumbSnatcher]

carry a sleeping pad for sure,maybe a fleece blanket. most of the time i kept my sleeping bag unzipped and covered both of us. guess it also depends on the breed

[CrumbSnatcher]

carry a tent, the dog will sleep better and more comfortable than in the shelters. the shelter floors are hard on the hips(even with a pad),the dog will probably wake up everytime someboby wakes up to go pee and will loose out on some sleep,less chance of getting into trouble with the wildlife if in the tent.(if you have a dog that chases) and no chance of someone stepping on your dog in the middle of the night if your in a tent compared to a shelter

[mister krabs]

Trixie the wonder dog is less than 20 lbs. She's got almost no hair, and if it's even slightly cold she wears a jacket when we stop. At night she sleeps with my under my sleeping bag opened as a quilt. I have put her in a buttoned up down vest that she burrowed into like a sleeping bag. That worked pretty good, but I'm not sure it was warm enough.

[Phreak]

My dog Suzi prefers to sleep outside regardless of the conditions. I carry a dog tent, sleeping pad and sleeping bag for my dog Maggie during the colder months.

[superman]

Winter always slept in my slick rock tent with me on the AT. The colder it was the closer she slept to me. In the heat of the summer she would sleep in the far corner from me. I used a rectangular down sleeping bag that I used as a quilt over both of us as needed. When it was cold and wet she'd get right up next to me and it was like having steam heat. Sleeping with a dog is never saying you're cold. I moved her sleeping pad to where ever she wanted to sleep but she tried many times to take over my thermarest. One morning I woke up and she had her head on my arm like it was a pillow. I opened my eyes and she was just looking at me. I said "good morning" and she smiled. Winter was a super babe.

[CrumbSnatcher]

bear was a chow/lab mix, her hair grew a little long if you let it go. in the summer i would shave her (no more than twice a year) with the short hair she would get a little cold. but being half lab the vet was sure her base coat always stayed dry. in the winter months her hair was long and she loved the cold and the snow. never had a fenced yard but she never left the yard. one time i gave her a soup bone and it was snowing heavy, later on i went outside to check on her and didn't see her. i called her name and she popped up from under a foot or two of snow. not a care in the world except that bone. sure miss her.

[CrumbSnatcher]

a dog sure can heat up a sleeping bag real nice

[sasquatch2014]

I am going to get a jacket or small fleece for the Dog last time it was really cold enough to worry was last Feb down in PA 9* in the AM. I had spent the night sharing my sleeping bag with Hank. Problem was he would get too warm and so he would stand up and move which would let all the hot air out of the bag I would then spend about 20 min shivering before he would get cold and return to me who would once again let the hot air out put the dog back in and shiver for only about 5 min until the temp was once again nice and toasty. I would sleep like a baby for an hour or so when we would repeat this whole process.

I do have a small chunk of blue foam pad for him which we use year round for him it help with the joints after a long day. It also establishes that that is his bed. If I later give him the go to bed command he will head off to his area. So far that has worked well for when we are set up with the hammock which is most of the time but dead of winter I am shelter or tent more than the hammock if I have the dog with me.

[Tipi Walter]

My black dog is part Chow and has a pretty thick covering of fur and he's gotta be out in all conditions to keep tabs on everything(leashed in camp, of course, otherwise he'd bark and run up to trail hikers). He never comes inside the tent, even in zero conditions, he just finds a leaf nest and curls up for the night. Couldn't get him in the tent if I wanted to. Of course, he was raised outside for the last 14 years and thinks winter is the best time to be out, esp loves snow.

Here's the dilemma: Dog hair. I've seen short hair hunting dogs out in the winter and they freeze and shake all day long like hittites taking a winter plunge in the Caspian Sea. Hunters leave 'em to roam and sure don't seem to care, but they look pretty miserable to me. And yet if you get a malamute for backpacking, what happens in the summer? Too hot?

[kanga]

i'm not putting a dog in my sleeping bag, but maia and bella do sleep in the tent with me. for when it gets really cold, i went to walmart and bought some medium fleece (200 wt) and sewed them some little pullovers for sleeping.

[RiverWarriorPJ]

ok..!!....my pup always stayed outside the tent.....a few years back i was freezing my butt off and brought hin in 4 body heat .....last year i was REALLY cold and brought him in the sleeping bag.....now no matter the temp.....he expects 2 get in the bag w/me.....lol...

[ShelterLeopard]

carry a tent, the dog will sleep better and more comfortable than in the shelters. the shelter floors are hard on the hips(even with a pad),the dog will probably wake up everytime someboby wakes up to go pee and will loose out on some sleep,less chance of getting into trouble with the wildlife if in the tent.(if you have a dog that chases) and no chance of someone stepping on your dog in the middle of the night if your in a tent compared to a shelter

Besides, you should NEVER have your dog in a shelter when other hikers are there. As hikers, and they'll hesitate and say it's okay to be nice, but many times, they aren't okay with it. Just don't, common courtesy.

I don't hike with my dog, but if I did, I would get a two person tent and sleep in there with him. And smell wet dirty dog all night. But it's a trade-off. He has to smell wet, dirty hiker all night.

[ShelterLeopard]

Oh, and a dog should definitely have his own sleeping pad. Otherwise he'll get cold. I like Kanga's idea.

[mudhead]

ok..!!......last year i was REALLY cold and brought him in the sleeping bag.....now no matter the temp.....he expects 2 get in the bag w/me.....lol...

Too late now. Good foot warmer. Might as well accept it. Or quilt.

Just wait until that really nasty cold morning when you have to dump him out of the bag.