3 Wilderness Hacks to Get Your Dog Adventure Ready

What is the one family activity that everyone tries to do as soon as the summer hits? Camping! An American summer tradition, camping brings the family together and helps them to reconnect to each other and get back to nature; Facebook isn’t everything!

Packing up the car with the tent, sleeping bags, lantern, matches, water bottles, food and insect repellent, (the list goes on) there’s a special someone you shouldn’t forget to bring along: your loyal pupper!

Equipped with hiking booties, a personalized dog harness and their own outward hound pack, your dog can hike the trails with you, go for a swim in the lake with your 10-year-old and chill by the evening fire with your teen.

To make sure you and your dog are 100 percent ready for the family camping trip, here are three ways to train yourselves for the adventure ahead!

Exercise

To make sure you and your best furry friend are ready to hit the trails, Gizmodo suggests getting into an exercise routine to build resistance, just remember to pace yourselves: “A dog’s joints can be damaged by too much distance or too much exertion too early.” The rule of thumb is: “At three months [exercise for] 15 minutes, twice daily and at six months [exercise for] 30 minutes, [twice daily].” By building up to tougher workouts you’ll be training your bodies to hold under pressure without straining your joints or causing muscle pain. Gizmodo also mentions that you should not have your dog carry its own pack until they are full grown.

If your pup is full grown, have them start wearing an empty pack on walks to get them used to the feel of it. After a couple weeks of this, have them wear hiking booties. Slowly start to fill the pack with their doggie supplies. Check to see how much your dog can carry before filling their pack.

Before anything else, schedule a check-up with the vet to make sure your pup is physically ready for any hiking, swimming and climbing challenges you may run into on your camping trip.

Pack Accordingly

As mentioned just above, you’ll want to know how much weight your dog can carry in their pack before you fill it with their camping gear. After learning how much weight your dog can carry, it’s time to pack their pack! When camping with your pup, REI advises that their pack have the following items:

-Hiking booties

-Collapsible water bowl

-Collapsible food bowl

-First aid kit

-Cooling collar

-Safety light

-Dog coat

If any of these items should put your dog’s pack over weight, just pack them in yours!

Practice Recall

You love your dog like crazy, even if they don’t always mind you. When you’re out on a hike, your dog not responding to you when called could lead to a potentially dangerous situation. Practice commands like sit, stay and let go and conduct daily heeling exercises. Once your dog responds to you without hesitation and listens to every command without mistake, you can then go out to a campsite and start your weekend adventure!

Get your camping trip off to a good start with items you’ll need from Hot Dog Collars. Whether you’re looking for a dog harness or hiking booties, Hot Dog Collars has you covered.