Doggie went a-camping
A few weeks ago I posted regarding taking my pup camping, so I thought I'd post a follow up.
We just returned from a week in Central Oregon at a state park and my puppy did fantastic. He took to camping like a duck to water! He just went everywhere we went. In camp, the first few days I had his crate in the tent and put a line up across one side of the site and attached his tie out lead. Other than his propensity for getting himself wrapped around the trees, this worked really well. At night I put him in his crate. He didn't like going in his crate too much unless I was staying in the tent, but once in, he was quiet as usually. The third day, I moved his crate outside so when we needed to crate him in the evening and before I was ready to go in, he wouldn't feel alone. That worked even better, gave him a place to lay down during the day and he was a perfect gentleman sleeping uncrated in the tent. Even when I got up in the night to visit the facilities, he just kept right on sleeping.
He loved all the hiking we did, and there were a few times, at the river, when the circumstances allowed I was able to let him romp off lead and practice recalling to me of his own accord and for treats. He also got some great practice at ignoring folks as we went on our daily walks and waiting quietly when people came over to pet him.
It was a really good training time for him and he flopped down tired every night.
He was so good and so quiet that I don't think many folks even realized we had a dog with us. Hurray!
Thanks for the good advice btw. We didn't get to do the one cave hike because we waited until on the way home not realizing it's closed on Mondays. Too bad, because he could have come with us!
Next time I guess :)
RE: Another dog camping question
So, the tent option is out. I felt uncomfortable with that idea anyway. So unless we can park in the shade and leave the windows all the way down and/or the back open, guess will pass on the cave hike.
Thanks for the input.
MT
Another dog camping question
We are heading out for our first camping trip of the season next week and the first for our 9 month old lab/golden mix. He is totally crate trained and is non-barker. I anticipate that he will go with us every where, but there is one hike that we would like to take that is no-dog. I wonder if he would be ok in his crate in the tent for the 2 or 3 hours we are gone? Or would it be better to crate him in the back of our Suburban with all the windows down?
RE: Silverwood camp ground???
We stayed at Farragut year before last, a week in September, and LOVED it. Silverwood was a blast, though at that time of the year the water park side was closed. No problem, there is a very cool indoor water park just down the road on the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene. No experience with the R.V. park but as I said, Farragut SP was awesome. We had a campfire and yes there are lots of RV spots. There is a neat little WW II museum (FG was the 2nd largest naval training facility in the US during the war) tons of hiking trails, a wonderful swimming area that is a lagoon off the lake, and it's all beautiful.
Enjoy!
RE: Looking to explore Oregon with the kids - any ideas?
We camped at the Valley of the Rogue and did some day trips. The Oregon Caves is not to be missed, the Oregon Votex was extremly cool.
I didn't care for how close VOR seemed to I5 and it felt very, open, but, it was actually a pretty nice campground despite that. One thing I highly recommend is the Children's Historical Museum in Jacksonville.
Skip the more grown up one next door or not, it wasn't that great, but the kids museum was amazing. They have two floors in the old county jail all set up with different time capsule type stations, i.e. an assay office, a one room school house, a barber shop etc. In each area are a variety of clothes to put on, toys and tools to "use". Basically it's a "let's play" pretend history museum. My kids thought it was the best part of our whole trip! Best of all it's FREE!
If your in the area or passing through I've heard that Wild Life Safari in Winston is great, but we've not yet been there as it's too far for a day trip from where we live, and we haven't had a chance to stop there on our way through.
I love Oregon! We have the best State Parks system, very well maintained, reasonable fees and best of all free showers!
If your in Portland, check out the Oregon Zoo and/or OMSI (Science Museum. As mentioned we have a fabuolus coast, and the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is excellent. On the East side, don't miss the High Desert Museum in Bend, and way east, lots of Oregon Trail stuff including wagon ruts and the Oregon Trail Interpertive Center at Baker City. Along the Gorge, lots of cool day hikes around beautiful waterfalls. I think Oregon has just about everything you could want in a vacation, just take your pick. :)
