Cold weather bivvying for dogs !

[pumbaa]

I have been thinking about the meet that Wayne is organising .
That early in January it could well be cold . I know i should be ok , with my nannock , gore-tex bivvy bag and thermarest , all under my tatonka tarp .
But what about the pup ? Would a dog need insulation from the ground ? He is a softty and i would hate for him to get cold ! Nor do i want him trying to get in my bivvy bag , its bad enough wrestling the pilllow that came with my nannock off him !
So what do you take for your pampered pooch ?
Pumbaa

 

[beachlover]

I have been camping with my dog in the winter and either take a kids sleeping bag (one of those half sized ones) or have shoved her into my bivvi bag with me. Dogs are great hot water bottles and in the winter dont have many fleas!
Mind you, my dog is a terrier. I can see that a rotty or similar after a chilli might cause problems.
I also take an insulation mat.

 

[Razorstrop]

Pumbaa
would suggest you opt for a tent and then line where the Bacon hunter will sleep with an old sleeping bag or even two. I have even covered my mutts with a blanket when the weather is really grim, though they constantly try to climb into wherever I am sleeping.
The other option is to put him in the back of the car, again with plenty of insultion, this is where my two sleep there now and they are both very happy there, but thats more because there are two of them, if hes a one man dog get him in the tent Whats a little drool and snoring between man and his best friend?


Mr Strop, Connie and Bane

 

[Nemisis]

I think the truth is Pumbaa is afraid bacon hunter will get hungry during the night and snack on his leg lol

 

[pumbaa]

I think the truth is Pumbaa is afraid bacon hunter will get hungry during the night and snack on his leg lol

Quite the opposite in fact , he decided he would have a go at a choclate lab right out side the school gates at home time !! By have a go i mean , Hubba hubba meeooowwww . How embarassing , but at least it was a bitch !!!
Not in my sleeping bag boy!!!!
Pumbaa

 

[beachlover]

Quite the opposite in fact , he decided he would have a go at a choclate lab right out side the school gates at home time !! By have a go i mean , Hubba hubba meeooowwww . How embarassing , but at least it was a bitch !!!
Not in my sleeping bag boy!!!!
Pumbaa

In that case, have you considered putting him in the bivvi and sleeping in the locked car yourself, in order to protect your honour?

 

[Ahjno]

If you do a Google search for "dogtent" (or: "dog tent"), you'll find one off these:

This one is around 62 USD (chinookwind.com) - pretty posh especially when you take in mind his big friend sleeps under a tarp :umbrella:

 

[Nemisis]

what about a cheap poly tarp about £4 at local market 12'x9' peg down one half other half folded over him supported on two sticks to form his own kind of lean to bivvi?

 

[Goose]

You could try the cheap beach shelter tents, should be about the right size some even zip up the front.

 

[outdoorcode]

When I camp I have 4 dogs to think about (3 x gsd, 1 x pug)... I have a crate up in the car for the the pup and dog 2 (ulla) they curl up together and are happy, the pug sleeps in its mini crate either in the lavvu or in the car and dog no.1 (Callie) sleeps next to me. When in the lavvu I put an army issue wool blanket down which she lays on and if its cold I pop it over her and she's happy enough.

When I'm under a tarp I put a spike in the ground with a couple of chains on (this way the dogs can't go for a wander when I'm fast asleep) and put some plastic feed bags on the floor, then the issue blanket and if its cold a second blanket over the top of them both, I tend to let both Callie and Ulla sleep out together when under tarp as they cuddle up to each ... I can't use anything expensive for insulation as Ulla sometimes gets bored/peckish and decides to chomp on anything handy, so feed bags are free and replaceable and the army blankets are cheap too in case they get ruined

 

[dave750gixer]

My dogs live outside all year anyway. But then they are Pyrenean mountain dogs (3) with huge fur coats. They tend to sleep on an old piece of carpet under a tarpaulin in the garden but only if its raining. Normally they just dig a shallow hole in whats left of the lawn and sleep in that . They only seek their kennel when it drops below ca -10C, so buying that was a bit of a wate of time

If I have them with me they either sleep in the van out of the way or (preferably) tied to a large metal corkscrew thingy (ground anchor) in the ground with a tarp if its going to rain or be very sunny. To be honest though I'm more worried about heat than cold

 

[bambodoggy]

I've got a GSD that usually comes with me on my little outings. In the summer he is clipped onto a tree or ground spike (those natty overgrown corkscrew type ones) with one of those plastic coated 15 foot metal wire (read - not chewable) tie out leads and just sleeps on the floor and in the winter he sleeps on a small square of vets blanket similarly tied up.

I seem to be lucky in that it very rearly rains when it's just him and me out but when it's dry or only light drizzel he tends to stay out in it and when it has really been chucking it down in Brecon he just crawls under the end of my basha, I move down to give him room as my feet can stick out in the rain as I'm in a bivvi bag too and he sleeps more or less on my head

I guess it varies from breed to breed but most dogs are pretty hardy....and if they're not then they become cunning enough to find the warmest place to sleep lol Also depends if you generally keep your dogs indoors or out and so what they are used to.

Hope that's of interest to some of you

Bam.

 

[PatrickM]

My dog Finn wears his tarp on his back when he is out with me - in all sorts of Scottish weather - a fur coat
If it gets really nasty I tend to make him up a nest of leaf litter under a fallen tree.....he's a proper bushcrofting dog !

 

[seamonkey]

nice lab looks a lot like mine - is that photo taken on hoy perchance a short wee walk from one of the best bothies in scotland.

cheers

G

 

[nicham]

I have a whippet and she is notoriously whimpish when it comes to cold weather. The only answer is to let her climb into the sleeping bag with me.

 

[MattV]

I have been camping with my dog in the winter and either take a kids sleeping bag (one of those half sized ones) or have shoved her into my bivvi bag with me. Dogs are great hot water bottles and in the winter dont have many fleas! Mind you, my dog is a terrier. I can see that a rotty or similar after a chilli might cause problems. I also take an insulation mat.

Pretty funny. Yes dogs are excellent heat sources. I can only try to imagine what a commedy of errors it would be to get my 2 year old 160# English Mastiff into her own bivy-bag, let alone into one with me.

 

[Hawthorn]

My bushcraft companion is a Yorkshire Terrier, and he sleeps on top of my sleeping bag (I sleep in a hammock) in anything but winter (doesn't have the fur for winter), when he migrates into my sleeping bag. Great hot-water bottle and personal alarm if anything comes close at night (not a yapper, but he's got a great little growl).

 

[Hawthorn]

Everyone should have a dog when bushcrafting

 

[william#]

my friend runs a dog sitting buisness
one time she had a particular expencive terrier and we were all heading up to harrisons rocks to camp the weekend .
now these dogs are targets for dog knapping so u have to be careful so she was anal about keeping her close .
however in the night she managed to get out of the tent
everyone we met the next day new the dog as apparently she had gone to tent to tent on the scavenge - admit dogs are a lot of fun .

 

[StormWalker]

My Malamute has better insulation than me when out and about but even for a hardy snow dog he still enjoys a blanket to lay on under the tarp or in the porch of a tent.