Tips and Tricks for Sleeping in Tents with Dogs

Mom! Is the tent ready yet? Cheese and Utah waiting for their beds to be made in the Owyhee Canyonlands

If there is anything I like better than being in the backcountry, it might be my dogs. Actually, since I just got married, do I need to move my wife to the top of that list? Having my entire family in the backcountry is about as good as it gets. Often our crew is two humans and two pups in the backcountry, which leads to a whole host of considerations different from the usual "miles not smiles" ultralight orthodoxy. While there is no lack of things to consider when taking your dog into the backcountry, in this article I’m just going to focus on time in camp at the end of a hiking day.

Is Your Dog Used to Being in a Tent?

This will be different for every dog, it certainly has been with mine, but some dogs will have a bit of anxiety about being zipped up into a silnylon piece of origami, and if your dog is new to overnight backpacking, this is something you’ll want to know and have gotten them used to in advance. Set up your tent at home, and follow standard positive reinforcement techniques. Sit in the tent in your yard and allow your dog to enter the tent on their own, and give them a high value reward (my dogs love string cheese) when they enter the tent. Add in a brief version of any command that keeps your dog in the tent for a little bit, like a sit or down combined with a stay, reward them again, and give a release command. At each repetition you can increase the amount of time you’re asking your dog to hang out in the tent.

A night at home in a tent, if possible, will give you a good idea of how far along your dog is with becoming comfortable in a tent. Most dogs take to it fairly quickly, as they want to be with you, and it is where you are hanging out!

 

Just so you know that I’m not being pedantic, here are some of my pups in tents in parks, yards, apartments, and once even at work!

Campsite Selection

A human hiker can start to think about the last water source they might encounter near the end of the hiking day, tank up and take a brief weight carry hit to have the freedom of camping somewhere without water. With a dog or especially two, you may not have the carrying capacity to make this possible. It certainly can be easier to camp near water, both for everyone's combined hydration and meal needs, plus potentially some light washing before your pup gets in the tent. However:

Backcountry etiquette combines with some practical advice here. Just as humans are encouraged to camp a distance from the water so as not to disturb shorelines and nocturnal animals, your dog is less likely to settle down right in the path of creatures making their way to a water source at night. Consider adding another 20 yards or so to the normal backcountry guidelines, it can make your sleeping time much more restful. 

Campsites with less chance for condensation are also helpful, as just like you, water vapor will be escaping your dog via respiration all night long!

 

Cheese is ready for bed in a Zpacks Triplex, campsite in the high alpine of the Eagle Cap Wilderness

Gear Choices to Make Camp Time a Little Better 

Sleeping Pads: Most dogs are going to need the R value of a Z Lite or switchback closed-cell foam (CCF) pad, and it's far more durable than a 1/8-inch foam thinlight pad, but you may want to pack a 1/8-inch foam as well. It can be a spot for them to settle outside the tent if you have worked on a "place" or "go to your spot" command, but can also just add a little more real estate inside a shelter that they are free to move around on, as well as protecting your shelter floor. Depending on the size of your dog, you may find a mix on the order of 4 sections of eggshell style CCF plus 2 feet of 1/8 inch foam to be a great combo.

 

Agent Utah shows off his skills at sharing a floor plan in the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Mid 1, staying right on his pad

 

A slicker style dog brush is great for removing some surface dust and dirt on dogs as well, if appropriate for your dog’s coat.

A small light towel can be incredibly helpful for getting your dog in shape to be around all of your incredibly expensive backcountry sleep gear after a day of hiking. GGG carries many fine options for this here. 

 

Maybe not our finest moment of organization, but you can see the dogs’ quilts on the right, and the all important towel near the supporting trekking pole. Note the HMG Ultamid 2 is wet, we had to set up in a rainstorm in the Honeycombs Wilderness. Without the towel, the dogs would have soaked all our down gear.

 

POLYCRO! I’ve had several dogs that were obsessed, understandably so, with the fluffy 900 fill power quilt sitting right next to their designated spot in the tent. Until they had the swing of our routine and places inside the shelter, I always brought along a couple extra sheets of polycro and draped it over my sleep setup in case one of the dogs decided to go plant themselves on top of my quilt and inflatable (popable) pad. I think it makes your sleeping spot both less appealing and a little more protected.

Dremeled versus clipped nails can help protect gear from damage in close quarters as well. 

 

Cheese leaving some muddy paw prints on her 1/8 inch foam in the Ochoco Mountains

Best Shelter Choices for Dogs 

The number one ideal criteria for most dog owners when selecting a shelter should be dual entry. This keeps your dog from having to climb over you to get in or out of a tent. The second factor should be dog resistance, then followed by your normal shelter considerations such as weight. 

LEVEL 1: For dogs getting used to the backcountry

Dogs with a little more nervous energy may benefit from a shelter like Big Agnes Copper Spur HV. The slightly more dog-resistant materials will also block out more light, a consideration for dogs having a hard time settling down in camp. If you are looking for a semi-freestanding shelter and are traveling with a dog, I think the weight penalty makes sense versus the more transparent and less hardy Big Agnes Tiger Wall. The Tarptent Double Rainbow is also worth considering in this weight class. I hiked with my dogs with a Big Agnes Fly Creek for years, and do not suggest it due to the front single entry. All of these shelters feature enough space for 1-person and say a 70-pound Labrador. Size up to a three-person model for two people plus a dog.

 

Harvey, Bruce, and I used to pile into a two person Fly Creek. Learn from my experience: this is not a great dog shelter option versus a Copper Spur.

LEVEL 2: For dogs with some miles on their pads

Here I would start thinking about the trekking pole supported DCF shelters, like the Zpacks Duplex or Duplex Lite, Triplex, Hyperlite Unbound 2P, and Bonfus Duos. These are very similar shelters to the point where you can judge them mostly on your preference as a human shopper alone, though I would offer the following considerations: weight of the mesh fabric and weight of the floor fabric. If you are a neat freak, the rainbow doors of a Zpacks shelter is a disadvantage with a dog: Unzip it carefully to have it drop into the shelter, and your dog walks on it when they enter the shelter. Let it drop on the ground, and your pup might still walk on it AND in the dirt. Still, I’ve done thousands of miles with dogs in a triplex and have patched the occasional run in the mesh without it being a showstopper.

 

Utah settled into his corner of the Zpacks Triplex. You can see each mesh door has some repair tape on it. Not a big deal.

LEVEL 3: Shelters without inners, and single entry

My family’s favorite two person plus two dogs setup is the Hyperlite Ultamid shelter without an inner, featured in a few pictures above. You can pick your own groundsheet to decide exactly how much floor coverage you’d like in this scenario, and the interior volume is enormous. The single front entry we deal with by having the dogs at the front of the shelter behind the door panel which is guyed out. 

Also in consideration in pro mode for small humans and midsize dogs is the Hyperlite Mid 1 and Zpacks Altaplex. This will be way too close for comfort for a restless dog or a claustrophobic human, but I have had some really cozy nights with a lot of weight savings with these shelters and one dog. 

 

Cheese in a Zpacks Altaplex, her quilt is the dark one in the foreground. She doesn’t have any problem with happily being the little spoon all night, but this won’t work for every dog.

Hopefully this gives you some good ideas about making time in camp a little better for both you and your dog. Most dogs really love being in the backcountry, but if they’re anything like my dogs, they're terrible at packing, planning, and making gear spreadsheets. Being prepared for having the best experience possible falls squarely on the human. Get out there and combine two of your favorite things: being with your dog and being in the backcountry!

 

Agent Utah watches a sunrise on North Pole Ridge Wilderness Study Area in a Zpacks Triplex

 

Scott Nechemias started working professionally with dogs in 2001 at NYCAC and for the past 16 years has been the lead trainer at A Dog Gone Good Place in Hillsboro, Oregon. His wife and hiking partner in crime, Jordan McKinney, is a veterinarian at Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland Oregon. (We know a little about dogs.)