I love camping. My wife and I started going on regular camping trips years ago and it has been one of the most enjoyable experiences. Often when we camp we will take one of our dogs. But sometimes the dogs are not amenable to the idea.
A few years ago We attempted to take Colton, our Bernese Mountain Dog, and River, our Border Collie, on a short camping trip together. We had never taken two dogs camping at the same time. And these two dogs in-particular had personalities that might make it challenging. And that is why it was planned to be a short trip. And the trip ended up being even shorter as we barely made it through the night and went home early the next morning due to the dog’s combined antics.
River was young during this first outing. She has been my adventure dog. And ever since this trip I have wanted to try taking her camping again to see how she would do.
Sometimes I will take a camping trip solo. I can get out and do all the hiking, adventuring, or running I want. I can find the solitude that nature offers. But, I have never gone camping by myself but not alone. I have never taken one of our dogs on a camping trip with just me. This is wha it wanted to do with River.
River can be a very reactive dog at times. She barks and gets excited by every car that drives by our house and she has an enemies list that includes USPS, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon drivers. She can also be easily startled by noises within or outside the house. Maybe this is part of her Border Collie nature. But these circumstances helped me decide where I would take River for our camping trip.
I have loved Sugar Hill State Forest since I learned of its existence. Miles of trails to explore, including the Finger Lakes Trail. Camp sites available. And most important of all quiet, peace, and solitude. Good for my soul and hopefully good for my high strung energetic dogs that will never stop bringing me toys to throw.
The plan was to camp for 3 days and 2 nights. And if things were not going well I would just leave and go home. I never even had to contemplate leaving or even things being bad.
River was a complete and total camp angel. I cannot believe how calm and peaceful she was. We were able to choose a site that was slightly downslope from most of the other sites, as the main camping area is on the top of a hill. And sites are first come first serve. I figured this location would minimize stimulus that might get River overly excited.
It was the perfect spot. I unpacked and set up camp while River waited on her leash. She didn’t make a noise.
I mostly thought we would be on the go frequently. Taking long frequent hikes. Hiking to take the edge off for River. To tire her out so she could relax. So she wouldn’t be around the other campers to be excited over.
She didn’t really even care. She was at peace. I think for every hike I had to rouse her and get her ready to go. I expected that I would have to give up on whatever I was doing as she was becoming over stimulated and take her for a walk so she could calm down and relax. I thought t I would have to remove her from the situation. It could not have been farther from the truth.
River for the most part sat or laid quietly by my chair or nearby in the grass. Even the constant rain of acorns from the multiple oak trees towering overhead didn’t phase her. I think they annoyed me more as acorns pelted the ground, the picnic table, our tent, my car. They did not trouble her. It is natural after all. Maybe she knew. She was in her element. And it was natural.
All the things that I thought would cause River to lose control did almost nothing to disturb her. Park employees driving around in their vehicles maintaining the campsites. Not a peep. Campers coming and going, driving their cars between campsites barely a twitch of fur on her body. A rustle in the woods…. Ok that got her attention sometimes. Particularly at night as we sat by the fire. But only a few quiet chuffs ever escaped her lips.
One situation I feared would disrupt our peace and cause us to flee was new campers arriving and setting up at a campsite nearby. The new campers were insight of our campsite. And they had dogs. Little dogs that made a lot of noise. Not necessarily barking at us, but whining and yipping at each other and their humans. I thought this would set River off. I thought this would be the end of our trip. She hardly even cared. I was stunned.
We did do some hiking. Not as much as I thought we would need to do or that I would want to do. But it was so peaceful and relaxing I mostly sat and read. And River relaxed asleep nearby. On the second day a friend met up with us and took us out for a hike to show us a route that I was hoping to use for a trail running event in the future.
This was the only time River came a little unraveled. She has met many of my friends and gone on some group runs with me and is mostly fine with it. Especially if she has her space. But sometimes out on hikes she does not appreciate coming across strangers in the woods. And she had been so calm I hadn’t thought about it. My friend and I walked right up to each other and River was caught off guard. She barked and pulled at her leash. She nipped and my friend and made a quick tug at her pants leg. Maybe just normal Border Collie shenanigans. I should have done better and made this a smooth meet and greet. But after her momentary outburst it was all over. We were friends now. We hiked 4 miles and she never made a sound and walked often with my friend.
I wish I had had the courage and the commitment to do this sooner. I had been wanting to both camp and Sugar hill and take River camping for a while. If I had done it earlier in the year perhaps we could have had more adventures this year.
I would love to have more time camping with her this year before it gets too cold for me to be out camping. Our first trip was near the end of summer in September when the nights were already starting to get cool.
I want to get River out on more trips to get her used to the camping scenario just in case this trip was a fluke. I want to learn more about her and her behavior and personality so we can have more adventures together. This trip clearly demonstrated that she is more than what is on her surface. She is more than the always in motion toy bringing, frisbee catching, speed demon we have at home. There is a more peaceful side that just wants to be out in nature. Tune in and tune out with her humans. She is more like us than I thought.
Onward to more adventures together.
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