[pitgirl17]

I sure hope that I am putting this in the right forum.

My husband and I are going camping this weekend and I would love to take Sophie with us. Now she does have dog aggression and we do know that there will be at least one other dog there. She has meet this dog before and has played well with this dog in the past but it has been a long while since we have had them together again and I don't have any idea what the reaction will be. We also don't have anytime for them to meet before we leave so their first time meeting again would be at the camp site. (Which I thought might be good because then they are both neeting on nutural territory)
I know that DA is okay and I have come to tearms with this. Sophie is a well behaved dog and great on a leash around other dogs.
But, we are going camping.
I want to bring her and sometimes I feel that it is unfair that I have to leave my dog at home because of other dogs. (Just letting out my feelings)
There has to be someone who knows how I am feeling. What do you do if you have a DA Dog but you want to take them somewhere with the family.
Please, I hope that someone can relate. It sucks.

What would you do?
Would you leave the dog at home and just be sad about it or bring the dog and hope for the best. I do not mind having Sophie on leash the whole weekend and the other dog is so old and layed back it barley moves(I mean it would not charge sophie)
Do you have any suggestions on what you have done?

I hope this makes sence. I just want to bring her I know she would have so much fun tromping through the woods, I just hate leaving her behind.
Pitgirl17

[Mollie's Nana]

I don't know what I would do in your situation. I also would want to take my dog, but Mollie also has some DA issues. If it's a one night thing, that might not be too bad. Just don't forget to take your break stick!!! You may not need it, but you don't want to need it and it's at home. Be sure to take a tie out just in case they don't get along and you both have to separate them. I would love to take Mollie camping! Just be sure you're up to the mental and physical challenge of having your dog with you all weekend! Good luck if you take her!!

[lukew101]

I would get her a muzzle. I remember seeing a thread recently that had a link to muzzles with cute patterns so that they don't make the dog look aggressive. Maybe some else remembers the link...

[Mollie's Nana]

If this dog isn't used to having a muzzle on, putting one on her is only going to tick her off and make her irritable, in my opinion. Mollie isn't used to wearing a muzzle and when I put that 'gentle lead' on her around her nose, she gets ticked off bad... that's going to make the dog much more likely to not be open to a warm welcome of another dog..... again, my opinion only, but I wouldn't do it to Mollie. I'd keep her on a very short leash, take my break stick, be mentally prepared for them to not get alone, and be ready to plan on keeping them separate, if need be.

[lukew101]

Yeah, you certainly don't want to put a muzzle on her for the first time in a stressful moment. You should start in the house, show her the muzzle, give her some treats, put the muzzle on. A short time later, take it off and give her more treats. See how she deals with this after several times. Some dogs never like to have things on their faces, some deal with it fine as long as it's associated with fun stuff.

[lukew101]

Oh, I just realized you're going camping this weekend. Too short to get used to a muzzle, maybe for the next trip though.

[Rai_77]

I had a similar situation. We had a planned camping trip and my friend decided at the last minute to bring his dog.

I said I would have to stay home in that case, and he finally decided to leave his dog home.

The difference for me is....I do take my dogs to campgrounds where there may or may not be other dogs, and I keep them leashed and bring collapsible crates for when I cannot stand right next to them, and we manage just fine.

But I will not have other dogs directly on my campsite with me.

[pitgirl17]

Sophie is not that bad that she needs a mussle but thank you for the offer.
I am totally okay with having her on a leash and then letting her romp with the other dog only when supervised and taking her on alone walks so that she can run off leash.

We are going to a private farm so we will know everyone there and it is private property so we wont have any outsiders.

I guess my other question would be is this a good way for them to meet again or will I ruin any chance of them getting along.

I either have to get over my fear of something happens and take her or get over being upset about it and leave her at home.
It just suck is all and I can't prodicte what will happen and I don't want to ruin my dog or our camping.
Thanks for your imput

[lukew101]

Assuming that the other dog owner is happy to let them play together, I would take her along. Dogs have good memories for who they have met before and who is a friend.

It's a good idea to wear each of the other dogs out before they greet. Sleepy dogs are less likely to fight. Keep fight triggers like prized toys and human food away from the dogs, and a have a break stick handy just in case.

Have fun.

[bahamutt99]

I guess it just depends on if the other dog is going to be running loose. I would camp with dog-owning friends who understood the etiquette, but not with the kind that just show up, open the car door and let the dog out to be loose all weekend. If you're going to do it, bring a long-line and maybe a crate. (And a breaking stick just in case.)

[debo-dumbo-ears]

You should definately bring Sophie! It sounds like you are committed to keeping her & the other dog safe while you're there. That's all you have to do (keep them safe), but it is an around the clock thing.

Debo is DA & we bring him camping w/ us every time we go. We're usually going to ride quads, so when we need to leave him behind at the campsite, he stays in our trailer (his "deluxe" crate). We just keep him leashed at all times when he's out. We even go on this same trip to a lake every year, and our friends always have at least one dog w/ them (this year it was 2). Debo is fine, as long as they are not within striking distance of eachother - he just ignores them most of the time. My BF & I take turns keeping track of him, so that one of us doesn't have to be literally tied to him 24/7. It works out great & I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm like you - I feel way to guilty to leave him at home when I know he has so much fun camping.

Good luck!

[littledozer24]

We always take Lugz camping with us. The others stay home and are well cared for but because Lugz has some DA; we fill it is better if we are the ones that are responsible for him. That being said, the three of us are ever vigilant about everything that is going on around us. We take a 20 leash and we always take his crate. When we are out riding, he is in the crate in the camper and that way no other dogs can come up and get to him.

[cher_bear]

i love taking bella camping.i tie her to my leg in the tent when i am sleeping and i bring her a tether and crate too.also we utilize our vehicle when the weather is appropriate.we love traveling as a family!

[PeanutsMommy]

i would take her just talk to the other people and let them know that your dog can be DA and the dogs need to be under supervison. I would definately recommend keeping her on a leash though. When my husband and I took Peanut to the river during the summer we kept him on a long leash so he had freedom but he only had so much. Peanut is not DA but there were other dogs that were there that if they came into contact with Peanut and they were DA we could grab the leash and pull him closer to us...we never needed to do that but it made us feel better.

[monkeys23]

Also, make sure she's contained at night and can't go get herself in trouble. It took Lily less than two seconds to figure out how to get out of the tent.

[lukew101]

pitgirl17, did the camping trip go well?

[Mollie's Nana]

Any updates Pitgirl17??? Did you go on your camping trip??

[pitgirl17]

You are all so wonderful and gave great advice. Thanks for even asking how the trip went.

Unfortunatlly we did not take Sophie and man am I glad we didn't because we would not have been welcomed back. There would have been some fights for sure.
This is a family owned farm where we go and stay sometimes. they are family freinds and totally nice but unfamiliar with the pit breed. There was 5 dogs there, one of which we know and would have been fine with. The other two were labs and have grown up on the farm and are very territorial. Sophie does not get along with labs and I knew that would not have worked out. Plus the people let them roam free and didn't keep an eye on them. The other two dogs were with people we didn't know and did not know they were coming. They were not very friendly and did not have great manners.

As much as I missed Sophie I was so glad not to have her there because with all the dogs roaming around I would have been on edge the whoel time.
The good news is they told us we could come up on our own anytime and we could bring Sophie. This way no one would be up there and there would be no dogs.
Thanks for all you help
Pitgirl17

[cher_bear]

sounds like you made the right decision.

[Mollie's Nana]

Wow, sounds like that was the best decision! As hard as it was to be without her, if you had taken her, and a fight did break out, Sophie would have been blamed, banned, and they would have all had a negative opinion of bullies. I can't believe there were that many dogs there, roaming around, and no one kept an eye on their dog, and let them roam freely.... they would have been the ones that would have probably caused trouble, simply because they had no manners

But it's great that they have welcomed you to come up alone, so you can take her with you! Sounds like a nice future trip!!