First Puppy Camping Trip

Well we just finished our first camping trip with our young puppies.  They are around 10 months old now so we ran out about 12 miles, made camp, spent the night, and then 12 miles the next day.

The goal was to load up the sleds with all our gear- get the kinks out of our own camping routines after a year off- and give the pups their first night out away from their houses.  It went pretty well.

All the dogs loved the extra attention they get while we are camping- extra pets, deep massages, their feet rubbed, etc... Plus lots of extra snacks and shiny new dog coats!  But some dogs seemed to miss their houses a bit more than others.  Lost was probably the most home sick but Rogue was right there with him.  All the other dogs settled right in and rested without any problems.

Lost and Rogue will just take a little more work and a little extra loving while they are out until they learn that camping on the trail is what we are all about.  They will get there though!  And they loved both runs!  So it will just take time.

The importance of the pups learning to camp so young is critical so- first, we can go camping for years with them and they will enjoy it, and second, because on the race trail they have to be very comfortable sleeping outside so that they can recover between runs.

All in all it was good first experience and a nice foundation to build upon.  We will be headed back out this comming weekend and just about every other weekend from now until the snow melts in late April.