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hi,

we have been camping a lot in our outwell montana 6 tent but my wife has recently got a dog which is now 9 months old and we are wondering if anyone has any tips on camping with dogs for example how to keep the tent clean etc. Thanks as we keep putting her in kennels and we really want her to come with us but are worried it could all go horribly wrong ha ha.

We have a Outwell Montana 6 too and took our 11 month old puppy camping for the first time.  Must say it was much better than I had thought.  Firstly he's a bit of a barker around strangers and bikes!  We put him on the lead on one of those corkscrew pegs so he could 'guard ' the tent and put a windbreak in front of him so he couldn't see anyone wandering in front of the tent and he was fantastic.  Spent most of the time sun bathing! 

Once inside the tent because it is a SIG you have no worries with him escaping.  He is trained now but just in case I put one of those puppy training pads and some newspaper by the tent door inside in case he needed to go pretty quick but he was fab just jumping at the door when he needed to go out.

The one rule that went out the window though was, at home he goes in his dog crate at bedtime no problem.  We didn't have room to put that in the car so we broke out own rule and at night he snuggled on top of our bed/inside our bed.  But when we got home, he went straight back to his normal routine.

As for keeping tent clean, just make sure you have a pack of wet ones and a doggy towel for paws, etc.

Don't put him in the kennels - it's his holiday too.  Usually you walk your dog more when camping so he will be flat out for most of it.  Ours is only a little dog (see pic in gallery) so it doesn't take much to knock him out and he doesn't take up too much room in bed either!

I agree, dogs do love it. Ours does too, i did and still do worry as he is a barker, i dont want him disturbing anybody. But i think i do worry too much on that because when were camping he only give a little ruff every now n then, and thats more because he is on a lead and its his way of objecting to that,  and through the night he sleeps solid, in with me n hubby at our feet. Despite only being small we did have to fight for feet space with him, he thought all of bottom of bed was his.

 On our last trip when we took him round the ingleton waterfalls (4 1/2 mile round walk) plus some very steep steps (some steps were nearly as big as him) he was out for count all night, hubby even checked to make sure he was still there, although where the hell he thought dog had gone i still dont know. He loves the fact that he gets to spend all day everyday with us.

we allways take a dog or two camping with us, we have three so  depending what kind of trip it is we take em all unless we are going with friends with young kids then we put the two big (lurcher and a whippet cross) ones in kennels or if we like last week go to a site with plenty of room then they all come. but they all are brilliant when we camp, we av a couple of tie-up points (ones that screw into the ground witth a three meter lead attached to the lurcher and the other two's leads along that)outside the tent whilst we are sat by the fire of an evening and then if its cold then they can be tied to the inside one where there beds are (ava three roomed tent but only av one sleep compartment set up,one with all wood and coolbag and suchlike and the other has a tarp with mats and the dogs three beds on top,cosy!)then when the whisky does its job we all pile in the sleeping part for the night, a bit cramped but all safe and well!

Take your dog with you as they get used to it eventually, just be prepared with the tie-up points so you don't have to worry about them doing the dissapearing act or peeing on next doors tent!!