On a post about tarptents, Rootball asked this question:


Good question, IMHO deserving of a separate post!

Hysson is mostly Labrador retriever, so his dense, furry undercoat normally doesn't get wet. This leaves mostly his outer coat to deal with. Before letting him in the tent, I rub him down with a couple of Handi-Wipes (which I prefer to pack towels, but YMMV). When I take him into the tent, my sleeping bag and pad are folded/shoved out of the way. I immediately put on his sweater, which I made out of an old polypro base layer top. That keeps his wet fur from rubbing against my sleeping bag or clothing yet allows the water to evaporate (adding, of course, to condensation in the tent...). The polypro sweater is thin enough that he doesn't overheat, but seems to be enough to keep him warm in freezing temperatures. The DWR shell of my sleeping bag does the rest.

Should the start of a backpacking trip coincide with Hysson's monthly bath time, I postpone the bath until after the trip. Bathing, of course, strips the oils from his fur (although they come back after a week of daily grooming), allowing more water to get into that dense undercoat. Better a smelly dog than a soggy one!

My normal bedtime routine is to comb Hysson to remove dirt, excess hair (always a lot of that) and possible ticks just before letting him into the tent. I don't do it when he's wet, though--I don't want to comb water into his undercoat. Rubbing him down with the Handi-Wipes/pack towel accomplishes the same thing.

Hysson was crate-trained as a pup. He therefore regards the tent as his crate, a place of refuge where he lies quietly on his Gossamer Gear Thinlite pad. The main problem is when he wakes up in the morning and goes into his whole-body tail-wag routine. This quickly removes all moisture from the tent walls, which can get interesting if I haven't wiped them down first. The DWR on my sleeping bag has been enough to repel this monsoon. On my way out the door, I shake the moisture drops off my sleeping bag.

I trim Hysson's claws twice monthly and so far have had no problems with his claws and the silnylon tent floor or netting, even with the lightweight floor in a Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo. I believe his early crate-training has helped there, too. I make sure he stays away from my WM down sleeping bag and air mattress and lies down on his own pad. I don't go off and leave him alone in the tent, either.

I keep Hysson out of the water in the evening before bedtime (we do our water gathering when we first get to camp). It helps a bit that he is sadly missing a normal Lab characteristic-- he won't swim! He loves to wade, but his one swimming stroke is a mad dash for shore when he realizes his feet are no longer touching bottom.

My daughter had a short-haired dog (vizsla) and had to put a doggie raincoat on him when they were out in the rain. Otherwise her dog would get chilled and start shivering even in relatively warm rain. The raincoat, of course, kept the dog's body dry. I wouldn't want to do this with a thick-coated dog because he'd overheat when hiking.

How do the rest of you dog owners cope?