If you are new to the RV lifestyle you may not be aware of some basic etiquette at a campground that most people there are expecting of you. Also, as I have witnessed firsthand, you may be a seasoned full-timer and not aware either. Since we are here to help our fellow RVers of all experience levels, we thought it may be helpful to discuss some of these topics with you in a series of posts we will be doing about Campground Etiquette. This will also double as my “List of Grievances” and will be very cathartic for me, so thank you.
The first topic we are covering is for dog owners, but I think both owners and non-owners will see the benefit.
There is nothing better than hitting the great outdoors with “man’s best friend”. I have two dogs myself and am all for taking loving animals who need a home into your life. However, as a dog owner, it’s the irresponsible dog owners that drive me crazy. Here are a few things to keep in mind when bringing your K-9 companions with you to your next campground.
Clean up after your dog
This is a basic principle in dog ownership and yet it seems to elude many owners. I don’t know, I just don’t get it. To me, this is only common decency. If you are staying in a park, what makes you think people want dog waste all around the area they are calling home? Even if I am somewhere for just a weekend that does not mean I’m suddenly ok with a minefield of poop everywhere.
There also seems to be this belief from some people that if your campground is in a remote area of the woods or something comparable, it is ok for your dogs to use the whole of the outdoors as a toilet and nature will somehow clean up this mess for you. Wrong. Nature won’t take care of it before the bottom of my shoe does while trying to take a hiking trail out of the park. The bottom line – clean up after your dog wherever you are always. If you cannot manage to accomplish this in your life, then maybe dog ownership is not for you.
Do not use a dog tie-out that is too long.
A lot of people like to let their dogs enjoy being outside all day even when they are on-site and in their RV. I get this, I understand it and am not arguing against your dog having fresh air. What I am saying is, maybe don’t use the 25-foot tie-out when there isn’t even 12 feet of space between our sites. If you did the math there quick (I used a calculator) you will realize that your dog had enough space to walk into my site, into my trailer, and into my refrigerator.
This can be annoying for a few reasons. One, now your dog is unattended and likely relieving themselves on my site which you never seem to notice or clean. Two, I have dogs and your dog(s) don’t know my dogs. Picture coming out of a trailer with my leashed dog who is now abruptly confronted by a strange dog in our space. Have you ever seen the movie, There Will Be Blood? My youngest and smaller pup, at about 45 pounds herself, is not a vicious animal and has no history of violence but if a strange dog is in her face right outside our trailer door she will think she is defending both me and her and will get hostile. Think about it, if you came out of your RV and I was just standing there in your space near your door every time you came out wouldn’t you get hostile too?
Keep your dog on a leash and do not assume everyone else’s dog is okay with yours walking up to its face.
So, first things first, leashes. They are usually required at a campground and still at least once at every park I have ever been to someone’s unleashed dog comes sprinting full speed at me and one of my dogs. You get those few seconds in sort of a slow-motion blur to try and figure out what degree of terrible this will be. Accidents happen and sometimes a dog will just get away from you, but this does not get any easier to stop when you have them tethered to absolutely nothing. You love your pet and know he/she is the best fur baby in the world and would never hurt anyone. I can also say I love my uncle and he would never hurt anyone, that doesn’t mean I expect you to want him in your face at your dinner table burping after every one of his numerous beers while unbuckling his pants. Get it? Me neither, I may have lost the plot there, hang on…
Oh yea, secondly, even if your dog is on a leash don’t assume it is ok to walk your dog directly at someone else’s pup. You do not know that dog or how it will react to a new animal or person. Be polite and ask first if you are determined to make puppy besties. One thing I can tell you from experience is a dog bite hurts. A lot. I was once bitten on my forearm by a stranger’s dog who was not properly under the control of the owner. The only thing that hurt more was the ER visit bill after. For the record, I don’t ever blame any dog or hate any dog for its actions. You find me a “bad” dog and I will show you a bad dog owner.
I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this as either an RVing dog owner who will try to be more mindful or as a non-owner who just likes to shake their fist in the air while agreeing. We plan on keeping this series going with additional topics so keep a lookout for more ways to not be a campground nuisance in the future!