something else to consider is that not all state park campgrounds are dog-friendly. i know that in pennsylvania, many of the state park campgrounds either no not allow dogs, or only allow them in designated campsites. so it is a good idea to check on this in advance. also, many beaches designated for swimming (in the midwest at least) do not allow dogs. it can take a little bit of research to find a place where you and your dog can both go swimming.
you said you have an RV -- we primarily do tent camping. i had a really smart beagle years ago who figured out how to open the zipper of a tent door by pushing it with her nose. she escaped a couple of times to chase the critters that she could hear in the woods. so we got a couple of those detachable keychains (kindof like these: http://www.agedstock.com/dealer-supply- ... chable.jpg) so that we could 'lock' the doors of the tent at night!
i think the biggest things for us as tent campers are having a brush handy to get dirt and other things out of kumo's fur before coming into the tent at night, and doing a 'tick check' every night before going to sleep -- both for kumo and ourselves. we use the that topical flea and tick repellent on kumo that we get from the vet, which prevents the ticks from implanting themselves on him, but unfortunately it doesn't kill the ticks. when we all get into the tent at night, the ticks can crawl off the dog and onto a tastier meal -- us! our evening ritual of brushing and tick checks keeps all kinds of unmentionables from coming into the tent at night.
also, before we set up camp we try to give the campsite a thorough once-over to collect any trash or items previous campers may have left behind. it is a good idea to do this anyway, but dogs can sometimes decide to chew on the craziest things, and people aren't always very good about cleaning up after themselves. when we're camping, kumo prefers chewing on stuff he finds at the campsite to chewing on the toys we bring, so i always like to be aware of what that stuff might be, and remove anything i don't think is safe.
here's a page with photos of my fiance and i camping with kumo in red river gorge, KY when he was about 5 months old:
http://bierdoctor.com/photos/2006-06-05_gorge/
-em
you said you have an RV -- we primarily do tent camping. i had a really smart beagle years ago who figured out how to open the zipper of a tent door by pushing it with her nose. she escaped a couple of times to chase the critters that she could hear in the woods. so we got a couple of those detachable keychains (kindof like these: http://www.agedstock.com/dealer-supply- ... chable.jpg) so that we could 'lock' the doors of the tent at night!
i think the biggest things for us as tent campers are having a brush handy to get dirt and other things out of kumo's fur before coming into the tent at night, and doing a 'tick check' every night before going to sleep -- both for kumo and ourselves. we use the that topical flea and tick repellent on kumo that we get from the vet, which prevents the ticks from implanting themselves on him, but unfortunately it doesn't kill the ticks. when we all get into the tent at night, the ticks can crawl off the dog and onto a tastier meal -- us! our evening ritual of brushing and tick checks keeps all kinds of unmentionables from coming into the tent at night.
also, before we set up camp we try to give the campsite a thorough once-over to collect any trash or items previous campers may have left behind. it is a good idea to do this anyway, but dogs can sometimes decide to chew on the craziest things, and people aren't always very good about cleaning up after themselves. when we're camping, kumo prefers chewing on stuff he finds at the campsite to chewing on the toys we bring, so i always like to be aware of what that stuff might be, and remove anything i don't think is safe.
here's a page with photos of my fiance and i camping with kumo in red river gorge, KY when he was about 5 months old:
http://bierdoctor.com/photos/2006-06-05_gorge/
-em
