"Oh, boy, we're going to the cabin!" When the deep winter snow has melted from the meadows of the Sawtooth Valley, it's time for Clan Duncan to spend weekends at the cabin. Our cabin "veterans" get very excited as we load sleeping bags, food, and fly rods for a trip to the mountains. I'd like to take you along, and at the same time offer some tips for successful outdoor adventures with a Sheltie. What are my credentials? I have camped with a Sheltie in the tundra of Alaska above the Arctic Circle. I have canoed the cypress swamps of Mississippi with a canoe full of Shelties. I've explored the Florida Everglades with a Sheltie. I've camped in the Mexican thorn forest with a Sheltie, snow-camped in the Colorado Rockies with Shelties, camped in cold rain with a Sheltie in British Columbia's mountains, and sweltered with Shelties in desert camps in Nevada, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and Sonora. I've camped with Shelties all over the map for over 30 years, sometimes for weeks at a time. I have made two cross-country camping trips with two dozen Shelties of all ages, epic journeys in anyone's book. But that is another story . . .

First Rule: Do the groundwork. Teach your dog or puppy to come when called, period. If you need help with this, ask the breeder of your Sheltie, or your local performance club, Sheltie club, or all-breed club to recommend a local training class. The more obedience training he has, the safer he will be. Having your dog come at once every time you call him is vital to his safety, and will make any trip much more fun for the people! During ordinary circumstances (in your own yard, for example), most dogs will come when called. But what if you are out in the forest and meet a squirrel? A deer? Some children who call him? A bitch in season? Or a raccoon, rattlesnake, bear, or porcupine? Be sure your dog will come every time, before you take a chance in the wide-open spaces. Proper obedience training can accomplish this. A hint: never, never be harsh with a dog that has come to you when called, no matter what he has done! And don't use food as you train him to come. In my opinion, this is a mistake. He will always respond to a command if trained properly. He will not respond to the lure of food if an exciting ground squirrel runs by under his nose. Next, get an ID tag on your dog's collar. Take him for short rides in the car, if you have not done so before. Get him a rabies vaccination, if you are going to places where he might meet a skunk. Make sure he will go potty on leash. Take him on day trips on leash at first, and gradually go off-leash, after he is trained to come. And last but not least, show and tell him what is coming up. We always say, "Going to the cabin" or "Going camping" when we are getting ready to take them into the wilds. Make it sound exciting, and be very repetitive. "Oh, boy, Merlin, Gnat, and Reenie! Going to the cabin. We're going to the cabin. Look, here's the cooler that we take to the cabin. Look at the fly rods we're taking to the cabin. We're going to the cabin!" Then, when you arrive, repeat yourself yet again. "Here's the cabin! We're at the cabin! Oh, boy, we've gone to the cabin! Isn't it fun at the cabin?" It usually takes only one trip to cement what this means into the mind of a Sheltie. Year before last, we could go only once, and the dogs remembered, a year later, what "the cabin" meant. Once they "get it," the uncertainty and anxiety are gone, and they get as excited about the outing as us people.

Second Rule: Dogs love routine, so maintain it as much as you can. They like to know when food is coming, when they will be walked, where they are supposed to potty, and where they are going to sleep. On your overnight outings, keep your routines as similar to the home routine as is comfortable. Routine makes dogs feel safe. If your Sheltie feels safe during his first big outing, later outings will be more fun, and your dog will come to rely less upon routine for security. Our Sheltie adults have their main meal in the evening, followed by a substantial breakfast of very crunchy biscuits, so this is what we do at the cabin. Each Sheltie's crate travels with us (unless it is a hiking trip), so when it's time for bed, or when Scott and I are going fishing in a place where the dogs cannot go, they are safe in their familiar crates in the cabin. They know that no matter where we are, they will be walked first thing in the morning, in the late afternoon, and just before bed. They will get outdoors much more often than this during our outdoor adventures, but knowing when they will go out for certain keeps them from having accidents that they would not have at home. Routine also keeps them from being anxious during new adventures. Playing some familiar games is also a good way to help your dog adjust to being in the great outdoors.

Third Rule: Introduce newness by degrees, and when in doubt, keep him on a leash. When you arrive at a place new to the dog (unless he is a veteran of many trips), keep him on leash for a while, and carry a leash with you everywhere. When you do let him off-leash for the first time that trip, have it be at a time when there are many hours of daylight left. One family I know took their Sheltie camping. At twilight they let him out of the tent to run around. A big dog came charging through the campground and chased their Sheltie out of sight. The family searched and searched in the dark, and for several days afterward, but they never found their Sheltie. Don't let this happen to you! Always, always have leashes with you, and use them whenever you are the least bit uncertain.

We have ponds at home that the dogs are used to jumping in and out of, but running water, as in a creek? "Yipes, what is this stream-current thing?" they think when seeing a mountain stream for the first time. "Dare I jump in there, even to retrieve my beloved pink hedgehog toy?" When we introduce new Shelties to our Sawtooth Mountain scene, we always start with Vat Creek, a tiny creek that runs merrily beside the cabin deck. Vat Creek is about three feet wide, and its depths vary from an inch to eight inches deep in the "holes." First, we play in and around Vat Creek for a couple of hours. Then when we go to the larger streams -- Frenchman Creek or Pole Creek, Alturas Creek or the Salmon River, etc., the dogs think, "Oh, yeah. I am cool with this moving water thing. Wow. I had better swim out and get that hedgehog right now or it's going to float away!" A campfire may seem rather frightening to your dog. Start with a little one, just a handful of twigs. Don't make a big deal out of it. Sit nearby and invite your fellow for a nice body rub, and he will soon learn to relax by the fire just as you do. The point? Start with new things on a small scale. Then move up to more exciting adventures.

Fourth Rule: Reserve some toys and games just for outings. For the Shelties, this adds to the excitement. Our pink hedgehog (which has been replaced several times over the years) is played with only at the cabin or when we are camping. Throwing a loooooong stick to be retrieved by several Shelties at once happens only on outings. And retrieving from water never happens at home, only on outings (yet another reason why we bring the crates!).

Fifth Rule: When you are packing up to leave, tell them where you are going. "We're going home now. Oh, boy, we're going home. It's time to go home. We're putting the crates in the truck to go home. Let's go home!" When you arrive, don't forget to repeat, "We're almost home. Look, we're home! Isn't it fun to be home?" After a few reruns of this scene, the dogs will immediately settle down as you start the trip, because they know they are going home.

What to bring: Here's my list of essentials: Leash and collar. Usual food and dish. Water from home, at least for the first day or two. Paper towels and ziplock bags, necessary if he gets carsick, and for many other reasons. Crate, if you are "car-camping" or going to a cabin; a first-time Campersheltie might want his blanket. Kaopectate is good to have in reserve. An old towel comes in very handy. A toy or two. Heading for cactus or tick country? Take tweezers. Pack a pin brush if you'll be gone more than two weeks. That's it. After all, we are not mounting an expedition to conquer Everest!

I have camped with Shelties in more places than I can easily recall -- from Homer, Alaska to Guaymas, Sonora -- from Key West, Florida to Olympic National Park, Washington. I remember Duncan's little blue face lit by campfires in such disparate places as Black Mesa, Oklahoma; Myakka Springs State Park, Florida; Umpqua National Forest, on the Colorado/Utah border; Lake Kluane, Yukon Territory; White Mountains Apache Reservation, Arizona; Alamos, Sonora, in the Sierra Madre Occidental; and, of course, at the cabin, where his soft-footed little ghost still haunts me.

Go out and enjoy the natural world with your Sheltie, and make yourself some memories!

Watch the Clan Duncan Funnies Page for more tips and tricks! Please revisit this page in two or three weeks to see some photos of some of our historic outings. For more pages of fun, click the buttons just below.