A few years ago, I decided to go camping with Taylor. In the middle of winter. In Victoria, Australia.

Pretty much everyone I told thought I was crazy (except my parents…they know me!) but my standard response was “I’ve got all the gear, I’ll be fine”. And as someone who’s camped in all sorts of terrains and climates, it’s true: I’ve got the -10 sleeping bag, the thick woolen camp blanket, beanies, gloves, thermals, multiple layers of thick socks…

But that’s me. How do you camp in a tent or camper with a dog when it’s going to be cold?

Just as for we humans, it comes down to preparation. Here are my tips and what has worked for Taylor when we’ve travelled in the the winter.

1. Layers, layers and more layers

As humans, we often need to adjust our layers when the temperature changes throughout the day – sometimes we need more, sometimes we need less. Dogs are no different, especially greyhounds. Be prepared to layer your dog with whatever they may need for your trip. And yes – that may mean packing a separate bag just of their clothes!

2. Tees, coats and snoods – oh my!

There are incredible accessories available for our pooches today that help us to cater for the variable weather – particularly helpful when you live in a place like Victoria, Australia, where the motto is “if you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes…”

Tees are, as the name suggests, made of a lighter t-shirt material, great for those in-between days, or for layering underneath coats. A quick google will provide you with various suppliers, but Taylor’s tees all come from https://houndtees.com.au/¹ which provide sleeved and sleeveless tees, material of various thicknesses, and alterations are available for tri-paws or dogs who don’t like their feet touched.

Coats are heavier outer layers for when it is cold. Sometimes a single coat is all that is required; sometimes you need to layer it over a tee; sometimes you might need multiple coats! It all depends on your dog and the temperature, which is why it pays to be prepared and pack multiples of each.

There are any number of places you can buy coats for your pup, from standard retail stores to custom made-to-order websites. Given the long and deep-chested body shape of greyhounds, I find the standard retail coats (eg: from pet stores or retailers like Kmart) are too small for her body shape, so all of Taylor’s coats are from greyhound or sighthound-specific sellers. Be sure to measure your pup prior to ordering any coats or tees!

Snoods are basically neck warmers for your dog… and if you’ve got a greyhound, you know they’ve got a lot of neck to keep warm! Taylor has a few different snoods, but I don’t use them often. For me, it’s if we’re camping and I know it’s going to be a really cold night – I’ll add a snood for extra warmth under the looser neck of her coat. Or if we’re going for a walk on a really cold day, but I know she’ll get too warm in a tee or coat when we’re moving, I might pop a snood on for some extra warmth just in case. I treat them more as an optional extra, rather than a staple in her winter wardrobe.

You can find snoods on Etsy and via some of the greyhound rescue groups, and you can also find many knitting / crochet patterns online if you’re so inclined. Here’s Taylor modeling one made especially for her by her nanna:

3. Blankets

For me, blankets are a necessity when traveling and I’ll always pack a couple. If your pup is a little cold, it’s so easy to throw one over them. This is especially helpful if your hound is tethered / wearing a harness and you don’t want to take everything off and put it on again. If you only have one bed, and that happens to be set up in the tent or not yet unpacked from the car, a blanket over a tarpaulin or ground cover is also a warm spot for your hound to curl up.

4. Sleeping Bag

Sleeping bags are relatively compact, but can be a great extra layer of warmth for your dog. Personally, I defer to tees and coats first, as they can’t slide off in the middle of the night, but if it’s the middle of winter or likely to get very cold, I will take a sleeping bag for Taylor as a backup to throw over her if she needs it (I have an old one I don’t use anymore, which is now designated as hers).

And let me tell you – when it’s freezing cold in the middle of the night and you reach out in your tent or camper and feel your dog is a little cold, it is so much easier to pull a sleeping back out of it’s bag and toss it over them, while still remaining in your own sleeping bag keeping warm yourself, than trying to get them to stand up to put another coat on!

Remember…

A benefit of being in close quarters in a tent or camper is that you’re generally close enough to reach out and touch your dog to easily gauge how warm or cold they are.

You absolutely can travel with your precious pups in winter, you just need to be prepared. That first road trip that Taylor and I did in the middle of winter, in a tent? One morning when we woke up, it was -4 degrees Celsius and there was frost all over the tent. Admittedly, that was far colder than I had expected we would encounter, but we were both toasty warm. They key? Preparation. Taylor had a tee, 2 coats, a snood, and 2-3 blankets on. That may sound excessive, but if you like to camp and want to do it with your dog, the message that I really want you to take away is –

it is absolutely doable! 🙂

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1. This shout-out is not sponsored in anyway, I genuinely like their products and very much appreciate the alterations available as it’s made life a lot easier for Taylor (and me!), as she doesn’t like her paws lifted and put into tees. We’re a repeat customer for the button alterations. ↩︎