“I’ve seen a look in dogs’ eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts” (John Steinbeck)
Camping with a dog in the jungle is new territory for me and I thought it would be interesting to document the process. There are number of potential problems: wild animals are all around so the dog needs to be on a leash and may spend the whole night barking manically and also the rain and bugs can make your canine friend miserable.
In a good camp spot with fair weather, shelter for the dog is not an issue – he can simply sleep beneath your hammock – but, as anyone who has spent time in the jungle will know – when it rains it pours and the ground beneath your hammock can quickly transform into a large puddle, possibly riddled with leeches that will turn your dogs’ paws into a bloody mess.
Sometime ago I saw the idea of a double decker hammock – this has the advantage that two people share the same tarp (thereby saving weight) and rig their two hammocks one beneath the other; with both attached to the same trees. This gave me the idea of making a hammock for the dog and I dusted off the sewing machine and got to work, the video shows the first prototype:
This concept of a double decker hammock could also be used if you have a young child you want to take in camping and don’t feel confident with them sleeping too far away from you.
The other thought in my mind was that this process – of gradually getting the dog accustomed to jungle camping and taking it step-by-step – is also a good approach for a newbie to the jungle to take. Rather than starting off your jungle experience by signing up for a hard-core, two week expedition deep into the heart of the jungle, it is a far better idea to start off with a single nights camping (maybe not far from your car) so that you can get used to your equipment and find out what works and what doesn’t.
As the joke goes:
Q: “How do you eat an elephant?”
A: “One bite at a time”
Thank you for the subject Paul!
After bad luck with a cat hammock, I dropped the idea for a dog…
My technique would consist of a square piece of tarpaulin, with the angles recurved to make a kind of bathtub.
Easy to get in and out, easy to set up, and lightweight 🙂
As for the cable, I think bike brake cable (for rigidity) and paracord sheath (for tensile strengh) would make a great and lighter alternative!
I didn’t thought of that use of a cable, I keep it in mind!
I hope to see that guy in the jungle soon 😉
Keep up the good stuff Paul!
Really much needed for those of us who are still in Europe 😀
Hi Wawa,
Great to hear from you and glad you liked the dog hammock idea – at the moment I’ve got the horizontal rigidity coming from two hollow metal tubes (cut from curtain rail) but they’re a bit heavy and I’m thinking of replacing with either bamboo or PVC pipes which should be strong enough. I didn’t really refine the design too much as I’m not sure how successful camping with the dog is going to be – guess I’ll find out!
The other important thing with the dog hammock (which I forgot to mention in the video) is that the cordage I use is stuff that doesn’t stretch under load (or at least not very much) whereas paracord is something I find not so good for hammocks as it does stretch and introduce sag. Cable is another option too as you say and could be used in in the channel between the two metal poles.
Anyway, thanks again,
Cheers!
Paul
When will this be on the market? I and a load of people I know would love this!
HI Jen,
Sorry for the sow reply but I’ve been busy with other stuff for the last few months. Anyway very glad you like the dog hammock…I don’t think anyone makes them but I agree that there is a market for them. Maybe you could do it?
Cheers!
Paul
I am interested in hammock camping with a dog. As you said, no one sells dog hammocks currently. I have wondered if the ENO Gear sling could be used for a dog. The specs say it can only hold 50 pounds, which might not be enough depending on the dog.
Hi John,
Many thanks for the comment and sorry I’ve been slow to reply – I have been very busy with other things and just not had time to do much junglecraft, or even update the site, for the last few months.
Anyway, great to hear you are planning to hammock camp with a dog – the problem I found with using a standard type hammock (or gear sling) is that it’s too unstable for the dog. I guess if it was a very small dog it might be okay but for larger dogs they try to stand up in them and then lose their balance (and after that happening a few times will decide that they don’t like hammocks at all and you can’t get them to go in). Also remember that they have claws so the material needs to be tough enough to withstand that as well.
Hope that helps,
Cheers!
Paul