As spring moves into summer, I am reminded of quotes such as those of the naturalist John Muir. There is tremendous value in keeping yourself grounded in nature. Whether it’s a routine walk through the park or appreciating the hummingbird or bees flying around your garden; nature is critical in a person’s mental health and understanding of the larger world around them. There’s science to the subject matter even. With that said the importance of your best furry bud’s mental capacities is also dependent on the time that they too get to spend free in nature.

For too long I found myself much deeper in work and social obligations than I could be involved in nature. I began to notice the effects of it on my person and since have always made the effort to get outside and just hang out among the trees when I feel the need. It was one day over winter that I had the thought of what my dogs must feel like on long stretches of time being locked inside. No new smells. No new dogs to meet. No opportunity to learn or experience new things. I’ve always been one to give them the basic time of daily walks, occasional dog park, and a hike every so often but now I felt I needed to raise the bar. It was time to camp.

In the last year, I’ve been exploring the options of camping with my girlfriend and dogs. Time constraints, seasonality, and life always took over and it just never came to fruition. With the gift of a camping hammock at the beginning of this year all of this would change. Throughout the spring I began piecing together camping equipment and visualizing the perfect dog friendly camping set up. I was thoughtful in picking out equipment that would keep my dogs safe, hydrated, and having a good time.

When the day finally came, there was rain. Rain for all three days actually. After setting up a waterproof camp on our first try we committed to bunkering down and enjoying each other’s company. As it rained around us we tried our hand at using an alcohol stove I had picked up at a Goodwill to make our meals, took walks on the trails with the dogs between storms, and relaxed quite a bit. There was definitely a ton of bonding and even though dog beds were brought; we chose to sleep as a pack.

Our dog Odin is a rescue who had never done anything like this before but to see his excitement to be among the trees or running across a beach was worth it. The benefits of the weekend on him were almost immediate and very impressive. After the trip his anxiety and fears of strangers seemed to diminish and the bond between him and my girlfriend and I became stronger. More importantly we did what we wanted to do when we got him; raise his status quo and give him the life he deserves.

Sure the nights were cold and the days soggy, but we powered through it together and found the joy in each other’s company. You would think hours and hours of hanging out at the site would get boring; but it didn’t. It was a completely shared experience that lacked the normal interruptions that would disconnect us. As we began heading home I could tell that all four of us were renewed. When I asked the dogs if ‘they had fun camping?’ I was answered with wagging tails and some barks and realized that we would be doing this a lot more in the future.