Izzy's First Camping Trip
- Lyllian
- Sep 24
- 3 min read
I have to admit I was a little leery of taking Izzy camping and almost cancelled. I wasn't sure if she would be able to hike very far, if she would settle in a totally new situation or if she would sleep in a new place. Well, I didn't need to worry. Izzy acted like she'd been camping forever. She was a great traveler and slept the 2.5 hours we drove to get there. We went to Twin Lakes over in central Oregon. She was able to hike around South Twin Lake. It's about a mile and not very difficult. We just made sure she took a few rest breaks. I ended up getting in over 10,000 steps a day but in several walks/hikes. She loved being there and smelling and seeing all the new sights. While we couldn't do the hiking we usually do, it was a joy to watch her and be with her. I used her harness which I had started working on with her. She does not pull on it and had gotten fairly comfortable with wearing it. She's a champ wearing it now. There were many other firsts. She started really noticing birds in the sky and really enjoyed the ravens. I have a video clip of her and one of the ravens interacting at the end of the post. She did not react to the mule deer that walked through our camp site. She mostly ignored all the chipmunks and ground squirrels but did try to chase a few (no puppy is perfect) She met lots of new people. She met a really nice couple and they asked if their 3 children could meet her. Izzy was initially nervous and pulled back. You couldn't have found kids more perfect for socialization. The two boys noticed she was scared and sat down on the ground and waited for her to approach them! They were so patient. While we waited for her, they told me about their dogs. They won her over and she was soon as comfortable with them as she is with adults. Their little sister came over and they explained that Izzy was scared and needed to learn to trust kids and told her what to do. Amazing kids! As they walked back with their parents I heard one of the boys tell his parents "Izzy was scared but we were patient and helped her learn to trust kids. We were helping with socialization. She is such a smart dog". We went into Lapine for lunch one day at the Wetlands Taphouse and outdoor patio with several food trucks and she just settled on her bed and watched all the people. She got to meet another young boy and more adults. She saw other dogs and just looked at them with interest except for another golden retriever. She barked and tried to initiate play with that one. She saw her first fire and was very cautious around it but became more comfortable. She got to hear gunshots and didn't even flinch, so I think the desensitization on TV and at the gun range helped. She slept all night. It was really fun camping with her and provided lots of great socialization opportunities. I am so glad we didn't cancel it.
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