as we all know, summer is shortly upon us.

i LOVE camping and doing things like going rafting, or anything outdoors (true okie girl, haha!). my problem is this:

bear thus far has done all right off leash (umm all two times). unless there is another dog around in which case he won't listen to me when i call him back (unless i'm REALLY angry in the quit-messing-with-mommy voice). any tips on that would be welcome too. we're working with treats and such but GAH he is a spoiled brat (gee, wonder why.... haha!). it also doesn't help i have heart palpitations when he's off leash. the thought of losing him... UGH its too much to deal with. i know that doesn't help either. he's microchipped, has a collar on always... but still. and i don't want to board him while he could be off with the family having the time of his life.

how to make him respond better? he KNOWS how, he's just so ADD he's very easily distracted (and annoying... he knows better). we've tried clicker training on the responding stuff. bear starts barking like a mad man at it. what's worked best for you? treats? that seems to be doing the trick. any other suggestions?

next question, and this is for the campers. i would like to get a retractable tie off for bear (and his 100 pound sister maggie the lab/shepherd) mix. i adopted mags about 2 months ago. they get along just fine, and i'm working with her to make her an off leash dog. she's so calm and mellow (and i've seen it first hand... she's 75 pounds heavier than he is but SO gentle with him) whereas bear is so... a corgi! haha! i just don't ever want to lose either of them. and i think i would be so much calmer and have a better time (and present them with less stress) if they were anchored to one spot and couldn't run away. maybe next summer we can do off leash. i would probably just have a stroke if we even tried it this summer.

anyways, to the campers. what do you bring on a camping trip? i know the usual bed, blanket, food, water, emergency dog kits (my vet is my hero sometimes, haha). but what else? what makes it more fun for them? and what's a good tie off for the dogs? any recommendations would be awesome. and since its gonna be summer i'm definitely gonna keep them hosed off and make sure they get a great swim in pretty often (they do PERFECT in the water when it comes to responding, go figure), but is there anything else you would suggest?

thank you sooooooooo much for all your suggestions ahead of time... now that bear has someone to play with, i feel like we can go and he'd have a little bit more fun. i attached a pic of my horse and her little buddy, haha!