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A Tents Time

Mum wrote this to one of her friends, Auntie Caroline, after we spent the night preparing for a camping trip by sleeping under canvas in the back garden. You see, Jack and I have never been camping before, and she wanted to see how we'd take to it!

This was all before Jerry arrived. Next time there'll be three of us boys, and can you imagine what fun we'll have then?

An update on our camping experience last night. Initially I was planning to just give a quick synopsis (i.e. dogs settled well and we slept) but in view of what actually happened I felt a timetable approach was the best way to accurately convey the full joy of camping with long dogs.

10:20pm We all head outside and I call the boys into the tent which is filled with duvets plus my sleeping bag and pillow. J immediately discovers the previously unknown joy of silky sleeping bags and fluffy down pillows, while G is just generally excited and hops about like a lunatic. Nigel zips up the outer door and heads back inside, while I shift J off my sleeping bag and pillow and enjoy being out in the cool.

10:25pm G now decides that actually he isn't sure he really likes camping after all and wants to go back in the house. Even though the tent door is shut he decides he will just push his way through. I tell him to lie down and he starts to panic and keeps leaning against the flimsy mesh door and whining.

10:30pm With constant fussing and reassurance I finally get G to lie down with his head in the very bottom corner of the tent right by the door. He is now so worked up he proceeds to hyperventilate (very loudly). While I have been sorting out G, J has moved back onto my pillow and sleeping bag.

10:40pm We are finally all laying down (although G is hyperventilating noisily and laying across the bottom of the tent which means I have to lay diagonally) and I am feeling quite optimistic that we may actually quite enjoy camping.

1:00am I wake up convinced that the tent is about to be blown away as it is shaking so hard, only to discover that J is lying on his back dreaming and his legs are hitting the sides of the tent. I poke him and he rolls over realising he is no longer touching my pillow and sleeping bag, so comes and flops down right next to me. Within moments he is breathing heavily and fast asleep and I have to push him back onto his duvet.

2:30pm While having yet another violent running dream, J kicks G (who is still lying across the bottom of the tent by the door) who immediately jumps up and starts barking. J of course has no idea why G is suddenly barking at him so he gets up and starts growling. I smack both of them and while I am sorting out the tangle of sheet and sleeping bag round my feet, J goes and lays right across my pillow.

G is now quite enjoying camping again, and feels brave enough to lie at the top of the tent which means he is conveniently placed to occasionally stretch out and scratch me with his paw if he fancies a fuss. This seems to happen just as I am drifting off to sleep (more than once).

4:00am I wake up feeling cold and can't seem to find my sleeping bag. When I eventually sit up I discover J has taken it into the corner where he is very happily lying on it curled up into a tiny little ball.

4:30am A hedgehog decides to snuffle noisily and slowly around the whole perimeter of our tent. Obviously the boys find this highly exciting and start to lap the tent and bounce up and down whining. Finally the hedgehog leaves but G is now REALLY enjoying camping and decides we should play a game which consists of him lying down calmly when I tell him and then the moment I lie down he pounces on me. Eventually he decides the only place he could possibly sleep is across my feet which is very uncomfortable but I can't get him to move. I decide I preferred camping when G was hyperventilating at the bottom of the tent.

6:00am I wake up just before my alarm goes off so have time for a little cuddle with the boys. G rolls onto his back and waves all his legs in the air he likes camping so much. J and I crawl out of the tent, but G refuses to leave. He starts scratching all the bedding into a pile and I have to go back into the tent and drag him to the house.

At this point although I am tired it was actually quite good fun. I do feel that the boys will probably be all right when we go away in September as they will be a lot more tired, but I haven't ruled out taking a few sedatives just in case.

Hope your day has been good and if you fancy borrowing the tent at any stage to try it out for yourself please don't hesitate to ask.

Love F (I know why I don't sleep with the dogs every night), J (I can't believe she never bought me one of those wonderful pillows) & G (camping makes me sooooo happy).

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