How To Get Your Dog Into Your Roof Top Tent
Solutions on How To Get Your Dog Into a Rooftop Tent
What does your dog mean to you? Is he just an extra responsibility that you have to take care for and feed every day? Or is he more than that? Is your dog like family for you, your best friend, someone you know you love to be around?
Well, for most of us our dogs are part of our families, they give us unconditional love and we try to give it back. They rely on us for affection, protection and everything in between. We do too.
And you may ask, what does this even have to do Overlanding, Rigs, 4x4 vehicles, Roof Top Tents, Camping? For some of us, an outdoor adventure is simply not as good if our dogs are not in the picture. Small, medium or large sized dogs, it doesn’t matter. They’re our most faithful companions.
If you’re a true outdoor lover, then we know how important it is for you to enjoy your camping adventures. Going to all those stunning places with breathtaking views over the mountains, into the woods or even by the beaches, it’s just pure passion. And what’s more important than who you choose to go with?
Well, of course you can go with your family, friends, partner, a travel group, or even ride solo. However, there is always one companion that most of us can’t go camping without; our dogs.
How could we ever forget about our best buds? Our overlanding would not be the same without them. Nevertheless, if we don’t have an annex room or we don’t like for them to sleep alone inside the car, we often struggle wondering how to get them into our Roof Top Tent.
If you are one of those camping enthusiasts that enjoy taking your dogs everywhere you go, but you are constantly struggling attempting them to get them up and into the tent, then this is the perfect article for you.
We will talk about the different ways in which you can get them into your Rooftop Tent with no need of purchasing expensive products. With no order in particular, you can choose which technique works better for you and your best buds.
Plus, in the video above we will provide a more graphic description, where you can see how all these methods are performed on a Roof Top Tents that lays on the low profile bed rack of a Toyota Hilux.
- Carry him up.
Of course, this is the most self-explanatory way to get your dog into your rooftop tent, but we all know it doesn’t hurt to state the obvious.
If you have a small dog, or strong arms, then you can simply lift your dog into the tent. If this is a hard task to do on your own, you can get some help to you lift your dog, perhaps someone can stay inside the tent and grab him from there.
Note, if you have the tent at a low level, then it will be at a comfortable enough level for you to lift the dog or pet up and lift them back out.
- Get a vest harness for your dog.
This is another simple, cheap, yet highly efficient method to get your dog or any other pet into your roof top tent. Yes, it also works with a bigger-sized dogs and physical strength is to some extent required.
In order for this technique to work best, you will have to use some treats to encourage your dog to go up the ladder. You will be standing on the ladder whilst pulling him from the vest harness. Dogs are smart, they will begin to climb the ladder with your guide and be encouraged with the treat. You will pull them from the vest harness, go up alongside your dog and into the tent.
It’s important to note that you have to let the dog help you out; let them climb their way in whilst you are pulling your them up.
- A little DIY: Create a Ramp.
Some may think this is an extremely hard and time-consuming task, but it is actually really simple. You only need to purchase a piece of Plywood, long enough for it have a low slope and wide enough for your dog to be comfortable enough to climb up and down. Anti-slipping tape will also be required.
The piece of Plywood will become the ramp for your dog to walk on and into the tent. The anti-slipping tape will be used to provide some grip for your dog; this way they will not be sliding down once they attempt to go up the ramp. You should tape the strips in a horizontal position, with at least 10 inches from one another - just like the video above shows.
Once you have your car top tent open and want your dog to go up, firstly you have to put the ladder in a less steep angle. The slope of the ramp has to be as low as possible so it’s easier for your dog to climb. A 30-degree slope should do. For this, you will need to place any items that you can set the foot of the ramp on, such as a log, suitcase, or some kind of awesome storage case or box, such as the Alubox Aluminum Cases, to create a more gradual angle.
Then, you can place the Plywood on top of the ladder and you got your DIY ramp! You can help your dog go up by using treats and guiding them, or you can give them a vest harness and give them that extra hand to go up and into the tent.
Treats are really important when you attempt these methods, as it gives your dog an incentive to climb up the ramp. If you look at the video below, you will see how the dog follows the treat up the ramp and into the tent with ease.
Note: all these techniques will work best if you keep the tent at a low level – either by using a low-profile roof rack or using a low-profile bed rack. This will make it more reachable and the person will be at a fair level compare to the tent. For example, in the video above, we can see how the dog climbs on the ramp leading to the truck bed of a Toyota Hilux.
Do you know, or have tried any other technique that we missed? Perhaps you can share it with us in the comments, or shoot us an email at: info@offroadtents.com. We would love to learn about other ways to help our pets climb safely into your RTTs so they can keep us company up there!
Overall, we all love how roof top tents have boosted our camping experiences, and managed to get us off ground with fast setup times. However, we all want to share these experiences with our dogs.
Hopefully, with these methods and techniques that are simple, cheap and fast to implement, you will be able to get the most out of your outdoor lifestyle with your best buds. Treats and patience are key ingredients for your dog to get used to this. However, they are fast learners and will definitely enjoy going up and into the tent.
Products Featured in the Video:
- Nosara 55" Roof Top Tent by Guana Equipment
- Inner Insulation Layer by Guana Equipment
- Vortex Cross Bars by Rhino Rack (the kit will vary depending on your vehicle)
- Slimline II Roof Rack by Front Runner (the models vary depending on your vehicle)
- Any type of Roof Top Tent will work with these methods.
