We use several dog iPhone applications while camping. Some of them are useful for everyday as well, but we find we get the most use out of them while we are on the road and in unfamiliar territory. Our dog, Daisy, is usually happy to just nap or hang out near us, but sometimes, a dog just needs to run.
First up, and the app we’ve had the longest is the Eukanuba Off-Leash Dog Park Locator. It’s a simple database that pulls your current location and then tells you the closest dog parks to where you are. It’s great when you need to find someplace for your dog to play while you’re traveling. We have found some definite holes where there is no information – that could be because there are no dog parks in the area or because they just haven’t been entered yet. If you do find a dog park not in the system, it’s easy to hit the “suggest a park” button and email off the information to get it listed.This is a free app.
Via Twitter we recently learned of the Fido Factor iPhone app (thanks @FidoFactor!). It’s full of dog-friendly places in San Francisco and users are adding new dog-friendly locations every day. It’s pretty easy to go to the website and set up an account that you can then use on the iPhone to suggest places you find or check for dog-friendly stuff where you are. Overall, the service features all kinds of dog-friendly stuff, not just dog parks. That is always great if we are on the road and need a place to eat lunch where we can bring our dog on the patio or something. The part we really like is that in the lodging section, there is a category for campgrounds.
Most campgrounds are technically dog-friendly but some have restrictions on sizes and/or breeds or advertise having a “dog park” that is really just a tiny fenced in area (and I do mean tiny). A heads up on those with really nice dog areas or that really are welcoming to dogs is a nice thing to have. Fido Factor doesn’t have a ton of stuff entered yet, but we’ll certainly be entering anything we find in our travels and we hope you will too. This is a free app.
Finally, I’m going to suggest you use the notes feature of your iPhone or another notetaking app that you like, and keep important dog information handy. There are apps you can buy for a few dollars to do this but, you don’t really need to. You want to have the name and address of your vet (keep the phone number in your contacts), the dates of shots your dog has received, names and dosage information for any medications they take, the microchip ID number if you have one and anything else you might need to know in an emergency. Also, make sure you have a photo of your dog in your camera roll.
It may seem silly, but if your dog is hurt and you can’t remember what types of meds he takes or the last time she had shots, you may have trouble at a new vet. And if your dog wanders away from your campsite, that photo is going to help you find him much sooner. For an extended trip you should consider having actual photocopies of vaccination records in the car with you, especially rabies shot information. If something happens it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your dog.
Have you found a dog-friendly iPhone app that works for you? Please share it in the comments. We’re always looking for more options.
