Have you had this problem?

The last two times I've camped I've had one or two of my border collie mixes get sick. It's not motion sickness because it starts after we've been there a night. They refuse to eat and are pretty loose on the back end.  Food is the same as home, we all drink campsite water as we have a well at home.
We've been camping for a little over a year and this has just come on. Any thoughts?
My younger lab mix is unfazed.

Nerves. They might just be home bodies.

I have 2 dogs, twin brother and sister. The male is all about the RV and going, the female HATES every minute. she shakes and whines, sometimes gets loose stools.

OTOH, she shakes when we eat. Big pitiful eyes and shivers so hard she about falls over. Amazing thing is she has a full recovery as soon as she gets a bite of "MY" food. lol  Little con artist.

Hi Steve,
Yes, since the girls are the older ones it would make sense they are more stress prone. I would just think they would be getting more used to it, than less.

And, yes, she has you wrapped, bro!

They may have decided that it's just not their thing... :-[

I have not had this problem yet! Does the affected dog run a fever? Does the problem resolve after a day or not until you get home? Pumpkin is a good natural remedy for loose stools. The plain canned pumpkin.  Few scoops to half a can depending on the dogs weight. I use this at home. When going to dos shows pre RV I always took pumpkin and an anti diarrhea med on all trips. It will not hurt the dogs to eat pumpkin prior to the trip and it might keep you from having a problem. Extra or unusual treats can also affect one dog more than another. old luck resolving!

Steve, I hope you aren't right - I bought an awfully expensive dog house to take them in !!

Bob and Cathy, since we are usually weekenders I haven't had enough time to figure this out. We were gone for a week over the fourth of July and when one got sick I got her to eat chicken & stars soup until I could mix it in with her food and she was eventually OK for the ride home. I will keep your pumpkin idea close.

Try jugging up some water at home for the dogs. It may be the trigger.

Steve, I did, but ran out. Am going to be better in the future.

put them on the standard vet "bland" diet until their stomach settles down, plain old steamed rice. Mix a bit of their dog food in if you want or a little gravy depending on how "loose" the other end is. Usually only takes a couple days if it is just nerves and then start blending their food back in slowly until their is no more rice, just solid dog food. I would hold off on the people food too, just small amounts of treats maybe.

Thank you for the suggestions, going this weekend, will see how things go.

Certainly sounds like a little stress colitis, may want to have some imodium on hand.

Cheryl

Exercise.

More exercise. MORE.

Take them to dog parks en route, take them on long brisk walks at the campgrounds. When you stop for gas or groceries, take them on mini walks.

Exercise and more exercise! 

It cures just about any stress in a dog. Keeps them busy and focused.

I travel with a dog. Once I incorporated MORE and more exercise he's been fine and he LOVES it. Get those dogs out on long walks. It gives them a chance to focus on all the GOOD stuff. Dogs love poking around sniffing up the new neighborhood. Could be just too much time in the RV and not enough exercise outside.

I search out dog parks and often stop there instead of rest areas when I am traveling. It's fun!  I've had many picnics in the RV at dog parks too. I exercise the dog, then take him back to RV make our food, then if time, run him around the dog park again, then back on the road.

When I come outside from grocery shopping, I toss the stuff in the RV, then I leash up the dog to go on "cart return".  I walk him briskly back to the store front, pushing the cart all the way. He LOVES this now!  It gives his legs a good work out, then we go riding again. My friend traveling with me was laughing himself silly when I told him the dog had to go on "cart return".  But it works and it makes the doggy super happy to do this.

I've also stopped in the large pet stores on hot muggy days and briskly walked him up and down every aisle in the store, sometimes several trips around the store. Then we buy a little food and off we go again.

All the "mini walks"  gives him plenty of ops to do the bushes too. He often does not eat while we are traveling. It's his choice. The food and water are there on a rubber mat for when he feels like attacking it. Even at the new campground he is excited for his first walk around the park. Then often when we get back, he devours a mountain of food then happily collapses for a nap.

So often now, I just hook up the utilities, then it's doggy walking to see the new campground. It settles him down and no more tummy trouble.

The answer may be as simple as MORE MORE MORE EXERCISE.

Ok, so it goes...

Last weekend we camp again and I used all your very helpful hints: made sure I had Imodium and bland rice.  Exercise isn't an issue as my two older BC girls get a little lame just in what we normally do in our walks through the parks.

So being so prepared, there was NO problem! But thank you, and if it happens again I will be more prepared.

Some dogs travel well.. some do not, not a breed specific thing either, same breed different results.

Plus you said you drink campground (well) water, same as you do at home, but it is a DIFFERENT well... I have been in campgrounds where I can not drink the water less I filter it.. So I filter it.  I use two filters in fact (Well 3 depending on target)

All the water coming into the "house" is filterd through an activated charcoal filter, Home made.. I will describe.

The water I drink goes through one of two BRITA filters.. Bulk water is the pitcher in the fridge.  Ice cubes come from a faucet filter (or the pitcher depending on other things).

Now the activated charcoal (By the way there are two types of Activated charcoal in that isle.. One has added chemicals in it to neutralizxe ammonia as I recall, AVOID added chemicals, you want 100% activated charcoal, nothing else)

A pipe 2 or 3 inches about a foot long
Reducers and fittings so that you can put a garden hose on each end (male and female)

a pair of stainless (or plastic) drain covers (This works real good with 3"

and a matched pair of threaded fittings (may be one end of the pipe)

Assemble one end (Male end) as follows.. All the reducers and adapters normally. when you put the large fitting on the large pipe, cut down a drain cover and slip it in the fitting first to form a "Grill" as it were.  Same at the other end.

Now... Stuff the pipe about 1/2 full of Filter Floss (Pet fish isle) then dump in a bottle of activated charcoal (Same isle) then some more floss (Fill the pipe in fact pack it in a bit) then screw the thing together and hook up, run water through t to get rid of the dust and you are good to go.  I refill spring and fall. you should also re-fill summer and winter for best operation.. This is **NOT** as good as the Brita but it sure improves many parks.

John, I didn't mention it in the last post. I took 'home' water thinking I'd have enough for one dog. Plans changed and DH brought the other 2 dogs, not leaving enough. So when it was about half finished I mixed it with the CG water and they did fine this time.

I've thought about the whole house filter and will probably do it.  Being used to well water, that would be a change, too, for the dogs when we camp but better than not filtering it.

As one person mentioned, canned pumpkin really helps with loose stools. If that doesn't work, our vet has given us the prescription canned food called WD. If that doesn't stop it, then Flagal (not sure of the spelling) will. We don't have an RV yet, but my wife has traveled a lot in an RV with her friends dogs going to and from dog shows and agility trials. She has used Ginger capsules in their food prior to the trip and helps with the nausea. Our dogs are around 20 to 30 lbs. 1/2 capsule for the little guys and one for the big guys. They tend to outgrow the nausea and drooling once they've been out on the road for a while. Some love to travel, and other's hate it.