# One woman and her dog!



## HilaryB (Oct 10, 2013)

:wave:Hi, everyone - just got my first mini camper, and am looking forward to exploring lots of wild places, wher I can get away from "civilisation"! with my German Shepherd dog for company.Our idea of heaven is exploring a long beach in the Western Isles, with not a single footprint on it (except ours!) Pet hate - central London in Christmas week! Looking forward to hearing from all you dog lovers out there!


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## yorkslass (Oct 11, 2013)

hi,:wave::welcome::dog:


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## Smaug (Oct 11, 2013)

[No message]


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## saxonborg (Oct 11, 2013)

HilaryB said:


> :wave:Hi, everyone - just got my first mini camper, and am looking forward to exploring lots of wild places, wher I can get away from "civilisation"! with my German Shepherd dog for company.Our idea of heaven is exploring a long beach in the Western Isles, with not a single footprint on it (except ours!) Pet hate - central London in Christmas week! Looking forward to hearing from all you dog lovers out there!



Try the Kintyre peninsula, there are some really quiet beaches on the west coast.


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## Smaug (Oct 11, 2013)

saxonborg said:


> Try the Kintyre peninsula, there are some really quiet beaches on the west coast.



Yup, try a walk along Macrahinish, if you have a day or three to spare.


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## Deleted member 21686 (Oct 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## mariesnowgoose (Oct 11, 2013)

Hi Hilary, welcome to the forum :wave:


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## Blodwyn Pig (Oct 11, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forum.


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## carol (Oct 11, 2013)

Welcome. You've just got your camper and I've just got my dog! Hope we meet to swap notes! :dog:


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## onion (Oct 11, 2013)

:welcome:have fun


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## Deleted member 22727 (Oct 12, 2013)

Welcome,to you and your lovely,lovely best friend.


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## marymary (Oct 12, 2013)

Hello from me too and my doglet, I am just waiting to collect my Nu. Venture rio sand....woo hoo, what have you got?? :dog:


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## mandymops (Oct 12, 2013)

Welcome from one woman and her two dogs in a very very mini camper.:dog::dog:


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## Deleted member 19733 (Oct 12, 2013)

Hi and welcome to the forum, have fun.

:welcome::dog::have fun::camper:


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## Seahorse (Oct 13, 2013)

:welcome: from someone owned by a Border Collie.:lol-053:


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## HilaryB (Oct 17, 2013)

*Thank  you, everyone, for the warm welcome!*



carol said:


> Welcome. You've just got your camper and I've just got my dog! Hope we meet to swap notes! :dog:



Thanks to everyone, (especially all you dog lovers/owners) for such a warm welcome!.This is all very new to me, and I would be especially  interested in knowing what book I should buy , which lists dog friendly sites - or specific,wild, off the beated track places which  other "doggy " people have been to, and enjoyed. ( I plan to be a four season  campervanner!)I don't  have "Satnav" -do thers use this - and if so, which one do you recommend? Many thanks from Thor my GSD and I!


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## Smaug (Oct 17, 2013)

HilaryB said:


> Thanks to everyone, (especially all you dog lovers/owners) for such a warm welcome!.This is all very new to me, and I would be especially  interested in knowing what book I should buy , which lists dog friendly sites - or specific,wild, off the beated track places which  other "doggy " people have been to, and enjoyed. ( I plan to be a four season  campervanner!)I don't  have "Satnav" -do thers use this - and if so, which one do you recommend? Many thanks from Thor my GSD and I!



Just download the PoI's onto your sat nav & do a bit of research with Google earth, there are loads of suitable spots, just use your common sense. Most sites accept dogs, some welcome them & a few do not allow them. Most on here wild most of the time, but here is a web site for commercial sites with a list of what they offer, which can be a handy fall back if you are not happy with a particular wild spot for any reason.

There is no need to plane every stop, just pick an area & mark a few likely places & then explore. We often find a lovely spot around teatime & decide to stay the night, but sometimes you may need to check out 2 or 3 options later. But always keep your eyes open as you drive, you may well find something new for the database!


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## Philcott (Oct 17, 2013)

[No message]


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## kangooroo (Oct 17, 2013)

Sounds wonderful.  What sort of 'mini camper' do you have?


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## Deleted member 4850 (Oct 17, 2013)

Hi and welcome from one Hilary to another!

Me and my leggy Jack Russell have wilded at some wonderful remote beaches over the past few years and absolutely love it. Hope you enjoy the forum and maybe one day we will see one another's footprints in the sand! :wave:

Hilary from SW Scotland


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## phillybarbour (Oct 17, 2013)

Hi and welcome to this great site.


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## Smaug (Oct 17, 2013)

bodgerndog said:


> Hi and welcome from one Hilary to another!
> 
> Me and *my leggy Jack Russell *have wilded at some wonderful remote beaches over the past few years and absolutely love it. Hope you enjoy the forum and maybe one day we will see one another's footprints in the sand! :wave:
> 
> Hilary from SW Scotland



That's an oxymoron!! Our fudge is long bodied & short legged even for JR, but she loves the van. That's her back seat driving in my avatar.


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## Deleted member 4850 (Oct 18, 2013)

Smaug said:


> That's an oxymoron!! Our fudge is long bodied & short legged even for JR, but she loves the van. That's her back seat driving in my avatar.



Ah, well this is one of the so-called Parson's JRT's...rough haired, it's said they were bred to be long legged to run with horses. The term Parson's seems to be a licence to call anything terrier-like, piebald or skewbald and hairy a JRT.


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## whitevanwoman (Oct 18, 2013)

:welcome: from us, 2 dogs(1 big one similar size to GSD, 1 medium size), 1 cat and a big white transit van :dog:

No need for a sat nav if you have an Android phone - just install Google Earth and KMZL app (various threads on the forum about this) and then download the Google Earth POI file to your phone, and you can access the POIs from your phone anywhere (so long as you've got reception). Then you can zoom in close using Google Earth to see if a specific location is suitable for dogs ie not a layby on the side of the road.

I don't often use the POIs, I tend to find my own beforehand using Google maps on my computer, then save them to a map and then I use Google maps on my phone which has built in Navigation, does the job of sat nav without having to keep another device charged up. But having the POI as backup in case any of my proposed locations aren't suitable is a good safety net. edit : You can download a Google map to your phone for offline use in case you can't get mobile reception. 

No need to go all the way up to Scotland for some lovely long unspoiled beaches, there's loads on the Cumbrian coast and the Northumberland beaches are breathtakingly spectacular in any weather. 

In nearly 2 years with my van, I've spent a total of about 8 - 9 months in the van and haven't used a camp site yet. The dogs love life on the road, they are equally at home in the van as they are in the house, as is the cat. I tend to stay mainly in isolated places so that the cat can be free to roam - she likes to go off exploring and lets me know when she's back and wants to come in by scuttling round on the roof of the van. She tends not to go far and stays within earshot and usually comes when she's called but she has delayed a departure by half an hour or so on a couple of occasions when she hasn't reappeared when called!

Part of the fun of wild camping is not knowing where you're going to end up that night, and just going where fancy takes you. After a while you will find yourself making mental notes of a good overnight location that you pass when driving anywhere, storing it away for future reference.


:have fun:


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