I believe that vast majority of dog owners on this board are very considerate campers, and go to just as many "lengths" as you say that you do to make sure that our pets do not disturb people.
Amen!
I've been lurking on this thread and staying out of the fray, but we are also amongst those "considerate campers" that go out of our way to make sure our dogs aren't disturbing our neighbors - doing many of the very same things you all mention, including making sure we schedule all our days so that we have time in the morning to get some good exercise in so they're all quite tired and ready for a nap.
And even though it cuts into our park time, because we think it's so important, we do test runs the first couple of days to ensure the system is working and we never leave them for more time than we know they can handle (6 hours ish) And even if we're pooped at the end of the day, we play with them when we get back at night so that they get plenty of fun time too.
We also make sure to check with our neighbors and ask them to tell us if they're making a ruckus. So far, in 9 weeks at FW over the past 5 years, no complaints!
We try and be as conscientious as possible at the dog park too - keeping our crazy border collies entertained with their jolly ball away from where the little dogs are playing (BCs have blinders on when their ball is in play!) We also have one dog we know wouldn't do well at the dog park because he doesn't greet new dogs well. He doesn't mean any harm, but we never want to subject anyone else's dog to his shenanigans. So despite it being double the work, while DH takes the girls to the dog park, I take our "special boy" to the canal dog walk. Everyone gets their exercise, then they all happily load up into their crates with their frozen chew toys, we flip on the AC or fan and
their TV (which we bought specifically to mount at their end of the camper), close the blinds, and slip out the door.
Yes, it all means more work, but for us, it's part of being responsible pet owners and if we're going to bring them with us camping, we need to be sure they get what they need to be good neighbors too.
It took us a little time to work out a system, but it's definitely worth the effort, as we now have dogs that we can camp with for weeks at a time and everyone is happy - our neighbors included!
There are always a few bad apples out there, and we probably all have our stories of the all-day/night yapper, but in my experience most campers at FW are considerate, responsible pet owners. And when it comes to this forum, I've seen lots of good questions asked by first time pet campers and lots of great advice given.
