Small Pets

I go camping with my small dogs all the time. I take them with me on hikes. The only trail I've ever not been able to take them was the Pacific Crest Trail.
I think the dog for you is an Italian Greyhound ;)
They are 25 mph couch potatoes. The negative for camping is that most people find them unreliable off lead. I let mine off lead all the time - but I also work her recall every day without fail.
Second negative for your lifestyle is that they "break easily". Mine does amazing athletic feats and has never broken. But, I was holding another IG and dropped him on a bed - and his leg broke! But, I built up Tari's bones/muscles with walks from a young age.
One advantage/disadvantages for you is that they are litter box/potty pad trainable. Tari does her business in the winter on potty pads (IGs have little hair and no fat, so they don't like to go outside in the cold.) This is actually really nice, once you get over the icky thought of a dog pooping in your house - I can take her to hotels and camping, or leave her locked in a room if I have guests with a potty pad down. Don't misunderstand me, I spoil my dogs, I don't leave her locked up! and, this is the same as you'd have with a cat, rabbit, etc.
I would guess that there are other "toy" dogs that might fit what you want (a Yorkie? I have a friend with a Boston Terrier that is a little dynamo). Please avoid "teacup" dogs.
I don't think there is any pet you could just leave in a tent, but there are some little dogs that you can take with you and can sleep in a tent just fine. I have Tari (Italian Greyhound - 12 lbs), Murphy (20lb mutt, who Tari can stand over), Finn (22 lb Mutt). I take them all many places with me.

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

oh that's terrible. Forcing people to declaw their cats? I couldn't live there. Sheesh.

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First time I've noticed that in THIS lease, it is, however, a common lease requirement for every complex I've lived in for the last decade. I have not seen one since I moved to Indianapolis that did not have it and I tried to find one that did not. Having it, and enforcing it, are two different things. I've never seen it enforced or even asked. I think it is there in case your cat does damage from scratching though I can't imagine why it would be considered necessary since they all charge such high pet deposits. I paid over a deposit that was more than $500 at my last apartment.

Frankly this will be my last lease renewal here, I will have 17 months to save up and consider where to move next time (there is an advantage to such a long lease, plus I HATE to move). Someplace where I can still ride to my beloved country roads and that will have lower rent. At least that is my plan. I have to stay in the county to keep my job as I am a local government employee, it is a matter of a local ordinance.

There is a local pet rescue that takes in many types of pets, this includes small mammals and birds. I think that I will visit them and see what I think. I am leaning toward a set of parakeets or love birds, but we will see. I had them as a girl, and have wanted them as an adult - but not with a cat around. No rush, but I've time to consider my options,

TS Poet, that is interesting about the Italian Greyhound - wouldn't have considered training a dog to use a pad. I had forgotten that my sister's little Maltese used to do that when she was younger. I do like little Corgis, and love hounds, but I don't think they are suited to life in a small apartment - they are working dogs.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

I am really not a dog-person, though I like other people's dogs well enough. After being bitten earlier this year I find they make me a bit nervous. A bird, or pair of them, might be a good choice - and probably easier to find a sitter if I can't make food/water arrangements for them to be alone every other weekend in the summer. I do like parakeets, and they are not expensive. Get a pair of them to keep each other company for when I am not home...

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I also have budgies (parakeets) and love them. They take a lot of work to tame - only get 1 if you want a tame one. You can get a second after a few months. They have the advantage that you can just go away for a weekend, leave them food and water and they'll be fine. They have the disadvantage that they are smart - too smart to leave sitting in a cage. It breaks my heart when people treat them like fish. Birds (all kinds) need at least 1 hr/day out doing something active. I don't clip wings, let them fly loose in my house. Mine are tame and like to ride around on my shoulder (nothing like sitting "on the pot" and have something zoom around the corner to land on your head because you were out of sight and they had to find you). I had a budgie years ago (my heart pet to this day) that had a 50+ word vocabulary. He lost his ability to fly as he got older and used to flutter down from his cage and run around after me instead of fly.
All of my current budgies are rescues and only 1 is somewhat tame. I have a large flight cage with 6 birds flying around. It's a lot of work to keep it clean - birds are very messy. I also have a Mayer's parrot - who is completely tame and has eaten much of the wood work in my house. He gets 2 hrs out every night - not necessarily 1 on 1 attention that he really needs, though.
Pets are a lot of work.
You could clip the wings of a parrot and bring them with you many places, but you couldn't leave them in a tent. I do leave my birds for up to 3 days a few times a year - with a waterer and food they don't need anyone to come in and take care of them.

I used to bike with my Maltese in a pack on my back. He loved it. He was a good apartment dog too - the only downsides were 1) health problems and 2) monthly (at least) groomer visits.

I would not, however, train a dog to use pads. Our experience was that it took longer to house train, and our dogs got really confused - they thought it was OK to go anywhere in the house if they could go in one spot. I know our experience is unusual - I just wanted to throw it out there.

This is how portable an adult IG can be (LOL)
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...71202019_n.jpg

and how active they can be
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3781193_n.jpg

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Originally Posted by Blueberry

I would not, however, train a dog to use pads. Our experience was that it took longer to house train, and our dogs got really confused - they thought it was OK to go anywhere in the house if they could go in one spot. I know our experience is unusual - I just wanted to throw it out there.

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I think it's very breed specific. Lots of toy dogs are potty pad trained - the smaller dogs often don't like to go out as much and they have smaller bladders (supposedly, don't know how true this is). When I wanted to switch Tari to going outside when she was a puppy, I just moved the potty pad a few feet toward the door every other day, then out the door, then onto the lawn. She figured it out very quickly.
My other 2 do their business 100% outside. I was afraid Tari's potty pads might un-housebreak one of them, but didn't happen.

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Originally Posted by TsPoet

I also have budgies (parakeets) and love them. They take a lot of work to tame - only get 1 if you want a tame one. You can get a second after a few months. They have the advantage that you can just go away for a weekend, leave them food and water and they'll be fine. They have the disadvantage that they are smart - too smart to leave sitting in a cage. It breaks my heart when people treat them like fish. Birds (all kinds) need at least 1 hr/day out doing something active. I don't clip wings, let them fly loose in my house...Pets are a lot of work....

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Indeed they are! Love the pictures of your little dogs :) Also good to hear that budgies could be left alone for 48-50 hours or so, I will be away from home every other weekend this summer. I like the idea of a pair of them so they can keep each other occupied when I am not home. I will likely wait until the season starts winding down though. I want to take my time deciding what and who to get, but then I would want to spend a lot of quality time with the animal(s) before I started leaving them for the weekend on a regular basis. I know how to deal with cats, they have been my only pet for 40 years...

Tell me about how smart budgies are. When I was a girl we had a pair (Fifi and JoJo) who became really good at opening the door to their cage so my parents had to get really creative those times that we wanted them to stay in the cage.. My parents took the cage outside one day, however they didn't secure the door well OR they figured out how to "unsecure" the door...and that was the last we saw of them :(

I was only 8 years old at the time but I still remember them well!

You CAN also play with fish!

We had tiger barbs that loved to chase the laser pointer and for a while we had a huge goldfish that my daughter trained to sit in her hand (in the water). Probably not what you had in mind though.

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Originally Posted by malkin

You CAN also play with fish!

We had tiger barbs that loved to chase the laser pointer and for a while we had a huge goldfish that my daughter trained to sit in her hand (in the water). Probably not what you had in mind though.

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+1. Someday I hope we stop moving around so much so I can set up an aquarium again.

We had to find new homes for our budgies when my sister developed allergies. I can't remember if she specifically tested positive for them, or if the doctor just told my mother to get rid of anything that might be generating dust or dander.

Birds are particularly sensitive to temperature/sun/drafts/humidity changes. I don't think birds should be taken camping. Actually, I'd be leery about taking any animal camping if you are going off hiking and leaving the animal unattended in a campsite. There are some weird people out there- is it really fair to leave an animal vulnerable to unknown strangers passing by?
So then if not a dog, and not leaving it unguarded in a tent, what animal could you actually take hiking up a mountain with you...bumping around in your pocket or backpack for hours?

I sympathize with your yearning for a pet, but taking pets tent camping is perhaps not safe or fair to them. We should consider the quality of life we can offer to the animal as well as our own needs.
I'd suggest getting the kind of pet that doesn't mind being left alone for a week or two (maybe leave a soft radio on for a warm blooded pet). I used to get a lot of fun and satisfaction from various small creatures as pets- mice, turtles, hamsters, snakes, rabbits, tarantulas (don't laugh, they are fascinating!), fish, finches, crayfish, toads, praying mantids, etc etc.
Even a Venus flytrap plant can be an interesting kind of 'pet'. All these creatures will 'interact' with you, maybe not always on an emotional level.

We had a parakeet when I was a teen (he was my brother's pet) that lived for quite awhile and was almost never in the cage, til we got a cat. Kiwi would sit on the piano while we practiced, sit on the end of a pencil if I was doing homework (he was much heavier than you'd expect!) and sit in my mom's hair and pull out her bobby pins.

Mom has a cockatoo now that is much more obnoxious than I think you'd want (it's like having the loudest "terrible twos" toddler you can imagine) but you may want to consider a cockatiel. Much cheaper than the larger parrot class of birds, won't live to be 50, but a little more interactive than a budgie.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

Birds are particularly sensitive to temperature/sun/drafts/humidity changes. I don't think birds should be taken camping. Actually, I'd be leery about taking any animal camping if you are going off hiking and leaving the animal unattended in a campsite. .....

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I gave up the idea of taking a pet camping due to the heat of the tent, etc. I am actually normally only gone two days at a time, and don't think it would be a problem to have a friend check on a couple of birds for me :) That being said, I am going to visit a local rescue that has every kind of animal imaginable to see what I think. I can research all I want, but actually spending some time with different animals mean a lot. I am leaning strongly in the bird direction, but whatever I do wind up getting won't be a quick process.

Birds can go at least a weekend on their own. Our three budgies do fine, and last weekend (Fri AM to Mon. evening) didn't even notice the spray millet I left them. Their current hobby is a stale bagel.

If you end up with birds, train them to drink from a water bottle with a tube. Way easier to keep clean than a poopie dish!

Also Vision cages are the best!

Thanks Malikin, that is good to know!

There is a local rescue with several love birds they've had for awhile, they are beautiful! I am not in a rush though, and I want to set aside a little "pet fund" before I set about deciding who, and what, to give a forever home. I have never been a believer in taking on a pet quickly.

Also, thanks for the cage recommendation, they look nice and aren't all that expensive! I've thought about getting birds before, but always had a cat around so always set it aside.