Travel Hack That 'Saved' Camping Trip With Dog Sparks Debate

Planning a camping trip and worried your dog might wander off into the woods? You can rest assured and keep your dog safe using this simple hack shared in a viral TikTok video.

The footage was posted on August 14 by @maggiepuppie, the TikTok account of a rescue pup called Maggie, and it had 6.1 million views at the time of writing. A message overlaid on the clip says: "Saw someone do this on TikTok and it saved our camping trip."

The footage shows an outdoor camping setup, where a dog is seen on a leash attached to a rope suspended between two trees. The pup is seen wandering around the camping grounds, with the leash moving along the rope as the pet moves.

A caption shared with the post, which was captured in Salt Lake City, Utah, reads: "Camping hack! Maggie gives it a 10/10."

Knowing how to keep your pets safe while camping is essential for many families as camping activity was reported to have "grown significantly over the past decade," forming around one-third (32 percent) of the leisure travel market, according to the 2023 North American Camping and Outdoor Hospitality Report.

The report, conducted by Kampgrounds of America (KOA), found that in 2022, 92 million American households identified as campers and 58 million households camped at least once. More than 6.4 million households camped for the first time, "well ahead" of the figure reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.

Some TikTokers criticized the original poster of the latest viral clip for keeping their dog on a leash, saying the owner should have trained the pet to return upon being called.

Walter Olson asked: "How about train your dog to stick around?" and user_5378 agreed, saying: "Why don't you just train your dog to come back when you call its name? This is just the lazy way of owning a dog."

Atreus noted: "How is [your] dog trained if he can't even be without leash."

However, veterinarian Dr. Preston Turano told Newsweek in July: "For the safety of your dog, other dogs, and people, it is best to keep your pet on a leash regardless of their breed."

Dog trainer Ali Smith from Rebarkable.com also told Newsweek in July that it is "down to an individual owner to be responsible about their dog" and understand the risks of not keeping their pet on a leash.

Other TikTok users praised the original poster for utilizing the latest hack on camping trips with dogs.

Halley Jobs said: "Yeah these 'just train your dog' comments are wild. My beagle would catch a scent and bolt. And yes, we've been to professional trainers..."

The original poster replied: "Yeah I don't think people understand that genetics/breed play a HUGE part. Like okay maybe your lab has a perfect recall but my friends Saint Bernard is very well trained and couldn't care less about treats/recall."

Hanna said: "...a leash is the safest for a pup no matter how well trained."

Carla Torrico Avilés agreed, noting: "GREAT idea! even if he's trained... it's a dog!! could be unpredictable!! safe and still he can move :) for those little moments u can need it."

Rebecca Crutsinger noted: "This is actually genius especially [because] dogs have to be on leash at sites..."

Chickadee said: "we do this, it makes camping so much more enjoyable!"

Carl Sayti noted that: "My dog would tangle on something and destroy the whole camp."

The original poster replied: "Hahaha oh no! Luckily mags isn't that big or strong yet."

Lunastireth warned: "Be careful around dense brush, almost lost a dog this way as a kid cause she got tangled and strangled herself. if camping, make sure it's open space," and user930060658077 added: "Make sure the leash can't reach any part of the fire..."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video hasn't been independently verified.

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