Can I walk the camino with a dog?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Ivar Rekve — 20 Comments ↓

The question was:

Does anybody has expiriance about walking camino with the dog??? i want to take my dog with me. so most of the time i am going to sleep outdoor….well any sugestion, any expiriance will help. i do apriciate

Read all the good Dog advice in the Camino de Santiago forum here.

Tagged with: Dog
Posted in From the Camino de Santiago forum

Gabi

I bumped into a couple last summer who were walking the Camino with a dog. They did have a tent on them but they often stayed in hostels and just tied their dog up outside.
smartmorgan

Hi I only met one other Pilgrim last summer that had a dog, it was a tiny breed that needed to be carried for long sections, she also had a tent which she pitched in the alberge hostel garden. I think the problem with taking a large dog would be the extra weight of food and water to be carried – Bien Camino
Bob

Not fair to the dog….pads on paws will break down and would be difficult to keep dog hydrated.
michaelwalker

Last May and June (2010) I walked the Camino Frances. One man, A Spaniard carried a puppy with him he bought after his girlfriend left him. A couple walked with their medium sized dog. They let me know they had real troubles finding hostels (albergues) that would allow them in, one evening in a storm we talked about it in the front vestibule of a church during a storm. They stayed there that night under cover as they knew they would not get a place at the hostel in the next village. I remember many albergues with the NO PERRO (no dog) sign out the front. So it can be done but you need to carry a tent, maybe have shoes for your dog, track down food and be flexible. google “camino de santiago con perro” then copy the URL into google search and click on translate
Anonymous

Hi everybody,

I walked the camino from the south (sevilla) to santiago de compostella (via plata) with my Ridgeback Nala. It was a interesting experience after my caminos in 2007 and 2008 on the french way.
But its already very difficult with some people. Almost the hotels and albergues are not friendly with dogs. In this case I would never walk in spain with my dog again in the next ten years.

Follow this link to one of my via plata videos on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dceJ5yh6T7Y

enjoy

and

buen camino

Nala and Max
Lee Woodhouse

Hi there, I wanted to do the walk with my dogs but reading the comments I’m having second thoughts….
- http://www.caminodesantiago.me Ivar
  
  Hi Lee,
  
  Have a look at this thread as well:
  http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic5430.html…it is not easy to walk with a dog, but it can be done with some planning.
  
  Buen Camino!Ivar
http://www.longwalking.com/ grandonneur

Carney, our terrier mutt, grabbed her leash and took me for
a walk the other day, and it got me thinking about dogs I’ve met on the Camino… These were my thoughts: http://bit.ly/xjja0n
Sozz7

You will have many problems trying to stay in hostels, but i really like the idea of taking a dog
sarah driscoll

i have just come back from walking the camino. In spain from Sarria you walk through many farm yard with dogs running around, and some of them did not look very friendy (and half starved) and often there were cows being moved from milking sheds into fields, so perhaps as tempting as it sounds, not a very good idea and when you get in Santiago you cant take dogs into the Cathedral
Gaia Walker

Depends, there were dog tombs outside of Saint-Jean PDP and on some of the stretches you need to walk on the paved road, and in summer it may be too hot for your dog’s feet and they may be burned. I wouldn’t recommend it though. Do think from your dog’s point of view…
Frank Denies

Yes, but take a tent.
http://profiles.google.com/glennbeatonn glenn beaton

I walked it last April. I’d say bringing a dog is not such a great idea. There are a few stretches where local dogs are unfriendly;
you’re likely to have trouble with getting a room or hostel that will take a dog (sometimes it’s hard just to get one to take you alone);
it’s another medical issue to worry about (and you’ll have enough medical issues with yourself, believe me;
it limits your sightseeing (where’s the dog go when you want to take a couple hours looking around a cathedral?); and
not everyone in the world welcomes a strange dog running down the trail at them.
In an entire month, don’t think I saw even one pilgrim with a dog.
griet

i just did the camino with my dog. it’s sometimes very hard… but i had a realy goog camino. i slept all the time in the tent, so you have a different camino then the other perigrinos. It s very importent to bring little shoes for your dog, i had also a backpack, so she couls carry her own food ans water.
if you have questions you can contact me griezzz@gmail.com
YOLO

Please tell me people but what breed is this dog??????
Ptica

I was first time this year and I met one woman from Holland with a dog But he slept every day in her camper.
http://www.facebook.com/gabriela.picasso Gabriela Picasso

If you love your dog, let him at home. You can choose to walk the Camino, but it’s your own choice not his choice. He can’t do anything else than follow you.
Las Aguedas

I Love dogs, but I would not recommended to walk the Camino with them, specially if you are doing it in summer. Too hot and hard for both of you
Tim

Just walked the camino with our dog this winter, it was great, Galicia was a bit hard to sleep in the albergues but in the end there is always a solution. You can read the post s of our blog. Http://jackflap.com/2013/01/20/the-winter-camino-diaries-the-way-of-lewis/
antonio

hi. plz i need to know the gender of that dog in the picture

Can I walk the camino with a dog?

Camino Frances

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