Top Seven Best Tents for Camping with Dogs
Meta: Take your four-legged friend on the road with you comfortably with the right tent. These seven tents are perfect for camping with dogs.
What’s an adventure without friends? More importantly, what good is an adventure without your best friend?
There’s no need to leave your dog behind when you hit the trail. Whether you intend to hike to your campsite or stay near your vehicle, your dog wants to be right there with you. So why not bring your pal along for the ride?
To bring your dog, you’ll need the right tent. We reviewed the seven best tents for camping with dogs guaranteed to aid you both on an adventure that will only bring you closer.
How We Made Our Choice
We created a list based on the tent features that make the most sense when travelling with a pup. Our list reflects a preference for well-ventilated tents with durable materials to withstand both general camping and an excited dog’s energy.
The tents here also generally include large-sized tents, usually four-person and up. The choice means that the tent usually has a vestibule or a separate area for the dog, so everyone has their space.
Seven Best Tents for Camping With Dogs
If your dog loves adventure as much as you do, then you’ll want a tent that meets both your needs.
We included a mix of tents list, and we indicated the category by simply writing “human tent” or “dog tent” before the tent name.
Are you heading out to a stationary campsite for a week and want to bring along your favorite pup?
Don’t leave home without the Wenzel 8 Person Klondike Tent.
In a market where tents are increasingly smaller and lighter, Wenzel offers a house-size tent suitable for a week-long vacation.
The tent features two primary rooms: the interior and the vestibule. The vestibule is perfect for dogs because it accommodates as many as three people sleeping. You can easily set up a dog bed, store your gear, and still have room to maneuver your way around the tent.
The vestibule features a screen, so it’s well ventilated even on hot days. It also features roll-up windows in case the weather takes a turn for the worse.
We recommend the tent for small families with one or more dogs who need extra space. You can’t buy the peace that comes from having so much space. However, we don’t recommend it for severe weather or in exposed conditions. It weighs 27.3 pounds, and its large size means it catches in the wind.
The Kodiak Flexbow brings dog-friendliness to the table in a new way: with canvas walls.
Dog nails tear through nylon and lighter materials that keep tents easy to carry, construct, and sleep in. Canvas tents are water-tight, sturdy, and incredibly durable, making them a multi-season purchase.
The Flexbow is an eight-person tent put up with steel poles and warm in both summer and winter. There’s no vestibule or screen, so your dog will sleep inside the tent with you. However, given that it’s an eight-person tent, you have more than enough space for everyone.
Are you worried about ventilation? Kodiak built air vents into the tent to prevent everyone from overheating. However, the company also considered ventilation in its construction of the material. The Kodiak Flexbow’s canvas repels not only water but snow and wind, and the treatment keeps you warm and dry without suffocating you.
The Coleman Instant Darkroom Tent is a four-person, three-season tent that’s perfect for summer hiking. Its primary selling point is Coleman’s “darkroom technology,” which blocks the sun’s rays and heat from the sun.
We would choose this tent if you tend to camp in places with a high heat index or you need to pitch up in an exposed area without tree cover. It’s also ideal for big, hairy dogs that might be prone to overheating in a tent that traps heat during the day or overnight. Even if you are not camping, it could serve as a shelter for dogs when you’re out on an adventure.
Is the tent big enough for camping with dogs? Even though it is a four-person tent, it runs smaller than other tents. It also features a low ceiling, and only your dog will succeed in standing up once inside. However, you can fit a queen size mattress, so it should be comfortable enough for two people plus a dog.
Again, we would stress that the tent is best for car camping or camping in an exposed campsite. These are where the darkroom technology shines, and the tent weights 17 pounds, so it’s not suitable for hiking unless one of you dedicates your pack to the tent.
While most of the tents on our list include some weather-proofing features, the Coleman 6-Person WeatherMaster Tent is the one that takes severe weather seriously.
The tent is huge and offers a 6-foot 8-inch ceiling that almost anyone can stand up in. You can fit four people inside without a problem and a further two people in the screened vestibule.
Unlike other tents, the vestibule included on the Coleman WeatherMaster doesn’t include a floor. There are pros and cons associated with going floor-less. On the one hand, losing the floor means the tent is lighter, and your dog is less likely to make a mess when there’s no floor to track mud on. However, you also need to make sure you stake the tent securely because wily pups can squeeze under the tent to escape.
Finally, while Coleman’s WeatherTec system protects against storms, the floorless vestibule could present problems if the ground gets very wet. However, if you choose your spot well, you shouldn’t see too many issues. And it’s worth noting that although it is weather-proof, it is still a three-season tent and isn’t ideal for cold weather camping.
Our first dog tent offers the gold standard in dog tents, and other campers will know right away that you like to treat your dog to the finest things in life.
The ABO Dog Haus is a dog tent suitable for dogs up to 85 pounds.
It features one entrance but also includes three windows for proper ventilation. All vents also include a roll-down window to keep your dog warm and dry in poor weather. We also like the domed roof that encourages water run-off and prevents the tent from becoming soaked right away.
The Nemo Wagontop 4P Camping Tent is a family tent that suitable sleeps four people. We chose it because it features large screen windows on every side, which provides superior ventilation.
We wouldn’t recommend the tent for hiking or difficult weather conditions. Nemo creates its materials to feature the right combination of durability, weight, and performance, but the tent is heavy, around 26.5 pounds.
It is also better suited to sheltered campsites because it comes with standing height ceilings in each part of the tent. Standing height is always great when you’re changing or trying to move around other people, but it also makes it more susceptible to the wind.
Nemo tried to create a compromise by introducing stronger poles. The poles include intersection hub locks that connect each pole right to the body, which should stop the wind from impact the structural integrity of the shelter. At the same time, it still has to compensate for the consistent pitch of the tent.
Overall, we think the tent is great for families plus a dog or two near a campsite. However, the tent does not have a rainfly and set-up is not as intuitive as other tents on the market. So, you’ll want to make sure you set up this tent somewhere where you have the time and space to handle both the size and shape of the tent.
The NTK Indy GT is another six-person tent that’s suitable for housing four people and a canine.
A few of the features we like are the 8 x 8-foot sleeping area and the 6.2-foot ceiling height. However, the porch allows the tent to shine. The screened-in area can be a vestibule in the evening or become an awning during the day for a tent that’s versatile for every member of the family.
We also like the weather features added to the tent. The fabric is 190T polyester, which makes it waterproof. A waterproof tent is relatively standard today, but NTK went further and added a 2500mm rainfly to keep you dry all night. It also features a bathtub design to stop water from pooling, and the floor material is anti-fungal, which extends the life of your tent.
Don’t forget that high ceiling heights add convenience and comfort inside the tent, but you’ll need to stake it like a pro. You may need more stakes and guys to keep it tethered in the wind, particularly because the tent features vast side panels.
Coleman tents are economical choices, which makes them ideal for camping with dogs and why we include so many on our list.
The Cold Springs model is a basic tent that includes no frills, and as such, it is a good choice for setting up a temporary shelter or giving your dog a place to sleep while you sleep in your RV or another tent. It protects your pal from the elements including the sun, but it is vulnerable to bad weather, so prepare to invite your dog into your space if a storm rolls in.
When you buy this tent, you’ll get the WeatherTec system with protected seams, a tub floor, and a rainfly for keeping water out. Ventilation comes from the ground up via the ground vent, which Coleman says allows air to circulate. However, the tent can get stuffy, and does better in moderate weather.
The big sell is the front porch. Most manufacturers add the front porch as a fixed-position annex. Coleman allows you to retract or expand it on either side of the tent, which gives you more options in places where space is a concern. How does it work? Coleman made the front porch removable.
Although it might sound more complicated than other tents, it allows you to choose the side of the tent offers the most shade to help keep your pup cool.
Our big concern is ventilation. More ventilation is better when you camp with a dog, and we recommend it for smaller dogs unless you keep them in the porch.
How to Buy a Dog-Friendly Tent
Unless you intend to move into a tent with your dog for the next six months, you’ll find that not much differs between buying a tent for humans or finding one to share with your dog.
There are only three things you both need to be happy campers:
- Ventilation
- Thick floor material
- Easy maintenance
A well-ventilated tent is important for both of you, but you’ll truly notice the difference once you try to share your tent with a dog. Neither your nor your dog wants to smell anyone’s morning breath, and if either of you entered the tent wet and smelly, it could easily keep you up at night.
Instead of good ventilation, you might also consider a tent with a vestibule or a screened porch. It gives both of you more room to roll around and solves two of the other three problems dog-owning adventurers face: floor punctures and mud.
The thick floor material is essential for housing your dog because you won’t notice you have a hole in your tent floor until you stand in a puddle of water. You don’t need army-style tent thickness, and you will mitigate most of the problem if you trim your dog’s nails before hitting the trail.
Even still, dogs require more durability, so pull out a tent with a strong floor if you intend to invite your pup into the sleeping area.
Finally, you want a tent that’s easy to clean. Dogs track mud, shed, and can occasionally be a bit too playful and knock over drinks or food. It’s not only neat freaks who want this feature. Put away a dirty tent, and it will quickly become an unpleasant place to sleep thanks to mold and a very strong musty smell.
Beyond these three musts, the tent you choose largely comes down to who you intend to bring camping, where and when you go, and how you prefer to sleep.
