Overnight camping with our dog Sox in Malaysia

Sox going for an overnight camping for the very first time

Finding a place to go camping with a dog in Malaysia is really tricky. A suitable place needs to be safe, campers friendly and away from people who may find dogs offensive. Sox is more than a pet to us. She is part of our family and it is only natural that we want to try to bring Sox for a camping trip. So we found a place…but things did not turn out as ‘rosy’ as the TV series Lassie.

We found an Orang Asli village near Temerloh. I spoke to a villager before the trip and he agreed to ‘rent’ one of his jungle huts to us and our dog. I am surprised that he wasn’t apprehensive about a stranger bringing in a dog into his property. He said as long as it is not one of them huge guard dogs, he is fine. I guess he must be referring to a Rottweiler.

Well, we certainly had a lot of expectations. We have brought Sox out for jungle walks and such. She seems to be very friendly towards strangers. The only thing she can’t stand is motorbikes. She even barks at me when I go off to work on my Honda motorbike. I packed most of the camping gear and Meun packed most of Sox’s stuff. Her favorite chewy, dog biscuits and of course…leash.

Sox coiled up at the back of the car

As usual, we departed at ridiculously early morning, 5am to be precise. Sox sensed something ‘big’ was about to happen. With all the packing and her leash gone from its usual place she followed us like our shadow around the house the night before. That and probably also because we did not feed her dinner. No dinner means no pooh the next day. Can’t have Sox doing her business in the car. Learnt that the difficult way once.

Our jungle hut was situated at the fringe of a rubber estate. The owner’s house was about 200meters away. Better still, the hut is about 1.5m above the ground. The moment we got there, Sox was pulling on the leash so hard. She was like ‘let me go…let me go…I wanna go roam this place!’. We looked at each other and agreed that we need to give Sox a go at roaming the place without the leash on. After all, what is camping when you are chained up?

Meun took a deep breath and took the leash off. Ziiinnnng and Sox was off. Chasing her imaginary squirrel. I swore Meun froze for a minute just watching Sox go. Sox ran and ran…then suddenly she stopped. Probably realizing we were not chasing her (which we would normally do if the leash accidentally came off), she turned around and sprinted back to us!! She came back! Like proud parents watching their little baby walk for the first time, both of us knelt down with open arms to receive Sox. Zoooom she ran pass both of us. She did her ‘avoid them’ maneuver just in time to avoid our arms. Off she went around the corner. We lost sight of her. The few seconds felt like forever. I called out for Sox. Then…from the corner, Sox came charging at us again. I could sense her joy being so free! This went on for about 5 minutes…until one of the local villages came on a motorbike.  Sox went berserk! The hair behind her back stood up and she chased and barked at the villager. Ever felt like something bad is going to happen? Well, multiply that ten times and that was how we felt. Meun froze, I guessed I must have fainted cause honestly, I can’t remember what happened after that!

So…the leash went back on. We were too frightened that Sox’s relentless barking at motorbikes would cause an accident. We decided to put Sox on a long leash. Well, it ain’t as cool as running free but at least she gets to roam around (more).

We obviously upset Sox. We can see it in her eyes. 5 minutes with the leash on, she decided to put a pity face and lie down on the ground. Following me closely wherever I go.

Sox ‘merajuk’, coiling beside me while I build our camp fire

Sox gave us the cold shoulder and decided that a bunch of old coconuts are better than us

Meun and myself were both relieved but at the same time sad that we had to ‘chain’ Sox up.  We spent the rest of our camping day there with Sox on a long leash. Occasionally we will let her loose again and go through the entire ‘grab her quick’ scene whenever we hear a motorbike coming from a distance. At other times, we would have Sox with us in the hut.

Sox helping Meun prepare dinner

When we are all huddled in the hut and there is a sound of an approaching motorbike, Sox would leap up and headed towards the door to have a look. ‘Grrr…..grrrrr…woof…woof’ she would bark at the sound of the motorbike, even when it is still a distance away. Me and Meun could just watch in disbelief.

Sox checking out the motorbike passing by the jungle hut

Me and my 'dog-ther' watching the world from the door of our jungle hut

Well, bringing our dog Sox for a camping trip here was a really good idea but obviously Sox had ‘ideas’ of her own. Besides yearning to run wild and free, she also found the flies and other insects very entertaining. She doesn’t seem to enjoy the bumpy car ride too much but like all things, after awhile one would get used to it.

We all got back to K.L about 11pm and the moment we arrived home, Sox went straight into the house, upstairs, into our bedroom and onto our bed. There is no way for us to remove her from the bed now. She slept and slept and slept. Sleeping is probably the only thing she did for the next two days besides eating and nature calls. We reckon her first camping trip has been a blast for her…either that or she is recovering from the long driving hours. We the dog-parents are just glad that Sox had her first real ‘roam free’ (well…almost) outing and we all came back home safely.