If you’re staying in Kawisakowe Lodge in either a bunkhouse (shared) room or a private room, there are some things that you should know, that will help make your stay (and the stay of those near you) a more pleasant one.

The walls are very thin (1/4" panels.) Sound carries throughout the building (so don’t talk about your neighbors—you might as well whisper it right into their ears.) Because the sound carries, there are several things that you can do to minimize the effect on peoples’ ability to sleep:

• Remove your dog’s jingling tags (or have the dog wear tag silencers or bring some rubber bands to wrap around the tags) at bed time.
• Keep your dog’s toenails clipped short, and don’t let him pace during the night (confine him in a crate or tether him to your bed.)
• Don’t let your dogs play after quiet time or during the night (confine him in a crate or tether him to your bed.)
• Run your fan for “white noise”, and to circulate the air in your room, whether or not your window is open.
• Use rugs in your room to help deaden the sound (they also help collect sand so it won’t get into your bed, and it also eliminates the toenail clicking sound.)
• Leave the sound deadeners hanging in your room (that’s what those panels are, that hang from the ceiling in the bunk rooms.)
• Don’t play a radio or television in your room (unless you have earphones.)
• Stop the chit-chat before 11:00 pm (quiet time)—people need their sleep, or they become cranky and irritable (and Lord knows we don’t want that!)
• If you must get up during the night, be very quiet, and use a small, dim light, that will not blind everyone else (don’t turn on the overhead light.) There are touch lights available for you to borrow, if you don’t have one with you. Just ask.
• Never leave your dog alone in the room if he will bark or whine in your absence (this goes for the daytime, too! It makes it hard to hear the lectures.)
• Keep your dog confined to his bed or crate at night (you don’t know what your dog is getting into after you go to sleep.)

Daytime considerations

Most of the night time practices work in the day, too.

• Don’t leave your dog unattended in your room, unless crated.
• Don’t let your dog roam freely while you’re not in the room (someone else could open the door, and your dog may bolt out)-- you never know when there will be a disagreement among the dogs in the room.
• Keep your dog OUT of the crates, bowls, toys, and beds of your roommates and their dogs.
• If your roommate is not following the recommended guidelines set forth, please report this to us.
• If your roommate is not sleeping in the room, please report it to us. (We had one camper sleeping in her car due to something we could have fixed with a simple room re-assignment.)
• Don’t groom or spray treatments/bug spray on your dog indoors (be courteous to those who are sensitive to purfumes and chemicals- it can cause serious medical issues for them.)

Rules for not losing your happy home:

We here at Dog Scout Camp reserve the right to send you home at any time for any reason, when we feel you are not following rules or that you are jeopardizing the safety or well-being of yourself, the environment or those around you. If we send you home, or if you leave on your own, you are not entitled to any form of refund whatsoever. Your camp tab will be charged to the credit card on file for the charges you have incurred before leaving.

• Do not cause harm to yourself, the environment or to others.
• You must clean-up after your dog (have baggies on you at all times, and pick up after your dog’s poop). If you groom your dog (even outside) you must clean-up the hair.
• You must wear your name tag (so that it is readable) at all times (this helps the staff and fellow campers to become familiar with your name.)
• You must help out with kitchen duty and cleaning chores on your designated day. You can decide among your fellow crew members who will do what part of the check-off list of duties.  Having campers help with meal prep, clean-up and minor camp maintenance (watering plants, sweeping, etc.) helps keep costs down because then we don't have to hire someone to do these things.  The camp belongs to DSA, so members should take pride in it's appearance.
• Because of the new rule of no dogs in the food line, you must have some way of confining your dog where it will be safe, and there will be no barking (a crate will be needed—or you will have to put your dog in your car) when you go through the food line.  Meal times are a great time for your dog to rest. 
• If you bring more than two dogs to camp, you must reserve a private room, or stay in your own tent or RV (enough people have abused the privilege of bringing additional dogs that we have increased the fee for additional dogs to $50.00 each.) We strongly suggest that you only bring one dog per person.
• If you let your dog off leash anywhere other than the fenced play area or agility field, you must have a reliable, instant recall and a flawless “leave-it.” Otherwise, you might want to bring a long line with you.  You are responsible for making sure no one gets rope burns or tripped!
• As a responsible dog owner, your dog must not leave your sight at any time unless they are crated or safely contained in your car (make sure it's not too hot!)
• Do not tie your dog to anything at any time (you were warned about this in the pre-camp correspondence). Bring a crate to confine your dog. If you disregard the crate rule, you can tether your dog to the bed at night, but during the day, we don’t want to find out that dogs were tied to anything, anywhere, for any reason.
• Be courteous to others. Inconsiderate or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated (this includes verbal abuse, tantrums, yelling, childish behavior, swearing, and general rudeness).
• You must clean your room or RV before leaving camp. If you leave your room a mess, you will not be allowed to use on-site housing in the future (you must stay in your own tent or RV, or in the motel).
• If you disobey one or more of the preceding rules, you may be warned, lose privileges, or be asked to leave camp. If you don’t think that you can conduct yourself as described above, then you should not come to camp.