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Has anyone taken their bc on a canoe float down a river? not sure what to think about it but kindof wanted to try it unless experienced voices of wisdom caution me not to...

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Francisca took a couple of rides a while ago, but it took us a while to have her feel comfortable. She wouldnt even dare to walk all the way to the boat through the dock. But then she learned that on the other side of the lake she was allowed to jump off the boat and swim to the shore.

We haven't done it again, that was a particular vacation, and the only way to arrive to the house was with boat. I guess if it was on a regular basis, she would love it as much as a car ride! (It took us at least three weeks to have her comfortable in the car, now she just loves it!)

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1. does you dog like to swim (or has practiced swimming?)

2. is your dog ok with walking on moving things?

3. do you have awesome voice control over your dog?

4. if you do all go overboard, will you be close enough to shore cuz I don't see it being easy to get the dog back in, esp if the dog was the one wanting to get out :rolleyes:

5. I hope you are experienced canoers yourselves to help balance any sudden dog movements.

6. Is your dog prone to chasing wildlife - and may do so from the boat?

 

I highly suggest shoreline practice runs. Positive that my dogs who don't like the teeter in agility would hate it.

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I've had BC's on boats of various kinds from large sail to dinghies. IN that respect I only have one thing to say. A good quality life jacket is imperative.

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1. does you dog like to swim (or has practiced swimming?)

2. is your dog ok with walking on moving things?

3. do you have awesome voice control over your dog?

4. if you do all go overboard, will you be close enough to shore cuz I don't see it being easy to get the dog back in, esp if the dog was the one wanting to get out :rolleyes:

5. I hope you are experienced canoers yourselves to help balance any sudden dog movements.

6. Is your dog prone to chasing wildlife - and may do so from the boat?

 

I highly suggest shoreline practice runs. Positive that my dogs who don't like the teeter in agility would hate it.

 

Hmm, She wades, and hasn't ever been in over her head.

 

She jumps up on the waterbed from time to time, but I think that is different.

 

not necessarily.

 

Shore is never more than 8 feet away usually, deep spots we long for are usually far and few between, we luck out if we find a nice still deep spot for actual swimming.

 

I think we are pretty well experienced. I've taken babies and toddlers before with no problems. (It's not like white water rafting... this is slow and boring compared to that...LOL.

 

She isn't into chasing wildlife. She loves dead stuff though... got to get a good sniff of all road kill we come across...shudders...

 

Thanks for the checklist.

 

I am planning on doing a trial at the local lake if I can borrow a canoe from my friend this week. My basic concern will be keeping her cool enough if she doesn't want to "swim" and only will wade in the shallows, but it is going to be a pretty cold river. (Bennett Spring, MO) Not a lot of shade. If it doesn't work out, she will just have a boring few hours in her kennel in an air conditioned inn...

 

Hopefully, Bess will be adaptable enough to roll with the punches, she is pretty much game for alot of stuff. (that doesn't include cutting nails & bathtubs.) One of these days, that girl doggy of mine will be flying in a powered hang glider like the clip posted several months back of the guy using the powered hang glider to get to his sheep quickly and let the dog hop out and move them, or in a powered parachute... if all goes well...LOL that is my daydream of combining DH passion with mine.

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Fergie isn't usually crazy about swimming, but she can swim.

 

She loves to ride in the canoe. I'm in the front, Chuck's in the back, and Ferg's in the middle. She's quite good about sitting still, although she does change position on a long paddle.

 

We have some quiet areas on Jordan Lake that we like. No Wake zones and places where big motor boats and jet skis aren't allowed. We have also taken her on the river by Beaufort, NC, and out to carrot Island. And we've taken the canoe & kayak "trail" from Hammock's Beach State Park (NC) out across the Intercoastal Waterway to Bear Island. All these, many times.

 

As much as she's fascinated by deer and other woodland animals - and as much as he jumps up and barks whenever we pass horses on a drive, she has sat quietly while we've paddled past deer, herons, cormorants, beaver - and the wild horses on Carrot Island.

 

Her only problem is getting in and out of the canoe. She won't do it from a dock - has to be on the edge of the shore. We only wish she could handle a paddle. After all, she is a border collie.

 

Big caveat: We do not do anything even remotely related to white water canoing. Nice quiet water.

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I have done a lot of canoeing with Sophie. She is very active in a canoe, and she loves to put her front paws on the gunwales to check everything out. This requires a canoeist skilled enough to easily counterbalance those shifts in weight. Also, Sophie is a good swimmer when she needs to be, but even in flat water she wears a puppy PFD. This is for her safety just in case, but it is also because it has a handle in the back, so we can pull her back in the boat if need be.

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Hi!

 

We just assumed our newer dog would be okay in a canoe, we are both experienced canoes. They both have life jackets. The older dog is a pro at all boats. After a two and a half day drive and two days of a wedding we all got into our canoe for an 8 day back-country canoe trip in Northern Saskatchewan (the dogs hadn't been for a good walk for 5 days, highly out of the ordinary - and the younger dog, Rock, had never been in a boat). I suppose it was a risk going all that way, but was he going to refuse to get into the boat? To get to our first portage (of many) we had to traverse a lake of white caps and we had to zig zag - the dogs started to pace back and forth along the top of our gear, passing each other, fortunately they both have a strong "Lie Down", which we had to remind them of every 10 minutes or so. After the first day and some fun swimming they slept belly up on top of our gear with us dropping wet bandanas on there stomachs. We ended coming home a day early because the dogs seem to lose weight after the first two days so we started suplimenting their food with pasta, rice and hot cereal. Hence we ran out of food :rolleyes: It was the best trip we have ever done, the weather was great, we hardly saw a sole and it is magnificent scenery.

 

Now we canoe a few times each week in the evenings after work. We fish and the dogs hide under my feet at the bow, I paddle facing the stern while my husband fly fishes (the dogs fear the rod). Then we put the rods away and let the dogs swim and sniff and do what dogs do (not what I expected of Border Collies).

 

My advice is life jackets, they don't wear them unless the weather is bad or if they are tired. And a really good first aid kit that includes quick-stop in case they scrape their nails to the quick.

 

We have taken the dogs on slow moving rivers in the canoe. I think rivers are different, we all don our life-vests for that and I wonder if there are other precautions you can take on a faster moving river? A dog can't grab a throw rope...

 

Anyway - good luck - and thanks for giving me an opportunity to share one of the best trips we have ever done.

 

Kyna

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Just wanted to come back and give an account for how it went. (in case anyone else new to the breed & dogs in general wonders.)

 

Bess wasn't thrilled, but she did alright. I wasn't able to find a canoe and friend to help do a trial run with so it was cold turkey for her.

 

We started out in the front of the canoe, but that was harder to manage watching ahead for submerged trees and rocks and manage her to begin with, so about half way through, DH and I traded seats, even though it is harder to steer from the front. When we were about to go through a place that needed 2 peoples' careful attention, I would make her sit between my legs and squeeze just hard enough so she would not wiggle or shift weight much. That seemed to calm her in general unless she needed a potty break, then nothing would calm her except to stop and let her find the perfect potty spot.

 

The majority of the time she sat there and worried about our kids and other people in our group behind us or beside us. She got restless toward the end and we had to stop more frequently so she could get out and run around a bit and play in the water. (The boys didn't help .... they thought it was funny to call her to them when they came up close and she couldn't figure out how to jump out of the canoe by herself.) The handle on the life jacket was worth the trouble and cost of the thing by itself! LOL.

 

A shorter trip would have been better (3 hour maybe). But I am very proud of her for doing so well. She was very happy to see the truck and hop in for a much needed nap at the end.

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Not a canoe, I realize, but close...I have a plastic Backwater 7.5 rowboat from CSL Plastics that I throw in the back of my pickup truck (it weighs under 50 pounds, even with the custom oars, and costs under $900 Canadian). Annie dons her flotation vest, and into the jump seat of the truck she goes. I row and fish; she has a grand time sitting up front and playing lookout, navigator, and warning device to any other fishermen who approach us. She does not try to jump out of the boat, even when I am launching it. We both love the boat; it is so well contructed that even if it fills with water with us in it, it will not sink. (If you order it on-line, they even deliver it directly to your home.)

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We take both of our dogs canoeing. What I have found really helpful is the 'go to mat' command and before I took our bc out this summer, I actually spent a couple of afternoons practising in our yard. If your dog has a solid 'go to mat', you can easily move the mat from the ground to the canoe and he/she will stay there. I also used the clicker to teach 'in the canoe' command and practised just sitting in the canoe while rocking it from side to side in our yard (no doubt to our neighbors' great amusement). Only then we took it out on a lake. Enjoy!

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