Siena & Kathleen Posted June 26, 2000 Report Share Posted June 26, 2000 We're going on a canoe trip later this summer and Siena will go too. Our neighbors have a canoe and I just started teaching Siena to do sit/stay in the canoe. Any advice and experience with this type of thing? She's never been in deep water, so until I know she can swim we'll probably use a life jacket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted June 26, 2000 Report Share Posted June 26, 2000 Just a quick bit of advice... Dogs shoulders do not work like ours - they cannot pull themselves up a bank, but need to walk up...I used to live on a houseboat and at least one dog a year drowned at the marina because people didn't pay attention and assumed since their dog was a good swimmer it was ok - never realizing the poor thing couldc't pull itself back up onto the dock it jumped off of... So, a life jacket is a good idea even when you know she can swim... ------------------ Bill Gary Kensmuir, Working Stockdog Center River Falls, WI 715.426.9877 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol Posted June 26, 2000 Report Share Posted June 26, 2000 Hi I had a BC that we would take fresh water kayaking/canoeing and she loved it. We used a life vest at all times on her, just in case we capsized but it never happened. I have a 5 month old pup and we took her to a nearby lake and went canoeing with her over the past weekend. It was her first time, but we only went for 20 minutes to get her use to it. 10 minutes on dry land and 10 minutes in the water. But I would never let herjump off the canoe, regardless of how much she wanted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted June 26, 2000 Report Share Posted June 26, 2000 I've taken my dog canoeing several times (including a 3-day river trip) and he did great. In fact, it surprised me how quiet he could be (physically - mentally he was on high alert the whole time, watching everything go by). You just have to have a solid sit or down/stay, and you said you were already working on that so you should be in good shape. I also use the "leave it" command to let him know that no matter how enticing the various critters he sees along the way are, he's not allowed to go after them. I never let him jump out of the boat except when we were safely alongside shore and I gave him the OK. After doing so well in the canoe, I eventually invited him onto the back of my kayak (flatwater, not whitewater variety) and he rides there quite happily and has never caused me to tip over. There were a few times when he fell asleep and slid off onto the water - and gave me an incredibly dirty look when he re-surfaced! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siena & Kathleen Posted June 27, 2000 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2000 I just hope that Siena's calmer in a moving canoe than she is in a moving car. The fast moving car world causes much drool and panting. Thanks for the advice about the life jacket. We'll buy one today and start getting her used to it for this weekend. S&K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heath Posted June 30, 2000 Report Share Posted June 30, 2000 Hi Kathleen, We took Monty on a 5 day canoe trip when he was only 6 months old, and he did really well. He has a good sit/stay and would sit at my husbands feet(at the stern) during the entire trip. Like others, we would never let him jump out of the canoe-more for our sakes than his! (he does however, jump out of the Zodiac when we give him th OK, as we paddle toward shore from our boat - and he loves it! We were really quite surprised to see how much he loves the water- Does anyone know if this is typical to this breed? I haven't read about it anywhere? Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siena & Kathleen Posted July 10, 2000 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2000 Well, our first canoe experiment was a success! We started out on the bank with water familiarization. Siena's okay in shallow water, but doesn't want to go in deep yet. We had a water frisbee (on a long rope) that she was supposed to chase. She'd go halfway to get it, but wouldn't take the plunge. We'll give her time to get used to it. For the canoe part, she sat pretty well. She preferred to stand which was really okay as long as she was still. We kept her leash tied to her life jacket and kept a fairly tight reign. We'll definately do this again. Thanks for all the tips. Siena & Kathleen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Posted July 20, 2000 Report Share Posted July 20, 2000 I'm not a boating person; but, I would imagine it's not good to let your dog stand in a moving object. What if you get a faster craft and she has this habit? Maybe she wants something softer to sit on. You could get a piece of foamy for your next trip and see if that helps.... But, maybe she just wants a better view of the scenery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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