I read through some of the older threads.
We have a twenty month male Aussie Luka that we got at a year old that we are trying to train since our beloved dog Koa had to be put down.
Koa grew up with pools and we knew he was good swimmer and loved the water. He would get so excited about the kayaks but swim after us through the surf 
He would sit in the kayak in the yard hoping to go.
He was an old fatty so we never took him.
The new dog came from a horse ranch and has never swam so we usually put a life jacket on him until we saw he wanted to swim.
We started out getting him to jump in and out on command. We paddle along the shore and let him get used to going to private beaches for a run around. Mostly just trying to make it a good experience before getting too aggressive.
He began facing us so we can talk to him and he sees us and now he rides facing the bow.
I might try him on the deck just for fun and see how he balances. He is not spazzy at all. He whines in the canoe because he wants to be with me (the faster boat)
RIP Koa ^
