How far
can your dog swim and for how long?–If he can do 3-4knots for a couple of hours at a time, by all means take him with you otherwise leave him at home
SOT, possibly a double SOT
Try renting one at first. If your dog gets antsy and jumps off, your wife can still stay upright. Might not be the same with a SINK, even a wide one.
A lot of this depends how well-behaved the dog is!
I second the SOT idea,
as we have a Feelfree Triyak that we use for
tandem paddling with our 80 lb. dog in the
middle. The key to making this work is using
a piece of carpeting for the dog with small
bungee straps through the corners to the yak
pin brackets. Without the carpet, plastic is
slippery for a dog. With Crazy Creek air seats
and Onno kayak paddles, she will love it!
Oh, so will you! Good luck!
Leave the dog home
I’ve seen a couple of tragedies paddling with dogs–tragedies for the dogs, not the people. I would never take my dog paddling except on a calm day, for a short duration ( they get bored after about 15 to 20 minutes), and near a shoreline with gentle slopes that my dog can negotiate.
Look, if the craft turns over, which canoes and kayaks sometimes do, the dog has no training or prior plans and will not know what to do. this can result in a lot of bad scenerios. They do not know how to read WW and will swim right into danger. On a large lake they may strike for shore which can be a considerable distance. Mostly you or rescuers will be saving yourself, boat, then gear. Dogs tend to get lost in the shuffle. Dogs always want to go with, but do your friend a favor and leave them at home. Paddling is a much more dangerous activity for them.
Good advice for some situations,
and especially for white water,
where dogs have no place.
Even when in flat water, our dog wears
a pfd at all times, and if anyone takes
their dog out on the water paddling, they
should have a pfd on their dog. As with
people, the unexpected can happen.
I take Roscoe all the time…
– Last Updated: Jul-22-07 9:09 PM EST –
...but, it's in a canoe only and I'm not stupid enough to take him with me on a class 2 or above river or a huge lake. I see lots of people saying leave the dog at home. I find that sad. Of course, some dogs dislike water.
Can't help you with the kayak part of it.
In my solo canoe, he sits right between my legs and always has his CFD on. I paddle only slow, lazy rivers with him or small calm lakes and ponds. I do not take him out when it's over 80 degrees as the CFD makes it too hot for him. I let him get out and swim/stretch every few miles or at least once an hour.
Have a dog? Then make it happen so that he/she may join you on SOME trips.
Now when I say, "let's go paddling on the water"....Roscoe goes nuts and grabs his leash off the door, meaning he's ready to go!!
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb183/gutwrencher/DSC04205.jpg
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb183/gutwrencher/DSC04216.jpg
Mine stay home
If I took them I’d probably have gators following me down the river. Plus they both hate the water.
I have a Rottie
Hey,
I have a 100 pound rottweiler and use a necky double kayak. She takes the front seat. We can handle conditions up to the point where the cockpit begins to take too much water. May be with a dog sprayskirt we can do much better. A friend on mine has a small dog ( actually 2 ), a miniature schnauzer, that will go on most any trip. On rough conditions they will stay under the sprayskirt, and can even handle a capsize and reentry.
Anyway, I only recommend dog kayaking near shore and with a CFD.
Here we are on a multiday trip
http://www.ecodeporte.cl/KayakdeMar/Club/AlbumCKSE/Laja_Dic06/photo56.html
http://www.ecodeporte.cl/KayakdeMar/Club/AlbumCKSE/Laja_Dic06/photo126.html
Rgds
Martin
Also have a rot
And we use the native ultimate, have not had a problem. My wife also takes our golden in her Mad river Synergy. Both have ample space for the dogs and are stable enough if they decide they want to dip there head in for a quick drink.
One of the paddlers
in our group came back from an evening trip on a small 200 acre lake near here, and said there was another couple there with kayaks that were towing an Old Town Otter with their dog in it. She said the dog seemed to be enjoying the ride. Must have been a well trained dog to trust it alone in a yak.
Thanks for raising these issues
Some dogs might be fine in certain very low risk conditions. But moving water is moving water, and even the slowest, laziest rivers become dangerous under certain conditions–strainers and logjams that weren’t there last time you paddle it, etc.
I’m sure there are lots of paddlers out there who think it through, are prepared, and use good judgement. But I’m sure there are lots of others who don’t, and are totally unprepared for a situation where they have to think simultaneously about self-rescue and pet rescue.
GOOD GRIEF
can’t you do anything without your dog?
kayaking with pooh
well my outdoor club of south jersey{OCSWJ.org} does runs trips for those have animals…pooh/dogs whatever they are called heheh
well they do have plenties of trip in the pine barrens and have pfd for their dogs …just like paddles have…maybe when in the area of south jersey can take a trip in pine barrens it lovely places to paddle
Three Options
1. Tandem Sit-On-Top
2. Tandem Sit-Inside with large center hatch.
3. Canoe
Definitely rent first and try it out.
Best of Luck!
All dogs can swim right?
WRONG
I though the same way, till a couple years ago i tried to take my boxer swimming, he sank like a rock.
youd think he would figure out the doggie paddle, but no. He almost drowned.
Boxers and water?
Aside from the garment - seriously, my first thought was that in general boxers and deep water aren’t a great idea. I don’t much have the sense of them as swimmers. Even if you got a doggie PFD it’d only make the dog safer, not necessarily happy to be on the water.
I presume your wife wants to being the dog along because she likes the animal - how about you rent or borrow a big old tank of a canoe and take a few practice paddles near shore to see whether the dog is happy about the idea to start with? If you get lucky, the dog won’t like it and so your wife will let it go, then you can talk about paddling without the canine complication.
dogs and kayaking
– Last Updated: Jul-25-07 2:20 PM EST –
Each dog is different! Some of my dogs have loved paddling, and others have hated being in any boat. My lab mix sits in my recreational kayak cockpit, just in front of me. She'll go for 3 day river camping trips (on a gentle stretch of the Wisconsin river, where she can run along the sandbank when she gets bored of sitting), and she can jump out of the boat and climb back in without causing any upsets. She's also fine in canoes, sit-on-tops, and she'll run along the beach while I paddle my touring kayak.
Boxers often seem to hate deep water, I hate to say. Our boxer mix can't swim an inch and wouldn't go near any boat in a million years.
You can try paddling along beaches or rivers where the dog can run on shore. A collie mix we had in college used to go whitewater kayaking with us--the other dogs kept up on the bank, but the collie would hop into gentle rapids and ride down them, barking all the way; then she'd climb on the bank, run back up river, and ride the rapids again, just for fun. She loved them. (Yes, I know, the other kayakers thought we were all nuts, but this was 25 years ago, when people weren't so eager to tell other people what to do).
So if you want to try boating with your boxer, start in shallow water with a canoe and see how she does. Make it fun--lots of treats and praise. If she likes it, and she's a good dog in the boat, borrow a rec kayak with a big cockpit and have the dog sit between your legs, where she's more likely to stay quiet and behave. Tons of treats and praise will make success a lot more likely. And be prepared for the dog to reject the entire idea--but who knows, she might break the boxer mold and love your boats.
Ocean Kayak Sidekick
– Last Updated: Jul-25-07 9:49 PM EST –
Made for a person and small child or dog. Mine was $572 new. I take my 70 pound White Shepherd with me on the lake. She LOVES it! Haven't been on a river with her yet.
Tiva makes a good point that all dogs are different. I actually have two dogs, but only one goes kayaking with me - the other absolutely hates water (35 pound whippet/lab/shepherd mix).
Don't forget a CFD!
Yeah, why take the dog?
– Last Updated: Jul-25-07 10:00 PM EST –
Dogs should be chained to a tree out back, fed and watered 2x day. Why in blazes would you want to give it attention or quality time?
Geez.
dogs
Dogs,
When I had a canoe the dog laid in the middle for ballast and stability. There’s a dog in Sooke, Vancouver Island, who sits on the bow (and a mat is on the deck) and is able to roll with the kayak like a logger running a log. I’ve included a link to two big dogs sitting in a kayak (http://pics.woodenpropeller.com/Kayak.html). The Southwind kayak is great for dogs. Here’s an article/webpage called kayak dogs: http://www.southwindkayaks.com/KayakDogs.html
Paul
www.easykayaker.com
One-stop Vancouver Island Kayak Site