My
small Border Collie (35 lbs) is my kayak and hiking companion. She was maybe 8 months old when she showed up at my house after being on the run and looking ragged. After some sweet talk and giving her water and food, I took her in the back yard and started looking for the owner. After a month of posting the neighborhood, Craigslist, our local paper, and checking the pounds and local vets, she is mine. Borders are NOT for the inactive…she gets 3-5 miles a day walking with me and 1-2 a week, she gets a 10-15 miler. Lord, I have never seen a dog with more stamina! On abandoned trail, I covered 25 miles of single track on my mt. bike with her running non stop and she wanted more at the end of the day. She loves the water, rides well in my Tarpon 160 and is very sociable…darn dog owns me. I recently enrolled her in search & rescue training classes as she has a nose like a coon hound and loves hide and seek…we’ll see how she develops.
Let us know what you get.
Get 2
Training is easy if you start by putting the dog in a canoe in the backyard and teaching a good sit-stay. If you get 2 dogs you can balance the load.
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Good dogs will even tolerate a ride in a kayak
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My German Sheperd
is great in the canoe, but my cat kayaks with me. Start 'em young (before they realize they’re afraid of water.
I second Kayamedic’s comments
It’s ok to have some general breed guidelines but find it at the pound or at least a local dog rescue org. Nothing wrong with checking pounds in neighboring counties either. There are still too many abandoned dogs that need homes for me to even consider a breeder.
Marc Ornstein
a long pedigree of friendly strangers.
Newfoundland
I am about to get a Newfoundland, the most amazing water rescue dog possible. They are big huge furry bears, males 150 lbs. He will be my service dog, so will go up the training ladder, obedience conformation therapy agility water rescue carting ski and rollerjoring and tasks specific to my disability. Perfect fit for kayaking training too 
Have been looking for a good boat, will be trying out a Pamlico 135T soon. Also may get a Kayrak, an outrigger platform big enough for a huge dog.
Tried a canoe but felt like I was going to tip immediately – can’t stand the feeling. LOVE my kayaks!
Your are looking for a Boykin
cause he is known as the dog who wont rock the boat…
The Boykin Spaniel was first bred by South Carolina hunters during the 1900’s to provide the ideal dog for hunting ducks and wild turkeys in the Wateree River Swamp. Hunters on South Carolina’s Wateree River needed a small rugged dog compactly built for boat travel and able to retrieve on land and water. In those days wagons, wooden boats and trains afforded hunters access to the game rich corridors along the river. But boat travel limited what hunters could carry. The typical heavyweight retriever was a drawback in a craft already loaded with men, guns, provisions and other gear.
Today this little brown retriever can be found on hunts and in homes across America. Stamina in hot weather and eagerness to please make this dog a favorite in the dove fields, but Boykins have retained their spaniel flushing abilities and readily adapt to a variety of upland game hunting including pheasant, quail and grouse. An aptitude for water retrieving combined with their compact size assures these dogs a place in the duck boats and blinds as well. Boykins have often been described as “the dog that doesn’t rock the boat.” They are even effective in deer driving or in tracking wounded deer. Like many of the sporting breeds, Boykin spaniels make the transition from hunting companion to family pet easily. Boykin spaniels are true dual-purpose hunting dogs.
Canoe Dog
I have an English Lab. It’s of course ridiculous to have two place names in the breed of a dog, like saying she’s a NYC Kansas retriever. However, she is an awesome canoe dog. 45 pounds, loves the water and is impervious to cold. She will wade in chest deep to cool off in January in Chicago after a few minutes of chasing the tennis ball. Here is her only weakness, the obsessive need to retrieve makes her totally incapable of restraining herself if any object is thrown from the shore. Kids throwing mud balls on the opposite bank 100 ft away? She’s already swimming. All you can do is have a few tennis balls rolling around the bottom of the canoe to keep their attention focused inside the boat at least some of the time.