Looking at all the wildlife critters pics, I noticed our domesticated paw-paddling partners needed their own space in the boat.
Both dogs/cats in canoe/kayak pics welcomed.
I use an inflatable kayak when taking my two border collies out for a paddle. The softer low sides, make it easier for them to pull themselves aboard and climb back in after a swim. Sometimes we’ll use a canoe, but it’s usually too much of a hassle for me to keep shouting for them to stay in the boat while afloat–And they’re way too big to balance on the deck of my kayaks!
Maggie was found abandoned on a dirt road in the woods as a puppy of about 4 weeks old. She is not the first puppy I have rescued and found a home for. When I got back into kayaking and canoeing she was about 8 years old. She isn’t fond of swimming, and would stand on the shore wanting and not wanting to get in the boat with me when I would paddle at our farm pond. I would encourage her, but she would always decline, and follow me running along the shore. I never made her get in the boat if it wasn’t her idea. She always wants to go when I get in the car so one day I loaded the canoe and she jumped in the car. I told her she would have to get in the canoe because I was going to paddle up and back on a nearby creek. Well I put her in the canoe when I was ready to launch and she was very timid about it wanting out. However shortly after launching 2 young men fishing from a canoe came down stream past us and she had to bark at them. They laughed when I told them she didn’t want anything to do with going in the canoe and now she felt like she owned the creek. Now when she sees the canoe she is ready to go and jumps in it before I can load it and launch!
Her first canoe trip.
Scouting out a portage over a deadfall on the Enoree River
Ready to spend the day on Clouds Creek Lake Murray. She was the first thing in the canoe before I was even ready to load it where she waits patiently for the old man.
I have learned to paddle a bow heavy solo at the pond with Maggie.
Interesting, Castoff…Cute pup! --I’m trying to get my cat over his apprehension about getting into my boats by bringing the boats inside the house!
@spiritboat said:
Interesting, Castoff…Cute pup! --I’m trying to get my cat over his apprehension about getting into my boats by bringing the boats inside the house!
Spritboat, I think that is a good idea. Your cat looks young so maybe open to new adventures. I bet if you caught a small fish while the kitty is with you she would take a real shine to boating. I lived on a small lake as a teenager and my cat would follow me like a dog when I picked up a fishing pole. So would the neighbors cats. I would often throw a small bream or golden shiner to them and they would eat it all head first. In Fact after awhile if I wanted to keep a fish I had to activly keep it away from the little devils. BTW your cat looks a lot like an abandoned half grown female I adopted while a college student. I named her Sticker because she wouldn’t leave when she first showed up. I later learned someone dropped her off hoping she would find a new home.
Hi canoedoc I have no idea how your post disappeared! Anyway thanks for the complement. David Curtis makes an excellent canoe. This one is a Kevlar S-glass 1984 solo tripper, and is probably my favorite canoe. I also had a white Kevlar 1987 Curtis vagabond, I sold it reluctantly to help fund a West Wright Potter 19 sailboat I recently purchased.
Here is my oldest daughter and my son’s dog Buddy paddling at the pond in the Vagabond.
My son, his wife, and Buddy in my first canoe a fiberglass 1974 Mohawk I purchased in Longwood FL the year it was made. I gave it to him when it became a bit to heavy for me to load on top a car. I find it amazing how canoes gain weight as they age. 
@castoff said:
Hi canoedoc I have no idea how your post disappeared! Anyway thanks for the complement. David Curtis makes an excellent canoe. This one is a Kevlar S-glass 1984 solo tripper, and is probably my favorite canoe. I also had a white Kevlar 1987 Curtis vagabond, I sold it reluctantly to help fund a West Wright Potter 19 sailboat I recently purchased.
I accidentally deleted it attempting to ‘edit’ my posting. I was trying to steer my comments to a new thread, instead of ‘hijacking’ spiritboat’s original, in order to learn more about Curtis Canoes (the web directs queries to Hemlock Canoes).
Apologies to both (chuckling too - I sold a Potter 19 that I sailed for years, and have ended up with canoes…)
Regards,
Mark L.
@castoff said, “…I find it amazing how canoes gain weight as they age.”
–That’s because each pound weighs two with each passing year! 
Chuck it looks like you have a constant paddling companion.
Yes, Chuck–We very much enjoy your pics/videos with that little guy as the star. From where we sit, he looks like a real hoot!
http://www.ktva.com/living-alaska-teaching-your-dog-to-enjoy-or-tolerate-water-sports-319/
Local tv station digs her too
Cat in a kayak…you are brave!
I’d love to see pictures and updates on how the kayak kitty does with paddling.
Lots of cuties!
Overstreet wrote, “…He has his own kayak…”
I thought black labs had webbed feet–What’s he need a paddle for?
Nice news segment, Chuck–And the “WHAT YOU’LL NEED” guidelines in the article, should be required reading for anyone thinking about starting their dog out in a boat for the first time.
Not paddling, but rafting. Here’s a pic of my dog when he was a pup, on my raft. He didn’t turn out to be a great rafting dog. He wasn’t afraid of water or freaked out by the raft. He’s an Aussie, so having his “flock” separated from him by water drove him nuts. He would whine & pace on the raft while staring at my friends on their rafts or in their kayaks. He jumped in and swam over to them a couple times. Too nerve wracking for me.
My buddy’s Chocolate Lab on the other hand was the consummate river dog. She rafted class IV rapids & flew into the backcountry in little bush planes with us from the time she was a puppy until she passed away at age 10 last February.
