Kayaking with Dogs

[Lizmo]

Anyone do it? My family is looking into purchasing kayaks and making this a regular outing.

As kind of a joke, I said 'Hey, I'll even throw Blaze on their with me!' while at the outdoor store. But then I looked more at the kayaks and how they're made, then went down to the river and saw a kayaker with *2* dogs on his kayak, and thought hey this is totally doable!

Obviously, he's a good swimmer and likes it a lot. But what else should I consider? Doggie life jacket would be a must I would think, just for general safety. No huge rapids. Other??

ETA: Oh! It would be a 'open seat' kayak. If we flip, we just both go out. No biggie.

 

[straw]

Yup!

All I can say is, have fun! The lifejacket is a great idea, if only to have a handle to haul your dog out by if her jumps out. Heavy, squirmy, wet dogs are not easy to haul back into the kayak without a handle!

Most of mine have initially been nervous to get into the boat but once they're in they have fun. After a few times they get the idea - especially if we do lots of fun outings to islands and beaches for them to explore.

 

[xpaeanx]

You can kayak with some dogs, not so much with others. Before I bought one thinking it would be for me and the dog I'd Prob rent one and try him out.

Me and Keeda actually won free canoe rentals for a week bc the park ranger said my dog would flip it as every dog who has ever gone in the canoes in the 6 years he's been a ranger has.... She was perfect in the canoe(even when he circled us repeatedly in a jetski) and we won the rental. However, since he was that sure we'd flip... I'd say there's a high incidence of dogs not being kayak/canoe worthy.

Or you may find you just don't enjoy kayaking with him as much as you would with just your family. I love dogs to pieces, but there are def things I like doing without them.

ETA: I find life jackets too cumbersome in the kayak. If he's a good swimmer I'd likely just buy a sturdy harness and bring along a lead(either a regular size one or a long one if you're in an area he can't be off leash.

 

[Shai]

Yeah, all three of mine have kayaked. Web and Kim have done it a lot -- we used to go pretty often (this was before we got Mira) and are starting up again.

I don't bother with lifejackets but we mostly kayak on a small river near us. We're always close to shore, and any place with noteable current is shallow enough that if worse comes to worse I can just...stand up. It's only about knee deep in those areas lol.

I just make sure they wear their tags, drink enough, and don't let them sit out in the full sun for long periods of time. Again with mostly being on the little river, there is lots of shade from overhanging trees so sun isn't a big deal either.

And especially for Mira: NO exiting the kayak without a release word! lol

 

[AmberH]

This was a one time thing but I wouldn't hesitate to take Bayleigh with me again! I just had her leash tied to my belt loop. She did try to jump out a couple times but otherwise was fine.

 

[xpaeanx]

Another thing that goes back to renting. I prefered to take Keeda out in a 2 seater Kayak so she had her own spot and so did I. My brother had her sit between his legs. You might want to rent different styles and see what you like best before you buy something and wish you bought the other kind.

 

[Lizmo]

I'm not too worried about trying it out before hand. If for some reason he just doesn't take to it at all (I doubt, honestly) then I'll just kayak with just myself. And I plan to go out by myself quite a few times to get the hang of it before I ask my dog to trust me in the kayak.

I really think he's either going to want to sit right next to my legs (in between them) or a few have a nice large back area (like where you'd put a cooler) that would be big enough for him.

So, harness or life jacket for ease of pulling out of the water. And you guys leash? I wouldn't think you would want to leash just in case the kayak flipped. I would want him to have every chance to get out of the way, just like my myself.

 

[AmberH]

And you guys leash? I wouldn't think you would want to leash just in case the kayak flipped. I would want him to have every chance to get out of the way, just like my myself.

Good point! I didn't think of that but I also wasn't thinking about flipping the kayak.

 

[xpaeanx]

I never leashed. I also don't think I'd want to be tethered to the dog... I can just see that ending badly. I always bring a leash with me though. If you keep a harness(or lifejacket with handle) you should be able to quickly grab him if need be.

 

[Julee]

I've kayaked with Em. She was awesome about it, we had a great time - I would not tether.

 

[Romy]

Charlie was a lap sitter, but only after he got too tired to keep swimming. After the first time out where he got too tired and began struggling we put a harness on him to make it easier to haul him into the boat. He never had a life jacket, but then, he was an extremely strong swimmer and really experienced at swimming in open salt water. I watched him close and pulled him in at the very early signs of tiring out after I learned what it looks like.

ETA: I never even considered taking the zois out. That would be super awkward and have ended badly.

 

[Tazwell]

I've kayaked with Fleetwood, but we were so cramped in that it wasn't ideal. So I went kayak shopping, and couldn't really find a good kayak big enough for a big person, and a huge dog, within my price range. So inended up buying a small canoe instead.

 

[Shai]

No leash/tether. Way too dangerous. If they don't have a fantastic recall, they do not go.

 

[Psyfalcon]

Canoes and kayaks do float, even after they're flipped, so a long tether should be ok on still or a very slow type river. One where they can swim in circles while you shove the thing to shore.

You wouldn't want one where the tether could get caught under the boat and the dog pulled down or one where the current is strong enough to take the dog and boat on opposite sides of an object.

 

[Lizmo]

So yeah, no tether/leash. He has a recall.

Do you guys let your dogs swim along side you some?

And how fast of water is too fast? Do you have any general rules you stick by? I went and watched some white water canoeing last night (that kayakers were going down too) and that was too fast. Canoes were flipping, getting stuck, etc. But do you go down some white water? Or all calm water?

 

[Romy]

Charlie always started out swimming, but then he was an immensely strong swimmer and very practiced at endurance swimming anyway. His daily exercise was a walk to the beach and doing water retrieves until he was tired (which was NEVER, lol). Plus he taught himself to dive underwater to catch butter clams and spent a fair amount of time doing that too.

That was in cold salt water too. The inlet was pretty lazy on the surface, and not particularly deep on the west side. We stayed near the shore (30-50-ish feet?) so that if he got tired it was easy to maneuver into water shallow enough for him to stand in and pull him in. There was a current that was pretty strong out in the middle, and the tides. He could cover a mile pretty easily on his own depending on whether the tide was going in or out.

I was more worried about seals pulling him down than anything, but he stayed pretty close to the boats and they didn't want anything to do with humans.

If you don't want to get soaked, you should start with the dog in the boat. And if it's really cold out you might consider wearing a wetsuit under your clothes.