Fun on the water - kayaking with the hounds

I have posted about kayaking before. I spend a fair bit of time acclimating Mouse to the kayak while it was sitting in the back yard. The first time I tried to take her out she was far too obsessed with water fowl and I had to hang on to her leash the whole time. This time we went out and she surprised me by being very patient and awesome in the boat. We paddled for half an hour or so, got out for a picnic, and then for an hour more.

This is a great picnic spot, Servant.

Of course, she was a little bit annoyed with me that I forgot to put the camping mat down on the bottom of the boat for her comfort. I didn't really think she would want it because I didn't think she would cooperate and allow us to go out for so long.

what pelican? I don't see no pelican

Turns out she actually loves it! I think all the time in the bike trailer helped her get used to balancing when things are moving underneath her feet.



We took Barbie out later on and she isn't as happy in the kayak, but she sure does better than Bender who does his best to tip you out and then jumping out and swimming to shore!



It's funny how Mouse can be so highly strung in some situations and so mellow and easy going in others. She doesn't need a bribe to 'trailer up' or to get into the kayak. Barbie is yet to go in the bike trailer, but I will wear her down.....

Too much fun and not enough time!!

It's been a while since our last post. We have been having too much fun! This weekend we went on a doggy date with Indi and Daisy. Mouse did a lot of running, and Barbie did a lot of laying down. There was a concrete tunnel at the park which was supposed to be agility equipment but the dogs just used it as a refuge from the sun!

I made a video of the crazy kids ripping it up. The Husky in the video is only a young one as well and made a great playmate for all of the houndies. 

I also got a new kayak, which meant swimming lessons and perhaps a bit of kayaking for Mouse.

We started off practicing in the back yard, before we set out on the river. I wasn't sure if Mouse could even swim so we thought it would be better to introduce the kayak first. 

She was quite happy to sit in the boat, especially if I was in there as well and she could cuddle in to my legs. Here's a video of some of our practice.

When we took her to the river though, there was a factor I had not quite considered properly. The ducks. They were useful in a way, because she wanted to get to them, so she was willing to come out in to the water with me. At first she had no clue that she had to move her legs to stay afloat and keep moving in the water. With her float coat on she had a tendency to just float, and then lean over into a capsize.

I took the float coat off and she started to figure out the swimming thing.

After a few half-convincing swims she decided she had enough and decided to plop down in a sit in the water. This was her way of asking me to stop making her swim, I think! 

Unfortunately it was very difficult to keep her in the boat as she was too busy staring at the ducks. I may have overloaded her a bit by attempting kayaking and swimming lessons on the same day. We need to spend a lot more time around the river and waterfowl to get work on her focus. 

Here's a brief moment where she did what I asked....

As you can see in the pic, I made a Gopro video of our kayaking attempt. Looking back on it she was no worse than Bender on his first go. I will probably take Bender out in this boat next weekend and I predict that he will be much less likely to jump off this one. 

I am determined for someone to actually enjoy kayaking with me!

Dogs 101: Wonderdogs, the Greyhound

I know this is probably old, but I only just saw it a few days ago. One of the things in this program I didn't know is that Greyhounds can see 270 degrees. That totally explains how Barbie manages to avoid all the ruffians at the park who try to cut corners in order to catch her. She can see them coming and deftly accelerate to get away from him.



It also made me think that perhaps I have been trying kayaking with the wrong dog?

Barbie is such a special girl. I don't know why anyone would pass up the opportunity to have a dog just like her.

Playing with Boats - Bender and Barbie Kayaking

I have mentioned before that I want my dogs to be more involved with my hobbies. This weekend we took both the dogs down to the river to join in on a little paddle in the 'dog kayak'.

Bender still isn't convinced about the kayak. This is his fourth time out, admittedly, with a big gap between this weekend and his previous trip. I managed to get him in and paddle a little, but he decided that he would jump off the back this time.



It resulted in the shot of the day! Though I also got an action shot of him chasing his ball that was pretty good.

When I went for a paddle down the river, he actually followed me along the shoreline. Perhaps that is the way to exercise him, to motor along the river in my kayak with him running along and taking dips in the water along the way. There are a couple of stretches of river where this would be quite possible.



He chilled out on the sand when we had a rest. He was very good, apart from sprinting off once to chase a pelican which was hanging around a guy fishing, hoping to get his fish. Cheeky bird. Well Bender put a stop to that!



Barbie probably had a boring day, mostly. She wasn't allowed to run along the shore because I think she would get distracted and wander off. She did have a very short turn on the kayak though.



This kayak is too small for her to lie down in though, she is just too long. I think with dogs the size of my guys a tandem kayak would be a lot more comfortable.

We shall have to try one out next weekend, perhaps.

What do you get when you cross a Husky with a Corgi? And more kayaking with Bender

Today I spend most of my time hanging out with an old friend at her garage sale. I think I missed the rush, but there were still quite a few visitors while I was there. One was this cutie.

Her mum was keen to show off her tricks. Her name is Honey and she is a Husky cross Corgi. Can you see it? She had just been shaved and they weren't so happy with how she has been clipped. How cute is this beg?

Yesterday I took Bender out on the water in the kayak again. He was a fair bit better in the boat but I have to convince him that floating around with me is more interesting than what is happening on the shore. We were out on the water for about 15 minutes straight, and then when I got him out there again, he decided he had enough and jumped out a fair way from shore and swam in. I had to paddle back in and make sure he didn't get into any trouble!

I think I will win him over eventually, the idea is that we can all go for a paddle together by the time it gets nice and hot in summer.

Spish Splash - Bender's first time in a kayak on the water

Today after running some errands we took the dogs down to the river - I wanted to see how Bender would go in the kayak when it was actually on the water. I think he did pretty well for his first time out! He has pretty good balance on the boat, though the kayak isn't going to tip over anyway, it has a flat bottom like a barge.

Here is the result of our outing:



Bender the kayaking dog! I think soon he will get the hang of just sitting or lying down on the front, facing forward. I will need to phase out the treats soon though because they make him go a bit manic just trying to steal more and more of them out of the treat container.

Barbie waited fairly patiently on the shore line with Nic. She did try to get in once but she wasn't all that keen on it. She doesn't really fit in the little boat as she is too long. If Bender really enjoys kayaking I might trade up for a tandem boat, but at the moment I'm happy with my little stumpy Bic Oaussau.

Incompatible hobbies?

I have two hobbies that I absolutely love, but neither are very compatible with the dogs. The first hobby is cycling, and I do run Barbie with the bike, but she can't go very far, or very fast. If I had a smaller canine I would take him/her out all the time.

The second one is kayaking. I decided to buy a second hand, stable, short, 'sit on' style kayak to give the dogs a go at kayaking with me. It's a wet stormy night, so I dragged the new 'yak inside and introduced it to the dogs.

Bender was a natural, he was a bit dismayed by the sound that the plastic made when he transferred his weight, and it moved a bit on the rug, but he was OK with it. When he realised there were treats on offer he wouldn't let Barbie get in!

Barbie wasn't very keen, and would just put her front paws in. I decided that a bit more padding would entice the Princess.... and I was right. I had to put Bender outside though, because he would not hold his stay and would just leap into the boat before Barbie had a chance.

There is still a way to go to build her confidence, but I think I will also have to get her a lifejacket before I really want to take her out on the water. I will be taking Bender out on the water first I think.