My dog on canoe trip

[steveo]

Thinking of taking my 2 yr old Lakeland terrier on our canoe trip to Bog river
lows lake area.Shes only 15 lbs or so but tough as nails, a true earth dog.
Ive taken her out on many day trips to the local woods and she loves it but
never had her out over night .Anyone with advice on special equipment,
pros and cons of the idea and any tips in general would be appreciated.

[stripperguy]

Mr. O,
We took Max, our 95 lb shepherd, husky and rottweiller mutt with us on a trip from Hoel Pond to Long Pond a few years ago. All of my canoes are very fast and narrow, and Max was no problem as far as stability goes, but he did decide that he wanted to swim, starting with the shallows on Turtle or Slang (I always confuse those two). Anyway, most dogs that like to swim can't really do so for very long. Max was gasping pretty good by the time he was willing to accept our help to drag him back in the boat. Moral: PFD's are not just for people!
And there were 5 of us, my wife and son and I in 1 tent, and my daughter and Max in another tent. After a long swim, and a full day of frollicking in the Adirondack mud, I was really happy that Max was not in the tent with us. In the morning, it looked like a bomb went off in my daughter's tent, and it pretty stinky, too!
But c'mon, how messy can a 15 lb terrier be?! I'm sure she'll enjoy the trip. Just be sure to keep her in the boat, or get her a PFD.
BTW, Max doesn't camp with us anymore, but he likes to sail.

[Bill I.]

I routinely paddle and camp with a ~45 lb dog. The smaller the dog, the better suited they are for canoeing, because they won't feel cramped for space sitting inside. In Lexie's case, we have an "all dogs must lay down while the canoe is in motion" rule whenever we're on any stream or lake of size. This keeps her from rocking the boat or jumping out (which she did when she was younger).

If you're going camping this fall, make sure to bring something warm for her to sleep on/under if the temperature drops overnight. Lexie likes to burrow into my sleeping bag once the mercury drops below 40 degrees.

With most dogs, you have to be careful when they enter/exit the canoe. Lexie has tipped my canoe twice over the years because she misinterpreted my cue and jumped into the canoe when I wasn't ready. However, with a 15 lb terrier, you probably won't have that problem!

I don't have a PFD for her, mostly because I don't know how comfortable she would be sitting in the canoe with it on for hours at a time.

Before Lexie, I had an older dog who LOVED to go canoeing, because it offered all the benefits of going camping without any of the work (for her). Once, we were camping on the Oswegatchie, relaxing at our site, and I noticed she wasn't around. I found her napping inside the canoe down on the bank!

[Jake]

Canoe Dogs

Go For It!!

We take our two West Highland Terriers canoeing and kayaking all the time, they see us getting the boats ready and hop right in. When they're in the kayak, both of them love to ride sitting up on the deck. Even after having put down some anti-skid strips, they both take an occasional tumble. Doesn't deter them, just fish them out and plop them back on. They're good swimmers, but I did get them life vests. If as one of the other posters mentioned you can train the dog to lay quietly, all the better. Mine are too engaged with what's going on to stay put.

They're about the same weight as your Lakeland, so don't present a problem with upsetting the canoe or kayak.

You gotta love terriers. Hardy rugged dogs for their size. My little one doesn't know she weighs only 18 lbs, she's all heart

[rdl]

A friend of mine has a little terrier, not sure the exact breed, but about 9-10 lbs. He takes her kayaking and has a life vest for her that has a handle on the back, so if the dog takes a dip, the handle makes it easier to pick her back up and back in the kayak.

He's also taken her camping with us, she does fine on the trail but when the temp gets below 40 or so, she has a little fleece vest she wears.

[Riosacandaga]

We have taken all three of our labs in a 16' Mad River Malecite on multi day trips. They all get a PFD and on cold days we add a neoprene vest.
In my single canoe I can only fit one dog and I had to move a thwart for him to stretch out.
As far as PFD's the most important one is the one you are wearing.

[chairrock]

Our lab loves to swim just before bedtime....in the tent....on the sleeping bags.......oh well ,they bring us much joy..