Lucky Dog Blog: ... our home and native land

What a great way to spend the Canada Day long weekend. Pack up the canoe and the dog and head out for some fresh air, fresh water, and fresh fish. We made it back in one piece. Cooper was AMAZING! At no time did he try to jump out of the canoe. I am now convinced it is due to his disdain for water. I tested his swimming abilities out in a controlled situation. Let's just say his big fluffy tail takes on A LOT of water in a hurry. Not a lot of swimming prowess from my little man I'm afraid.

We put on his life jacket, but not his doggles for the first leg of the trip, and lifted him into the canoe. The handle on the life jacket is great for lifting. He looked as if he would jump for the first few minutes, but he was really just walking from side to side checking out the scenery. He does this in the car as well. I can't say the walking around was a great thing. Forty pounds of dog shifting in a canoe causes a bit of instability but nothing too drastic. It was a good ab workout to keep things stabilized. I toyed with the idea of throwing him in just to show him what would happen if he jumped but figured I best leave him to settle in. And boy did he. Twenty minutes into the paddle, he fell ASLEEP. DID NOT see that coming. I'm convinced the Doggles have a sedative affect.

So Cooper is officially a camping dog. He loved the wilderness. All of the smells and sounds. He even went as far as chasing waves on the shore. A big step for my non-water dog. The only moment of concern was when Peter landed a pretty big Lake Trout in the canoe. I couldn't tell if Cooper wanted to pounce on it or run away. There was a lot of wobbling back and forth for a minute but in the end we got our fresh fish. YUM!

Cooper got a pretty big feed of fish. It was a nice break from his hockey puck dehydrated food. The dog food was actually pretty convenient and he didn't seem to mind it. It is called Nature's Variety Prairie. It has good ingredients, it's light weight and it comes in an airtight bag (good for keeping the smells down). A big thank-you to Brenda from It's Raining Cats and Dogs for pointing this food out to me and for supplying the Doggles. He did eventually wear them.

Next time though I will have to add bug spray to the list. Thanks for the suggestion Kal, to check out Tiber River naturals. Poor Cooper was eaten alive on the first day. I counted no less than six different types of blood sucking insects. The worst ones were the black flies. Those things are like stealth fighters. They are small and quiet but take their ounce of blood and get out before you have a chance to react. And doggie sunblock for his nose. I've heard of using baby sunblock. I'll have to check into it and see if it is OK for dogs.

All in all - a great weekend. We are going back out in a couple of weeks. He is a natural camper. Here's a few more notable pictures from the weekend. And I will point out, before anyone else does, that no I don't have my life jacket on BUT we were really close to the shore. I am in fact sitting on the life jacket because the little webbed seat is uncomfortable.

Comments

VERY COOL!! Beautiful post! Go and get the Tiber River bug spray - it's amazing and it works and I don't feel guilty spraying it on the dog because it's okay. AND - we put baby sunscreen on crash (at the vet's encouragement) because of his cancers.

ALSO - I went and got a lifejacket because you SAID SO in your post and we took Crash kayaking. NOT VERY FUN. 40lbs of Cooper in a canoe is much less INTENSE than 70 lbs of Crash in a kayak with a 130lb girl. YIKES. So hard to steer.

Anyways - great post - great tips!

Posted by: Kal Barteski | July 03, 2007 at 09:31 AM