Spring is Coming! - Canoecopia

74
“Rooted in the outdoors since 1976”
My True Water Dog
In the summer of ‘08, we decided to get an “emergency
backup puppy” to soften the blow for when Abby passes
on to the great dog couch in the sky. Rosie could not be more
different from Abby. She’s exuberant, she’s cuddly, and as it
turns out, she’s a true Water Dog.
I was nervous about getting Rosie near water. Abby had a
bad start and completely swore off any water that wasn’t in her
bowl. One day, young Rosie saw a dog swimming near a dock.
Her toenails clicked back and forth along the dock, intently
observing the swimming Lab. And then she jumped! I saw her
disappear under the water for a second, and then her little brain
kicked in and she started swimming happily around the other
dog, trying to steal his toy. Whew! I learned that getting her in
the water was easy. Getting her out was harder.
Getting her in a canoe was harder still. Rosie is a spooky
creature. Anything new, especially if it might—maybe—move,
is hard for her to take. (For months, she was terrified of ordinary
doors.) We had to do a lot of conditioning to get her near, then
in the canoe. Luckily, she is eternally hungry, and quite willing
to work/learn for biscuits.
The key to a good dog experience while paddling is much
the same as with a kid. A tired dog is a good dog. She’ll put up
with 25 minutes of paddling and then expect a good 15 minutes
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of running along the shore. Then we can get 35 minutes of
paddling and give her 10 minutes of racing at the water’s edge.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Eventually she runs out of gas (about
the same time as any children who might be along) and turns
into cute, wet, furry ballast. Then, it’s a Kodak moment.
I love having a real Water Dog. We go out whenever we can
for a whole day on the river and return burnt, tired, smelling of
wet dog and smiling ear to ear. It’s a blessing for us all.
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