Newest member of the kayak family!

[ReelThrill]

My wife and I went into Petco the other day to find an adoption drive going on. They had an 8 month old female lab puppy that we decided to take home. Looks like I have a permanent kayak companion now. She loves being on it and being out on the water. Forgot to take the camera with me out on the water but I am gonna take her again tomorrow and take the Rods this time to hopefully introduce her to a fish. If anyone has any tips on getting dogs confident on boats or in kayaks, I would really appreciate the help. She seems to be fine but we haven't come across any animals yet that she may like to chase. Any help would be great. See you guys on the water and thanks for any help in advance.

[yak-aholic]

I have a 2 month old choc lab-austrailian shepherd mix that I'm planning to take out with me from time to time. I think If I start him early, he'll be all right. Gonna have to get a bigger yak if I wanna tote him when he's grown. I'm expecting him to be at least 60 lbs. and that ain't gonna go over too well on the castaway.

[theoldcaster]

now if you can teach it to peddle you will have the best of all worlds

[snake doctor]

Hey RT,

Your dog looks like mine....named Lola. We call her a Half-rador retriever (half black lab + other). I have been wanting to try her in the yak because she gives me the "I don't understand why I can't go" look when I slip out in the mornings to fish.

A couple of things that concern me with taking her out in the yak are the heat and the UV in the sunlight. She tends to overheat because of her black coat. Sounds kinda crazy, but I have been thinking about some doggie sunglasses to protect her eyes. I have seen lots of older blind dogs in LA with cataracts from too much unprotected sun exposure.

Lola... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=18476&id=100000170262684

[ReelThrill]

Yeah they do look alike Chuck. I was kind of worried about the sun exposure for her too. I am trying to figure out some kind of cover for the back of the yak. Hobie makes a sun shade but the dang thing is nearly $250. Will continue to look around and try to come up with something. She's a swimmer and I took water with me and she seemed to do fine. Not sure how it would be all day in the open sun though.

http://www.backyardboats.com/Shop/detail.aspx?ID=5501

[ReelThrill]

Found this one for a lot cheaper Chuck. Looks like a good price.

http://www.boatstogo.com/bimini_top_kayaks.asp

[MDR]

I can give you more ideas and info on labs in general than I can about yakatizing one. I have a 4 year old chocolate female that absolutely loves the water. Since she is about 80 lbs we would play hell with her in my PBG. No way I would have tried it with my make since he was 117 lbs. (and did not like to swim)
Much will depend upon if you want the dog to get in and out of the yak on the water or on land. If on water I would prepare for getting a wet butt unless you have a yak with outriggers.
I agree on the heat and sun issues. Early morning, late afternoon should be ok, but be really careful with heat, humidity, etc. Especially if you are going to be on salt water. Last thing you need is a dehydrated dog gulping tons of salt water.
Labs are great; yak or no yak. I'm not sure if this is your first one or not, but always remember that they don't really grow up until they are 18 months old, they are smart as hell, and they are also just as hard-headed.
I really hope it works for you and the dog. For most people though, and I guess this is also dependent upon the yak they have, it is something that sounds better as an idea rather than in practice.
If i can help you or anyone else with lab questions in general feel free to give me a shout.

[MDR]

Ok, after all of that I just took a look at the pic of the yak. That may actually work since it so flat in the back.

[ReelThrill]

Thanks for the advice. I don't plan on taing her out on long trips and I always take lots of water with me. I'm not too worried about the yak flipping over, it has a 600lb weight capacity and enough room on the back for a horse. The thing that concerns me the most is the exposure for her. The second option I posted above looks good to handle the sun though. This is my first lab but my sister has had 2 of them. Your right about how smart they are. We have only had her for 4 days and already she is house broken and knows all general commands(sit, stay, down.... the usual). She also has learned to retrieve a ball and we are working on the frisbee. We taught her to retrieve sticks out of the water today and she seems to catch on pretty quickly to most commands. If we come across anything that is an issue I will definitely come to you for the knowledge. After work tomorrow afternoon I'm gonna take her out again and give it another go. Will take the camera this time and hopefully get some good shots.

[yak-aholic]

Let us know how well she pedals

[Domo]

I know that bimini top would act like a sail in a strong wind but what about in a light wind?

[ReelThrill]

Pictures from today on the water. Everything went good. She stayed in the boat the whole time and loved it. If I have time tomorrow I'm gonna try her out in the tandem yak up front. Gotta catch a fish now to see how she reacts to that.

[yak-aholic]

Just make sure you don't catch your first few on top water. That would suck to have her jump in after the fish and get caught by a treble hook.

[ReelThrill]

Yeah that would suck. I'm gonna try and catch a fish from the bank to show her first before fishing from the yak. May hit Grand Isle this coming Sunday to Fish the bank with her.

[snake doctor]

If you go in the Outfitter, try this tip that I just saw in the Kayak Fishing e-zine. Put waterproof tape over the underside of the unused Mirage Drive "hole" in the front. No water will come in and wet the dog (or other stuff up front) and it makes the hull hydrodynamically smoother. The writer also suggested partially taping over the front half of the scupper holes.

[MDR]

very cool. Thanks for the pics.

[Branch_Office]

ReelThrill, here is a link to an article I found regarding K-9 kayaking. http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles/Instruction/KayakingPets.htm
Thought you might be interestd.

[Reel Rebel]

I'd suggest you first look at rigging up a 60" umbrealla with some PVC...less to get in the way of your lines and would probably block more sun for the pup than that bimini sitting way up in the air...

[MDR]

Excellent find on the article Steve. If I had a smaller dog, and a little better trained as well, I would love to give it a try.

[ReelThrill]

Great article Steve. Alot of the stuff in there is basically what I did when introducing her. So far we only go out to short trips until I get some kind of shade rigged, but the article has a lot of great information.

[Glwlsu]

My main concern is the gators not the sun. Labs are great dogs (this is my 9th) Sam IX goes pretty much whereever I go. He goes on every motorboat trip, loves to "kiss" the fish... best dogs in the world.