She loves the canoe !

lsatov · 07-31-2011, 05:50 PM

I have a 16 mos female GSD. We are training for shutzhund but using only positive training which does include clicker training. She is very green but very confident and loves to problem solve which I think is due to the clicker training and just the way she is.
Her prey drive is high and she loves to swim. My husband and myself enjoy extreme wilderness camping, our canoe weighs only 35lbs so is very tippy in the water and I really wanted to introduce her to the canoe but had concerns of her chasing the splash from the paddles and jumping in after the wildlife and it just being a disaster, all of us in the water.
So I bought her a life jacket let her run around in it and down we went to the water and of course she jumped off the dock and went for a swim. While she is swimming around, got the canoe in the water and my husband was in the canoe trying to stablilize it.
I got Journey back on the dock we walked to where the canoe was, and she checked it out, I then gave her the okay and in she went into the canoe and then jumped out the other side, back to swimming.
While she is swimming beside the canoe with her life jacket on decided I would try a trick to getting a dog into the canoe that the hunters use. Called her over she gets her front legs and chest up on the side of the canoe as my husband is counterbalancing I just pushed down on the back of her neck/ head and the rest of her followed. Okay that worked well, now how is she going to respond to this very unstable canoe?
Not an issue moved around a bit to get the feel of this thing and then sat down.
Off we went very slowly at first to see how she responds to the paddle splashes, she is interested but some how knows not a good idea to move much. Everything is great she is relaxed and then she sees a deadhead OMG she must of thought it was a sea monster, barking standing up, but!! she responded to a firm sit but continued to bark at the monster. We paddled right up to it, she sniffed it and that was that.
We paddled for 1 hour seeing many deadheads and strange animals no response from her. She was great I think with a few more desensitizing sessions we will be ready for the wilderness.
I think I will take her by canoe tomorrow and go under some train trellis maybe as a train is going over and do some big water so she gets use to the unexpected. I do not know how I will introduce the moose in the water though.
I learned much today about this dog, very adaptable, she is a thinker, but she is really starting to bond and trust me even when I put her in very different situations. She wants to work with me.
Everything the trainers have been saying is true, slow and steady get the foundation right.
Thanks for reading, just need to share with individuals that have dogs and understand.
Laurel

**Castlemaid** · 07-31-2011, 07:15 PM

Wow! Amazing! What a great girl you have. You will have so much fun taking her along on adventures. Smart girl you have there, congrats!

lsatov · 07-31-2011, 07:44 PM

Thanks so far so good. Training the way I am and my inexperience it feels good to start seeing some results.
I am glad I listened and let her develop and just keep working on foundation stuff. But it is hard not wanting to jump forward.
I can't wait to start camping with her, get her use to wilderness, and carying her own pack. I think it will help us develop a tighter bond.
Laurel

**MaggieRoseLee** · 08-01-2011, 09:24 AM

Hey, if you didn't take pictures and post them here, it never happened!

PICTURES!!!

lsatov · 08-01-2011, 10:10 AM

I will have to grow another arm or get more friends to handle the camera. or maybe could get a carmea mounted on my fore head?
Laurel

**jocoyn** · 08-01-2011, 10:14 AM

Your way of getting her into the canoe is how we do it with a jon boat. My husband and I are thinking of getting kayaks (lighter more portable so we would be more likely to use) but wondering what size would be big enough for one adult one small grandkid or dog ..... though ........35lb canoe seems light.

wildo · 08-01-2011, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsatov

While she is swimming beside the canoe with her life jacket on decided I would try a trick to getting a dog into the canoe that the hunters use. Called her over she gets her front legs and chest up on the side of the canoe as my husband is counterbalancing I just pushed down on the back of her neck/ head and the rest of her followed.

Don't know if you guys have a waterproof camera that takes video, but I would love to see how this process is done! I've wanted to take my adult GSD on a canoe trip, but was concerned with how to get her back in the canoe without capsizing it in the event she jumped out.

lsatov · 08-01-2011, 10:54 AM

Our canoe is a wilderness canoe so very light to make the portages easier, and gives us better manouverability and has no keel, it is 16 feet long and made of kevlar. We can trip 2 adults 1 adult dog and all our geer for 15 days.

We use to trip all the time with my other GSD who was raised in a canoe, plus 3 kids and two adults. We then used a very different canoe it was tripple keeled very stable and very long as it also carried all our geer. but much shorter trips.

With this dog very different personality, and no kids thought we would just start with the tripping canoe.
I would suggest you need to desensitize your dog to the canoe in quiet water with no kids. When the dog is comfortable and calm, canoe to various areas and expose her to differnt environments she will encounter in the wilderness, Also need the dog to be able to respond to various basic commands under stress, Leave it, sit and down should do it oh and your release word. Our first atempt my husband did most of the paddle work while I concentrated on the dog and her responses.

Having her life jacket on really helped get her back into the canoe gave her more floatation. Capsizing is always a concern need to wear your life jackets! Need to teach your dog how to behave in the canoe so it becomes second nature, the dog learns what is okay behavior and what is not. In the begining use a more stable canoe, many are available and quite difficult to dump, need to learn how to water proof geer and turn canoe right side up. another idea is to go out with 2 canoes the 2nd canoe carrys the geer and if you dump you can do a t-rescue
Hope to get back into the wilderness soon but need to do a few more trial runs with the dog in a empty canoe and then with geer.
I don't have ater proof camera good idea but right now not enough arms to do everything.
Laurel

07-31-2011, 05:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
lsatov Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ontario canada Posts: 31	She loves the canoe ! I have a 16 mos female GSD. We are training for shutzhund but using only positive training which does include clicker training. She is very green but very confident and loves to problem solve which I think is due to the clicker training and just the way she is. Her prey drive is high and she loves to swim. My husband and myself enjoy extreme wilderness camping, our canoe weighs only 35lbs so is very tippy in the water and I really wanted to introduce her to the canoe but had concerns of her chasing the splash from the paddles and jumping in after the wildlife and it just being a disaster, all of us in the water. So I bought her a life jacket let her run around in it and down we went to the water and of course she jumped off the dock and went for a swim. While she is swimming around, got the canoe in the water and my husband was in the canoe trying to stablilize it. I got Journey back on the dock we walked to where the canoe was, and she checked it out, I then gave her the okay and in she went into the canoe and then jumped out the other side, back to swimming. While she is swimming beside the canoe with her life jacket on decided I would try a trick to getting a dog into the canoe that the hunters use. Called her over she gets her front legs and chest up on the side of the canoe as my husband is counterbalancing I just pushed down on the back of her neck/ head and the rest of her followed. Okay that worked well, now how is she going to respond to this very unstable canoe? Not an issue moved around a bit to get the feel of this thing and then sat down. Off we went very slowly at first to see how she responds to the paddle splashes, she is interested but some how knows not a good idea to move much. Everything is great she is relaxed and then she sees a deadhead OMG she must of thought it was a sea monster, barking standing up, but!! she responded to a firm sit but continued to bark at the monster. We paddled right up to it, she sniffed it and that was that. We paddled for 1 hour seeing many deadheads and strange animals no response from her. She was great I think with a few more desensitizing sessions we will be ready for the wilderness. I think I will take her by canoe tomorrow and go under some train trellis maybe as a train is going over and do some big water so she gets use to the unexpected. I do not know how I will introduce the moose in the water though. I learned much today about this dog, very adaptable, she is a thinker, but she is really starting to bond and trust me even when I put her in very different situations. She wants to work with me. Everything the trainers have been saying is true, slow and steady get the foundation right. Thanks for reading, just need to share with individuals that have dogs and understand. Laurel

07-31-2011, 07:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
Castlemaid Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northern British Columbia Posts: 9,089	Wow! Amazing! What a great girl you have. You will have so much fun taking her along on adventures. Smart girl you have there, congrats! __________________ Lucia Keeta BH, OB1, TR1, AD (HOT) Rottweiler/Hairy Dog mix?? Shelter rescue Gryffon Vom Wildhaus BH, OFA Good (HOT) "Bites Through the Sleeve" Cuddlebug, b: Mar 2009

08-01-2011, 09:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
MaggieRoseLee The Agility Rocks! Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Bushkill, PA (The Poconos!) Posts: 22,215	Hey, if you didn't take pictures and post them here, it never happened! PICTURES!!! __________________ MACH2 Bretta Lee Wildhaus CGC TC TQX Glory B Wildhaus NA, NJ, NF + LOL (still) "*Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde*

08-01-2011, 10:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
lsatov Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ontario canada Posts: 31	I do not have enough hands. I will have to grow another arm or get more friends to handle the camera. or maybe could get a carmea mounted on my fore head? Laurel

08-01-2011, 10:14 AM	#6 (permalink)
jocoyn Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: South Carolina Posts: 8,048	Your way of getting her into the canoe is how we do it with a jon boat. My husband and I are thinking of getting kayaks (lighter more portable so we would be more likely to use) but wondering what size would be big enough for one adult one small grandkid or dog ..... though ........35lb canoe seems light. __________________ Nancy www.scsarda.org Grim (Grimmy Bear) & Beau (Bo-dee man) Waiting at the Bridge: Cyra, Toby, Rainbow, Linus, Oscar, Arlo & Waggles

07-31-2011, 07:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
lsatov Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ontario canada Posts: 31	Thanks so far so good. Training the way I am and my inexperience it feels good to start seeing some results. I am glad I listened and let her develop and just keep working on foundation stuff. But it is hard not wanting to jump forward. I can't wait to start camping with her, get her use to wilderness, and carying her own pack. I think it will help us develop a tighter bond. Laurel

08-01-2011, 10:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
lsatov Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ontario canada Posts: 31	GSD and canoe Our canoe is a wilderness canoe so very light to make the portages easier, and gives us better manouverability and has no keel, it is 16 feet long and made of kevlar. We can trip 2 adults 1 adult dog and all our geer for 15 days. We use to trip all the time with my other GSD who was raised in a canoe, plus 3 kids and two adults. We then used a very different canoe it was tripple keeled very stable and very long as it also carried all our geer. but much shorter trips. With this dog very different personality, and no kids thought we would just start with the tripping canoe. I would suggest you need to desensitize your dog to the canoe in quiet water with no kids. When the dog is comfortable and calm, canoe to various areas and expose her to differnt environments she will encounter in the wilderness, Also need the dog to be able to respond to various basic commands under stress, Leave it, sit and down should do it oh and your release word. Our first atempt my husband did most of the paddle work while I concentrated on the dog and her responses. Having her life jacket on really helped get her back into the canoe gave her more floatation. Capsizing is always a concern need to wear your life jackets! Need to teach your dog how to behave in the canoe so it becomes second nature, the dog learns what is okay behavior and what is not. In the begining use a more stable canoe, many are available and quite difficult to dump, need to learn how to water proof geer and turn canoe right side up. another idea is to go out with 2 canoes the 2nd canoe carrys the geer and if you dump you can do a t-rescue Hope to get back into the wilderness soon but need to do a few more trial runs with the dog in a empty canoe and then with geer. I don't have ater proof camera good idea but right now not enough arms to do everything. Laurel

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