While labs are generally excellent swimmers, they sometimes get lazy/panicked and try to ride you to shore. When swimming with my labs, I always push them away when they try to "board me". After a year or so, their instinct has shifted to "look for shore" instead of "look for Dad!". That's generally not their natural instinct, though. They're such "people dogs" that they always want to be right by your side. I'm sure mine would come near drowning if I were to drown--they'd swim around looking for me rather than heading to shore when they got tired. I don't plan to drown anytime soon, though! Shawn Proud "Father" of two labs Jackie wrote: >About a year later, I read about a swimmer who was >drowned by his large dog that had panicked in the water and attempted to >climb on top of his owner for safety. >btw, the dog attempting to climb on top of me was quite able to make it >to shore... just too stupid (panicked?) to know he could do it. 8-} He >followed me and my boat in. -- Shawn W. Baker 0 46°53'N © 2000 ____©/______ 114°06'W ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^\ ,/ /~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ baker_at_montana.com 0 http://www.geocities.com/shawnkayak/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 08:20 AM 8/18/00 -0600, Shawn W. Baker wrote: >While labs are generally excellent swimmers, they sometimes get >lazy/panicked and try to ride you to shore. When swimming with my labs, >I always push them away when they try to "board me". Last weekend on a 2 1/2 kayak/camping trip one of the guys that went brought his 8 week old chocolate lab. He put a couple of pieces of foam pad on the foredeck then strapped a milk crate on top. The dog rode out to the camp sleeping in the milk crate. The next morning we went out for a day paddle and the dog was small enough that he could lay on the spray skirt. As soon as we hit the water he promptly went ot sleep. It was too cute. Later that evening we went out on the dead calm lake and paddled to one of the few sandy beach areas on the lake to go swimming. After swimmng my friend put his dog in the cockpit and tried to launch. The dog kept on climbing onto the seat so he eventually tried to launch by first sitting on the rear deck, holding the dog in one hand, then get into the boat. Notice, I said, "tried". He was a few feet from shore, lost his balance, and the pup did his first wet exit. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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