Shut Up and Paddle

I found and rescued the most amazing little dog last November. I almost ran into her in the street while I was on vacation in Blue Ridge, GA. After five days in the pound, I went back to pick her up and bring her home with me. Training her has been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done…and yet she’s one of the most amazing parts of my life. I just love this little dog!!

Zoe shortly after I brought her home. She was so calm and quiet that first week.

I struggled for a while about what to do with her while I paddled. There are lots of haters who just said, “Leave dogs at home!” Well, I’m a “single dog mom” and live 2+ hours from rivers, so even a day trip is a 10-hour or more event, too long to leave her home alone in the crate. Plus, she loves coming to the river and seeing all her people and dog friends, and we often do over night trips. Now I have a system for leaving her in the car while I’m on the river…it involves planning and lots of preparation to make it work so she won’t get too hot, but it seems to be working great for now. This way, she’s only alone for a few hours while I’m on the river. The rest of the time, she is with me in the car or running around by the river or camp ground. [If you're struggling with this dilmema as well, shoot me a line and I'd be happy to give you ideas that have been helpful to me. But please don't try to debate bringing dogs vs. leaving them at home.]

On a trip to the Hiawassee River a few months ago, I decided to bring Zoe along and see how she did on the river. She split her time between a duckey with a friend’s son and sitting on my cockpit. Sadly, I discovered she is not much of a water dog. Her most eager swimming was when she jumped out of the duckey to swim toward an island, where she excitedly ran the length of the small island, back and forth. For the most part, however, she did GREAT! She was a bit cold since it’s a cold river. But she otherwise stayed in the boat and even spent some time surfing a small wave on the cockpit of my boat.

I’ve asked some people for advice about possible rafts to bring Zoe down other rivers me. Again, there are lots of haters out there who said dogs don’t belong on rivers. Granted, it takes planning and you have to know your dog pretty well and give it lots of exposure to the water. But it can be done, and is actually done quite often!

Look! It’s an Ocoee Dog!!

I don’t know who this dog is or who these people are, but I just love this dog!!

Got any pics of paddling with your four-legged kids? Please send em to me! I’m collecting pictures of paddling dogs and would love to post yours. Thanks!