Just curious, how old was your dog on his/her first trip?

We're contemplating taking our lab to the Q in Sept. She'll be 11 mo then. We're already working on training her...

eight months old on this trip, he did fantastic.

Mine was just over a year for his first trip, though I would take a dog that was younger if I felt they were ready. I actually called to rent a canoe when he was just 4 months for a short trip, but that was the day the Pagami Creek fire blew up so cancelled.

Thanks for the replies. As we continue to train her throughout the spring/summer we'll see how she does.

At 5 months, she currently LOVES to chase any other animal. Has already killed a rabbit, a few mice and a mole. We'll have to work on that.

However leash training is going great.

Hilde.

quote jwartman59: " eight months old on this trip, he did fantastic."

Funny...still a 'lap' dog.

At 11 mo old she'll be plenty old enough to handle the trip. Its really more a matter of her training and how canoe ready she is.

Make sure to have a solid recall command, and solid "leave it" command, and also work on canoe skills with the dog prior to the trip. You don't want to find out she's not a canoe dog the first day of your trip.

We had our dog in a canoe many times before he was a year old but his first trip to the BWCA wasn't until he was 3. He just didn't go on a trip where we could take him until that age. If the opportunity would have come up before then he would have come with us.

nofish,

Thanks for your help and insight. We do have plans to start canoe training soon..first in the yard, then at the lake. I too, do not want to have her first canoeing experience begin on our trip. :)

Thanks for the command info. I'd been wondering about which ones to really focus on so that gives me some direction. She does really well with 'drop', but 'come' and 'leave it' is more of an 'option' to her right now. We'll keep working on those.

If you haven't done a basic obedience training class with the dog now might be a good time that way you have plenty of time to practice before your trip.

I've done classes at a few places in the Twin Cities so if you are in the area I could recommend a few. The training is almost more for the owner than it is the dog. It helps provide a structure to the training you are doing and helps make sure you are approaching it in a consistent manner that the dog will pick up on quicker.

Sounds like you've got a good plan on canoe introduction. Some dogs like mine take to it right away. Other dogs its a bit more of a transition. One thing I would suggest is the first time you introduce the dog to the canoe make it on a short canoe trip to a local lake. Just act like this is what we are doing and don't make a big deal out of it. The dog might hop right in and settle in because thats what you (the pack) is doing. If that doesn't go well and there are signs of fear and or lots of hesitation then go back to the canoe in the yard and get her comfortable with the canoe that way. I think if you start the introduction at home in the yard you are introducing this crazy foreign thing into a space that the dog is use to and its possibly going to be more on alert and probably more wary of it. If the intro is at a lake where everything is new to her hopefully the canoe won't stand out as anything to be worried about.

With Echo.....
6 months car camped at the Kawishiwi Lake EP campground and did daytrips and then at 9 months a bwca trip.

Gunter was 10 months or so for his first trip, despite walking and being active at home one of his soft puppy feet got a blister on the way out. Other than that he had a great time and did very well. It was a good experience for him at that young an age.

nofish
Yes, we started basic obedience training near where we live a month and a half ago.

Interesting thoughts about not starting canoeing practice in the yard. I can see how it might be confusing. Maybe we'll skip that and just do the local lake in shallow water first.

barracuda-
Good to know..We do some of our weekly walks at the local state park. My hope is to get her conditioned to the trail as well as sights and sounds she encounters. As we get closer to our trip, I'll add more of those kinds of walks in (daily). I also added foot balm to my doggie first-aid list.

Thanks for taking the time to help me (us) out!

oops. milo did his first bwca trip at five months. a three nighter. you know you've done a lot of bw trips when you forget one from two years ago. that's my son, guilty of swimming without a pfd.

Five or six. I forget if we went the first year we got him or if it was the summer after (adopted as an adult)

We had Beverly out on a week-long BWCA trip when she was three months old. No problems. She was a fantastic backcountry dog for her entire life (13.5 years).

I think Willow was about 4. I would have taken her sooner, but that trip was the first I had taken to the BW in about 17 years! Now you can't keep me away.

4 months - but that was at Savannah Portage State Park - Wolf Lake - Canoe access...

He is now 10 months old a GSP - and will be 1 year and 2 months when we go to the bwca again.

We also have a 4.5 year old JRT - and thinking about taking her and leaving him at home.... but we will see.

Our puppy is a German Shorthaired Pointer GSP.

Bernice was two. By the time she went we'd had a lot of canoe time together at home. I'd paddle across the lake to visit my dad almost every night. Using my little Old Town Pathfinder I paddled it backwards from the bow seat. And instead of making her just sit still I let her bring a ball. She'd bat it around and we'd play all the way across. At first the canoe was all over the place. But she got to where she could move around without hardly a wable. When we'd go tripping it was all business. She knew to wait to get out etc. Never a poop on the trail or in camp. Never a poop on my yard at home either. She was fascinated by wildlife. Chased a big buck out of our campsite once, but that's all she did. He didn't go far, he kind of watched us for a while. Dogs amaze me on the portage trail. We went to many places where the trails were hardly used at all and always went the right way. I think the key is spending a lot of time with them. They get to know what you want and expect over time. At home she chased deer and animals out of the yard. But if you went just a few yards in the woods you'd see deer beds everywhere. She even had a skunk friend. One dark night we were walking and she ran over to the other side. I shone my light over there and a skunk was rubbing up against her like they were old friends. I miss her a lot as she was so much fun and easy to have out there. I guess the biggest thing I found was to be consistent with expectations at home and wherever. Dogs are so much like us... Better to praise them bigger than you reprimand them. One thing, if you have a black dog, that fur will really absorb the heat of the sun. I had two black dogs over the year. They both seemed very much more uncomfortable in the hot sun. So that could be an issue to watch for on hot days.

Luna was 2 and 1/2 and did great. I can't wait to take her again this summer when she'll be 5.