Monkey See Monkey Do

Much as I love her, Koira has some habits that I am not particularly fond of. Probably the biggest one is that she gets over the top excited and obsessive. When we go paddleboarding, Koira spends the entire time leaping off the SUP, swimming after the kayaks (I always go on the river with at least one other person, for both safety and fun), climbing back on the SUP and using it as a launching pad again. And barking the entire time, with a deep booming bell like bark.

Landshark locked, loaded, and launched!

She loves going paddleboarding. But she isn't the most enjoyable dog to take along in some ways. I said from the beginning that I hoped she didn't end up teaching Ptera all of her bad habits. 

Obviously Ptera is very excited by Koira's excitement and movement.

Honestly, I should have known better. I guess if I don't want Ptera to copy Koira, I can't take them out together. Because this little JRT has some serious terrier tenacity and high drive, which is just driven on even more by Koira's over the top excitement. I guess I am destined to have crazy dogs on the paddleboard with me. Or swimming after it.

Monkey see, monkey do. While Ptera doesn't spend as much time jumping off the SUP and swimming, she is confident enough to leap off into the water a few times before she gets cold.

Do your dogs teach each other things? I feel like it can work both ways. A well behaved dog with good habits and routines helps train a new dog to behave the same way. But when that same dog does crazy things like barking her head off and leaping into the water repeatedly (and then turning around to sharkbite the front of the SUP), those habits and behaviors appear to transfer as well.

I see some solo SUP trips in the future for me and Ptera, to try to get some more polite and enjoyable behavior, before the barking and craziness gets too ingrained.

Wordless Wednesday: The end of the trip

This is what the end of a SUP/kayak trip looks like

Water Fun and Water Safety

I am loving going paddleboarding with the dogs. Pallo is more mellow, while Koira is obviously having about the BEST TIME EVER every time we go. That girl loves the water an almost absurd amount.

The dogs take over the paddleboard

I went paddleboarding on the 4th of July with a friend. I only took Pallo on that trip as Koira was visiting my mom in the country to avoid the crazy fireworks here in town. My friend brought two of her jack russells along as well, which made us a two human, three dog party.

Me and Pallo hang out in our matching lifejackets on the paddleboard in the middle of the river. The camera lens was a bit wet, and of course this is taken with my waterproof little Nikon point and shoot rather than my good camera.

One of the biggest things for me is making sure that we not only have fun, but stay safe as well. That means we bring plenty of water, wear plenty of sunscreen (and in my case a long sleeved shirt for sun protection), and always, always, always wear lifejackets. The lifejacket rule applies to humans and dogs, and there are no exceptions. We also always double check for blue green algae warnings in the area and avoid areas where algae or scum is present.

Pallo showing some loving during a break

The only other big rule we have is to not take big trips alone. Even just floating the river a little ways can pose danger, and having someone else there with you is your best chance of surviving hazards. The Willamette River, where we went and where we plan to go again, is overall a pretty smooth ride with minor rapids. But people drown there every year. Normally because they are drunk college students without lifejackets, but sometimes because they are experienced and safety conscious people doing everything they can to stay safe who just end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and are unable to get themselves out of trouble.

I even brought Pallo's sunglasses along. I don't think he appreciated that very much though,

That said, taking to the river on a hot day with a friend and a crew of dogs is one of the most enjoyable things I can think of to do. Pallo got along well with Roo and Rizzo. The weather was wonderful. Using the paddleboard allowed me to jump into the river to cool off regularly, while my friend was stuck in the kayak and suffered a little more from the heat. Of course, she didn't get tossed in the river in the middle of a rapid like I did either!

Safety and fun as the priorities, and you can have an awesome time on the river.

Wordless Wednesday: Paddleboarding Fun

Paddleboarding on the 4th of July

Paddleboarding at Walton Lake

The whole point of staying at a campground at Walton Lake was so we could go paddleboarding and kayaking while we were there. Originally, we were going to go to Green Peter, which is closer to home. But Green Peter has speed boats, which means wakes and possible danger of being hit if you are in the water. Since a friend of my mom was staying at Walton Lake for the week, we decided to go there instead, and avoid the potential danger involved elsewhere.

Kayak and paddleboard, with lifejackets, sat waiting at the lake's edge below our campsite.

Since we just have the one paddleboard, we also brought along my kayak to use as well. I like the paddleboard better, both because it is easier to load and carry on my car by myself, and because it is better for doing with the dogs. I can really only fit a single dog in the kayak with me, and it's kind of cramped.

Of course, the most important thing before getting into the water is making sure everyone is safe. I always wear my lifejacket when I am kayaking or paddleboarding. The law says I have to have one on the watercraft with me- I know, however, that if I need a lifejacket, unless I am already wearing it, chances are I won't have enough time to get it on. Same goes for the dogs. All of us always wear our lifejackets. Period.

Adorable in her blue lifejacket. 

Pallo wears the older orange lifejacket. It still works well for keeping the dog buoyant in the water, but the handle isn't as reliable on it. Since Koira is more likely to need to be hauled back up out of the water, she wears the one with the better handle.

While I can and have put both dogs on the paddleboard with me, I wanted to spend some time with each of them individually. We all have the basics down of paddleboarding, so now it was time to reinforce the desirable behaviors and work on getting rid of the undesirable for Pallo, this means no whining, not standing at the very tip of the board, and not moving from the front to the back of the board over and over.

Pallo standing in the right place, back from the nose of the board and on the anti-slip matting.

For Koira, this means no barking and no jumping off the board without specific permission to do so. She has upset the board a few times previously, knocking both me and Pallo into the water. She gets so over the top excited about being on the water, just like she does at dock diving, that her brain kind of checks out a little bit. And since she does dock diving as well, she has no hesitation at leaping off into the water. For her safety and my own, I needed to get that behavior to stop.

Koira, sitting where I want her, calm, no whining, no jumping off, no chasing ducks. 

I used the treat pouch at my waist to reinforce the desired behaviors, and stopped regularly to reward.

Overall, everyone made some great progress. Attaching a treat pouch to myself really made both of the dogs check in. I was able to reinforce desirable positioning and behaviors for both dogs, which resulted in calmer, more enjoyable trips on the lake. Now to see if we keep that when I add both dogs.

Koira, sitting centered, attention on me, no whining, no jumping. She is hoping for treats. 

Fit Friday: SUP

SUP stands for Stand Up Paddleboarding. And that is the new sport that we are getting involved in. Last weekend, I picked up a board, and then on Monday, I headed to the lake with the dogs in tow and board strapped to the top of the car.

On the dock, ready to go

I had never been on a SUP before, and my only previous experiences with surfing ended badly, with lots of falling and getting gashed open by the fins. But really, other than the look of the board, paddleboarding is totally different. For one, you can do it on flatwater.

Jacketed and ready

Ideally I will be comfortable enough with the SUP that I can take it on the river. For my first time, though, I thought the flatwater of a lake would be better. We went up to Foster Lake by Sweet Home and headed down to the boat dock. The SUP I have is 10'6" long and probably 30+ lbs if I took a guess. Large and sort of awkward to move around with, but doable for one person. It may have been insane, but I brought the dogs down with me right away and we all hopped onto the board. I started out kneeling at first, to get the hang of it, and to let the dogs get the idea of what we were doing.

Pallo standing, and Koira in a down while out on the board the first time. 

Honestly, they settled in quickly and seemed to take it in stride. Koira did jump off the board a few times to swim, but it seemed more like she just couldn't stand sitting still and had to do something more so than her not liking being on the board. She figured out that to get back on she just had to swim over to near me and I would help her up with the handle on her life jacket. There was a bit of barking and whining, but again, I think it was from excitement and wanting to do something rather than being scared or not wanting to be there.

Riding the nose

Pallo tried out sitting at the front of the board and at the back of the board. At the front, he got dripped on by the paddle when I switched sides, and at the back, I think he was a little less steady. I know he knocked Koira into the water once by deciding to change positions and actually walking underneath her instead of trying to go around- Koira didn't seem to mind much though. Neither me or Pallo ended up in the water at all!

After a bit of a jaunt out with me paddling on my knees, I took the dogs back to the dock and set them up in the car in the shade while I took the board out by myself to see if I could stand up. At first, it seemed totally insane that I would feel stable doing this, but it was only a few minutes before I started feeling more confident while standing. I then went back and got the dogs for another ride out. With me standing, they actually had some more space on the board. The longer we were out, the more stable I felt. I know I was using a ton of muscles though because I was sore the next day!

She was loving watching the ski boats go by with skiers or people on floats.

Overall, we had a ton of fun. I know I got a workout, and I am sure the dogs got some great core conditioning going on with constantly maintaining balance. I am sure that the more we go, the better we will get too. I do plan on picking up some non-slip pads of some kind for the board, though. The dogs seemed like they were slipping a little bit, and when Koira tried to get back on after taking a swimming break, she had a hard time getting traction with her feet, even with me helping her via the lifejacket. Plus, her claws made some marks on the board while doing that, which I would like to prevent in the future as much as possible.

WW: Our Monday Adventure

Guess what we did on Monday.