4. Safety
Ultimately you need to have
confidence in your paddling
ability to get to your dog
quickly, should it run into
difficulties. It’s also important
to keep an eye on the general
welfare of the hound on the
water; is it too cold, has it
eaten and drunk enough fresh
water? Keep an eye out for
wildlife too – a duck doesn’t
expect a dog to arrive by
paddle board.
5. Have fun
Getting out and paddle
boarding is all about stoke
and taking along a companion
just doubles that.
And a free bonus tip?
Don’t ever expect to stay dry!
Ruby quickly became the most popular club
member at InlandSUP and everyone was
keen to paddle with her on board until they
realised that when she jumps off, she goes
one way and the board goes the other –
sharpish! She also has become a bit of a
local attraction in Birmingham with people
stopping to gaze in disbelief at the paddle
boarding dog.
So far we have been on some great
adventures together; from SUP surfing in
Wales, paddling the River Wye, including
Symonds Yat Rapids, to exploring local
rivers and waterways, and there will be
many more to come. The joy of paddling
with Ruby is twofold; the enjoyment I get
from being out on the water and also seeing
the pure delight on Ruby’s face when we are
SUPing together.
So how do we do it?
Getting to where we are now has been down
to a lot of preparation and training – on both
of our parts. In the early days I would spend
time with Ruby on the land, letting her get
used to sitting on it, noticing that it moved
and rocked when she stood on the rails or
nose, and generally ensuring she knew
exactly what it was. Sometimes it is easy to
forget when introducing dogs to new things
that they are usually very suspicious –
taking the time to be comfortable with the
board is key to happiness.
Once we moved onto the water it was a
totally different ball game and Ruby was in
her element, jumping off the board and
swimming. It took a while to get her used to
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staying on board and also for me to get
used to having such a dynamic weight
moving about my supposedly stable
platform. Working with Ruby to enable us to
get places took some time; if she had her
own way she would swim everywhere but
that’s just not possible and would wear her
out too quickly, so we slowly build up
commands and instructions. We’re not
perfect, but it all works for us.
One decision I took was that Ruby wouldn’t
wear a pet buoyancy aid while on the water.
This was for a couple of reasons; one being
she just doesn’t like wearing them and
another being that she’s a confident
swimmer without. It’s a very personal
choice that each owner will need to take.
She does however wear a harness; this
provides so many more places where I can
help her onto the board.
In the early days we used the club boards
and took it for granted that Ruby could
climb on fairly easily. When I bought my
first board it didn’t have the padded deck
like the club ones and Ruby struggled with
getting her balance on the board and also
climbing back on.
After learning how to do it ourselves we
arranged another session for Ruby’s
Adventure Club friends and it’s gone from
strength to strength – in September and
October alone we delivered sessions to over
50 Canine SUPers in Birmingham.
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