Paddleboarding is also a great starter sport for dogs before surfing, Talton says. Rosie started paddleboarding on a family vacation at seven months. Drottar asked his kids to paddle around the dock while talking to Rosie at the end of it. She couldn’t resist being close to them. “She jumped on the board, and we were off,” Drottar says.
Where to paddleboard: Wheel Fun Rentals, Minneapolis; Tahoe Waterman Landing, Lake Tahoe, California; Paddle Cove, near Scottsdale, Arizona; and Beach Harbor Resort, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
It’s a good idea to start on small waves or to get surf lessons before putting a dog alone on a surfboard.
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2. Surfing
Dogs are natural surfers because of their stability on all four paws, Talton says. You can either surf with your dog or help them onto the surfboard for a solo ride. If your furry friend is surfing alone, you help them get on the board in the water, and another person catches them when they get to the beach. Start on smaller waves and consider lessons from a surf shop. Don’t surf with your dog until you are a fairly confident surfer, Drottar says. If you fall off the board, your dog may lose trust in your ability to keep them safe in the water, he says.
Where to surf: Ohana Surf & Skate, Galveston, Texas; Pro SUP Shop, Marina Del Rey, California; and Salty Dog Paddle, Palm Beach, Florida, which supports rescue dogs and has various locations near the Florida coast.
When kayaking, your dog will sit in front of you. Here, Mark Bagguley kayaks with Bernie.
Brendan McGuigan
3. Kayaking
Kayaks are small, narrow boats you row with a double-sided paddle. You’ll either sit inside the kayak, while your dog sits in front of you, or you’ll sit on top of it with your dog in front of you, depending on the type of kayak. Dogs on this type of watercraft generally can’t be bigger than the average family dog.
“We have accommodated small dogs up to large Labradors and golden retrievers,” says Craig Comen, owner of Kayak Mendocino, which partners on sea kayak excursions with Little River Inn, a property in Northern California’s Mendocino County.
The sea kayak experience isn’t for dogs that haven’t had much exposure to water. Once started, they’ll have to stay on the kayak for at least 90 minutes, Comen says.
Where to kayak: Mendocino County, California, for sea kayaking; Lake Placid, New York, for lake kayaking; Manhattan Kayak on the Hudson River for river kayaking; and general kayaking at Lazy Dog Adventures in Key West, Florida.
Canoes can easily fit two people and any size dog. Here, a dog in a canoe on a lake.
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4. Canoeing
Canoes are larger than kayaks and can easily fit two people and any size dog, says Cally Coombs, the owner of Little River Inn.
Source: www.aarp.org
