Out in the wilderness - dangers for your dog!!
Row, row, row your boat.....
Most of us think that getting our dogs into the open air, water and woods is always good for them. But that is not necessarily true. For dogs who don’t have much self-control or aren’t adequately trained, the dangers can be painful at best and life threatening at worst. Older, more well trained dogs are less likely to go running into the woods when they hear a strange noise or see suddent movement, but younger dogs or dogs who haven’t had sufficient training, may just make a mad dash for something they saw, heard or sniffed!! This could be potentially dangerous. According to Chris Van Deusen, an outdoor guide who breeds and trains dogs for hunting and water retrieval, there are many things in the “wild” to harm your dog. He has had dogs get Lyme’s disease, cut veins in their legs in creek beds, and even had some dogs from whom he has had to pull porcupine quills. I’m sure that wasn’t a pleasant experience for either Van Deusen or the dog.
Taking your dog into the water on a boat requires a different type of training. It is best, according to Van Deusen to put the dog first in the boat on dry land. Move boat around, to see how the dog reacts to motions and movement that will be similar to the boat in water. Like any other training experience, your dog’s first interaction with that experience will probably dictate how they react to it in the future. Try and make the experience positive so that the dog feels good about the boat and any other new sites, sounds and smells that they might encounter.
The best advice is to be safe and have fun. Both you and your dog will cherish each and every experience if you follow those two small bits of advice.
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