Should You Bring Your Dog Canoeing This Summer?

Being out on the water in a canoe or kayak with your dog is the stuff summer dreams are made of. Still, as many get ready to go backcountry canoeing this summer, it’s important to ask some key questions about your beloved pet. As obedient, smart and nature-loving as your dog might be, does she belong in a canoe?

There are safety precautions you should take when bringing dogs aboard, such as wearing a pet life vest.

I often get asked by travellers interested in karibu adventure’s canoeing tour in Northern Ontario’s Temagami whether they can bring their dog on the trip. We are big animal lovers, and the Temagami itinerary is designed for dog-friendly canoeing. There are any number of dogs bounding around the backcountry lodge that serves as our launching off point.

But not all dogs do well on canoe trips. Even if you’ve got a water lover, canoeing with your dog isn’t as simple as a dip in the ocean. And while you can definitely train your dog to be in a canoe or kayak, you should find out before you commit to a multi-day tour whether your dog is ready for a summer canoe trip adventure.

Is canoeing with your dog a good idea? Things to consider

A good place to start is whether your dog is a good swimmer. Could she handle herself if the canoe tips in rough waters? A dog life jacket is essential for any trip, however, it is not sufficient to guarantee her safety.

Then, there are the other considerations: Will she stay in the canoe? Where will she sleep? When camping with your dog, will she bark all night at wilderness sounds? Could she hold her own against a coyote? What happens if she runs off or gets lost? And, on group canoeing tours, would your fellow trip-goers enjoy your dog’s company as much as you do?

Having gone on canoe trips with my own dogs, as well as other peoples’, these scenarios are all too real. My Labrador, a water dog to the bone, and smarter than some people I know, was the ultimate canoeing companion, but not all dogs (like people) are cut out for the wilderness.

karibu founder, Andrea Mandel-Campbell, with her family and their Rotti, Luna, in Temagami.

Unfortunately, my family and I learned that the hard way. We thought our second dog would also be a great tripper; at 95 pounds and built like a truck, we thought our Rottweiler, Luna, would be just the kind of rugged dog to embrace the wilderness and keep the bears at bay. Oh, how wrong we were.

While our Rotti loves water, she prefers to wallow in it like a hippo. She’s not a strong swimmer, even with a doggy life jacket, and was like a giant rolling marble in the canoe, constantly moving around and making it hard to steer.

She also got anxious when the group didn’t stick together. When my kids decided to pull their canoe up near some jumping rocks, she decided to follow, making an unexpected leap from my husband’s and my canoe, tipping it over and sending us, and all our gear, into the drink.

The episode that will forever live in infamy came on a particularly windy day in the Temagami backcountry, our favourite canoeing destination and where karibu’s tour is based. My husband was paddling solo with the dog on the big lake – Lake Temagami, and there were whitecaps. He was struggling to make headway, and as my son and I got further away in our canoe, Luna jumped out, frantic to reach us. 

This was my nightmare scenario. Luna is scratching furiously to get into my canoe, I’m holding onto her life jacket for dear life while trying (and failing) to control the canoe, knowing that if I try to pull her up, she could very likely tip me and my young son into some pretty rough water. 

I managed to keep her afloat for what felt like an eternity until my husband was able to reach us and pulled her back into his canoe. The experience certainly wasn’t as traumatic as the Retriever that was swept over some falls in Quetico Provincial Park during an American family’s canoeing trip a few years ago, but let’s just say that our Rotti hasn’t darkened the inside of a canoe since. 

In our defense, overestimating the backcountry abilities of one’s dog is not uncommon. Last summer, friends of ours took their 11-year-old spaniel mix to Algonquin Provincial Park, only to lose him as they emerged from the bush. It took three hours and 10 people to find him. The search was likely complicated by the fact that the dog was deaf.

If your dog is up for the adventure, we’d love to have her on our dog-friendly canoe tour

Luna learning to sit still in the canoe while paddling the Temagami.

At karibu, we are “canoe dog friendly”. If you are interested in bringing your dog, contact us and we are happy to discuss bringing your dog aboard and making sure he will be a safe and happy addition to our small group canoeing tour. 

There are so many great things about bringing a dog on a canoe trip to the backcountry, starting with their infectious joy at being out in the wild. That unbounded happiness can’t help but put a smile on your face. It’s a great reminder of what life’s all about, and why karibu welcomes four-legged canoeing companions. Nevertheless, it’s also important to think through whether tripping with your dog is right for her, or you.