During our week of camping at Wright's Lake, Boomer fell in love with our inflatable kayak.
When we got back from our swim across the lake, Ellie and I took the kayak out and encountered Alison and Ron finishing up their hike around the lake with both dogs. Boomer wanted desperately to get into the water, so I told Ron to let him go. He flung himself off the pier and momentarily disappeared, came up spluttering, and made a beeline for us in the kayak. He then proceeded to swim around and around us as we paddled along the shore, trying to get him to go back to the shallows where he could stand and catch his breath.
Several times he scrabbled against the gunwale or bow with his front paws, so we decided he must want to come up in the boat with us. I couldn’t lift his 70-pound bulk from above, but Morgan waded out and heaved him in.
Boomer sat in the center position, butt on one gunwale and front paws on the other, and let us paddle him around for a few minutes. Then he launched himself off the kayak into the water with a big splash, rocking the boat so much that water slopped into it. He continued to chase after us, trying to climb in, and we finally had to have Morgan drag him away on his leash before Ellie and I could paddle off on a tour of the entire lake!
The next day we had the foresight to put Boomer in his PFD (also known as a doggie lifevest) before bringing him down to the lake. He once again chased us all over in the kayak, and rode with us several times. He seemed to stay a little longer with each ride, as though he was getting more comfortable with it, and he learned to jump in more gracefully, so he didn’t threaten to capsize us.
Later in the day we encountered another family with a couple of inflatable rafts and canoes, and Boomer swam over to try to climb up and ride around with them.
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