The “bull kelp retriever” in her element on Cranstown Point, just south of Rivers Inlet.
We wondered how Lucia would do in a kayak, so as
soon as conditions allowed we put our sea kayaks into the St. Mary’s River near our home in Kimberley, B.C., and floated 15 kilometres downstream with our dog soundly asleep on an Ensolite pad between my legs. Next came the training for the worst-case scenario—a
dump in rough water. We wanted to give Lucia every possible advantage, so we borrowed a CFD (canine flota- tion device) and spent many sweltering summer after- noons swimming various sets of rapids with her, allowing her to get used to mixed-up water, and training her to stay with us while we swam.
Athirsty dog’s first encounter with salt water can have explosive results.
The southern Inside Passage was our first extended sea
kayak expedition with Lucia. We paddled a Klepper tan- dem kayak because its 14-inch depth gave Lucia more room to get comfortable on longer paddling stretches. An important piece of gear is a sprayskirt with a
waterproof zipper. This allows the dog to get “above- deck” to get some fresh air on calm seas— would you want to be locked under your sprayskirt after beach burri- to night?—and allows you to close up the cockpit if waves begin to wash over your deck.
38 Early Summer 2004
We learned there are many things to consider when
bringing a pet into a wilderness area. It is critical to have a dog that is well-trained and easy to control. The wild West Coast is home to a vivid abundance of wildlife. Every beach is at least a temporary home to sandpipers, turnstones and other shorebirds that a poor- ly trained dog would just love to chase—an ultimate sin from a no-impact standpoint. Every beach also bore the tracks of cougar, grizzly, black bear or wolf, and some- times all of the above! Any wandering away from camp a dog might do could be its last, so if a dog can’t stay put, it should be leashed. Dogs have all the basic needs that we do—food,
water and shelter. Although the dog will find all man- ner of rotten flotsam to ingest, it needs to have its regu- lar diet kept up. On a cold, wet trip, dogs will need more food than normal, just like us. We usually bring a regular ration of Lucia’s regular dog food—which for a long trip can be a daunting amount of extra food to pack—and supplement it with the some of the fresh fish we catch and eat ourselves. Athirsty dog’s first encounter with salt water can have
explosive results, but it is a lesson that the dog will likely have to learn on its own. Just pray that the purging from both ends does not occur in the middle of a long crossing. It is your responsibility to ensure your dog has access to fresh water, either from creeks near camp, or your own
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