Kayaking With Your Dog: Preparing for the First Trip

Kayaking with your dog: worth doing properly

Kayaking with your dog opens up a whole world of quiet bays, hidden shorelines and slow mornings on the water. It’s one of my favourite ways to explore Scotland with a four-legged companion. But a kayak is a different beast to a paddleboard, and getting the first trip right takes a bit of thought.

The vessel matters more here than in almost any other paddlesport. Get that choice wrong and you’re making life hard for both of you before you’ve even launched.

So let’s walk through how I’d prepare you and your pup so that first outing is a happy one.

Choose the right kayak first

Not all kayaks suit dogs. This matters more than most people realise.

• Sit-on-top kayaks are usually the best choice. They’re rigid, stable, and give your dog a clear, open deck to sit on. Crucially, they’re far easier to climb back onto if you both end up in the water.
• Cockpit and sea kayaks are generally not suited to dogs. They’re sensitive to weight shifts, and a dog sitting in or around an open cockpit can present a real hazard, both to your control of the boat and to a safe exit.
• Inflatable kayaks vary hugely in quality. A soft hull can be punctured by claws, so choose carefully, keep nails trimmed, and give your dog a protective mat to sit on.

Whichever you choose, check the weight rating covers you, your dog and your kit comfortably. And be honest about your own skills: you need to be able to safely self-rescue both you and your dog in open water. If you’re not there yet, that’s the first job, not the dog training.

Choosing the right vessel is a key part of the R.A.F.T. framework.

Introduce the kayak on land

Before you launch, let your dog investigate the kayak on dry ground. Treats on the deck, calm praise for climbing aboard, short sessions of sitting settled while it’s stable. I want the kayak to feel like the most boring, familiar thing in the world before it ever wobbles on water.

Then teach a clear “on” and “off” cue so boarding is calm rather than a scramble. Practise it until it’s dull. Work out where your dog is actually going to sit, too, somewhere they won’t foul your paddle stroke and won’t be knocked by it. A non-slip mat in that spot helps enormously.

We do a lot of this groundwork in our one to one training sessions, because a confident start on land saves so much stress later.

Kit check and safety essentials

A few things I never skip:

• A buoyancy aid for you, mandatory on Scottish lochs and always sensible.
• A well-fitted canine buoyancy aid for your dog, with a grab handle.
• Leads, collars and harnesses checked for rust and wear, then left off the dog once you’re on the water.
• Fresh water and a bowl, so your dog isn’t drinking loch or sea water.
• Towels and a dry coat for afterwards.

That third point deserves repeating: never kayak with a lead attached to your dog. A trailing lead is a snag and entanglement risk, and around a kayak there’s plenty to snag on. Your recall is the safety line that matters, which is why we train it hard before any trip.

Plan the practicalities

Think through the bits either side of the paddle. How will you get the kayak to the water with a dog in tow? Where will your dog wait while you carry it down? A dog loose on a busy slipway is a problem waiting to happen, so have a plan and a person or a tether point for the shore.

Pick a launch site with a gentle, shallow entry rather than a steep bank or a high pontoon. Getting a dog into a kayak from a jetty is an advanced skill, not a first-trip one.

Keep the first trip short

Your first few outings should be short and broken up with plenty of breaks on the shore. Pick a calm, warm day and sheltered, shallow water. Fifteen minutes with a happy dog beats an hour with a worried one, every time.

Watch your dog for signs of worry or fatigue: a stiff crouch, panting out of proportion to the effort, lip licking, or scanning the shore. End on a high note while they’re still enjoying it. Cold water shock is a genuine risk in Scotland year-round, so I wear a wetsuit and keep sessions well within everyone’s comfort zone.

Running through the REACT checklist before you set off keeps risk front of mind every time.

Ready to launch?

Kayaking with your dog is a brilliant partnership when it’s built on solid preparation. If you’d like a hand getting your pup water-ready, explore our one to one training sessions or get in touch and we’ll plan that first trip together.