# River Dogs @ work



## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

This is for pictures of river dogs on boats, in the water, or relaxing in camp (no generic cute head-shots, please). 

Ruby tested the new light cat frame today, with the D-deck rigged. I bumped a little sleeper in a flat stretch and she fell off headfirst— first time. Surprised us both. 









On the D-deck, reporting for duty: navigation, sniffing, licking ears, whatever. 










Ruby on watch. Note the relaxed attitude and faded PFD: she's a river vet for sure. 










Water = happiness. On Deso last fall, in her element.


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## oarboatman (Jul 20, 2006)

My river dogs


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

Here is one of Rusty on the Upper C


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## class 3 felon (May 14, 2008)

Oh no you didn't, a thread for dog pics, here's a few beginning with the dearly departed king of all river dogs Barkley Gallatin, then he and his protege Hanna Platte, queen river bitch and finally the new pup in training Percival Gunnison a.k.a. Percy, Sweat P, Mr. Peepers, P Funk, Pain in The Ass who has taken a liking to the boat as well as swam a mile of river behind me in my kayak this weekend, pretty flat water. So if he survives his first year on the river and his first camp trip with Kona he should be a good river dog also.


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

My old dog (the river and office supervisor)


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## ecarlson972 (Apr 24, 2007)

*Kona*

Since Class 3 mentioned Kona I figured I better post some pics. Unfortunately since I am at work these are the only pictures I have.[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Shoot, I need to post photos from home, I think I've posted practically all I have at work. Wait, here's two, maybe not on the boat, but on pacos. And another of Hazel, almost the bowsprit


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

OarBM— is that spotted feller Wilson? Didn't you post a shot of him "hunkering down" as the boat hit some big stuff? Great shot. 

Here are a couple more of Ruby on Deso last fall, doing her favorite thing in her favorite spot.









When she hears a rapid, she jumps up, ready for action. (Not yet.)









Mmmm— water's pretty flat, boss. You can handle it on your own. 

(Watching a dog snooze makes me happy.)


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## Toni (Sep 18, 2006)

My loyal First Mate...


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

I wanna see more dog pix. 

Bump.


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## skeeter (Mar 1, 2005)

how do get your dogs to chill on the raft? she loves to swim but freaks out once in the boat...even on flatwater.

any ideas?


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## shortbus (Jun 22, 2006)

*Piper*

My dog Piper on various raft and kayak excursions around Wyoming:


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## Toni (Sep 18, 2006)

*Goodbye sweet girl.*

Well, after my post a day or so ago, our girl declined rapidly last night. We had to put her to sleep today. We are all very sad...after 14 years of campsite guarding, bow riding, unconditional love and loyalty...the river won't be the same. 

Treasure every moment you have.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Toni said:


> Well, after my post a day or so ago, our girl declined rapidly last night. We had to put her to sleep today. We are all very sad...after 14 years of campsite guarding, bow riding, unconditional love and loyalty...the river won't be the same.
> 
> Treasure every moment you have.


Nothing makes me cry like losing a good friend. I'm so sorry, we are preparing for a similar situation someday in the future. Here's a photo of our girl, Gladys. 14, was once a river dog, last summer she was relegated to a PFD-lake-swimming dog, and even had to get hauled up on mom's lap for a rest. Oh how we love them, oh how they are angels. Gladys's nickname used to be "officer brown", now she is retired from her "patrol" duties, even though she doesn't know it. 

Warm thoughts, and visions of lots of kisses and hugs. 

About the scared dog. We traumatized Hazel, and when we got the pup, Lila the next year, we went real slow for both. Started with 2 lake days, just rowing around doing nothing. Learning to stay in the boat and not jump out until given permission. Then a flat water day, another flatwater day, and then on to class III. They both love Class III now, but we'll never risk anything high so as not to scare them. Lots of treats also, I think we gave dog cookies anytime we got by splashy water so Hazel would positively associate it.


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## skeeter (Mar 1, 2005)

Toni - so sorry to hear about your loss; it's never easy. 2 of our best buds have moved on to that great pasture in the sky, too. Its the unconditional love and simplicity of the relationship that makes it hurt so bad. You never seem to get over the loss, you just learn to manage without them.

ihowemt - thanks for the advice. our first and only attempt was on flatwater. i dont think she was scared as much as she was anxious and confused. she's a strong swimmer and knows how to read the water (its amazing how dogs learn that). we let her jump out to see what she would do and she swam right for shore. we had to eddy out to get her back in the boat. I'll try some treats but she loves swimming more than food so not sure which will win over!


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

skeeter said:


> ihowemt - thanks for the advice. our first and only attempt was on flatwater. i dont think she was scared as much as she was anxious and confused. she's a strong swimmer and knows how to read the water (its amazing how dogs learn that). we let her jump out to see what she would do and she swam right for shore. we had to eddy out to get her back in the boat. I'll try some treats but she loves swimming more than food so not sure which will win over!


Our little Lila is a bird dog to the Nth degree. Our first day out it was slightly raining, and the swallows were everywhere!! She jumped out of the boat, and swam to the middle of the lake chasing them everywhere. She had that crazed look like she did not know who we were She had her pfd, so she was OK, but we still rowed out to get her back in the boat. That was a bit stressful, and we're always watching her closely when we see birds (which is all the time). We did lots of clicker training, and so we were able to use that to reinforce her paying attention to us, even if it was for only a split second. Sometimes we kicked up the quality of treats, hot dogs, chicken, turkey, cheese, and sometimes we'd plop one after another in her mouth until the bird was gone. Now she's 2 1/2 and still a pill, but mostly under control. Good luck, and may patience be with you :grin:


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## skeeter (Mar 1, 2005)

> Good luck, and may patience be with you


For sure. I thought my wife was going to get scratched to death.

here are a few more pics of current and past best buds on the river.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Toni- too bad. Sounds like she had a great, long life on the water. 

Ruby was scared at first by rapids and wave-noise, but she settled down as her first season progressed and now she's dead keen– every time I get the boats out, she sticks to me like marine epoxy or jumps on the D-deck and roosts there, insistent. 

Worst problem we've had with dog behavior is yelping, writhing, and scratching by a dog who wanted to leap off the boat for every duck, songbird, jumping fish, etc. Seemed like she didn't recognise the difference between the river and dirt: she'd try to run across the water and then acted surprised when she went under, snorted water, etc. Maybe you could train a dog like that to boat, but you'd want to wear chaps and a canvas shirt.


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## Toni (Sep 18, 2006)

"Its the unconditional love and simplicity of the relationship that makes it hurt so bad. You never seem to get over the loss, you just learn to manage without them."


Thanks for all your thoughts. That is so true, coming home to no greeting today was heartbreaking. Thinking of taking her ashes on our Middle Fork trip. 

Skeeter, we covered our dry box with foam so that she would have some grip. For her, the best thing was to have her own solid spot, she was never a fan of being on the floor. She also needed to be allowed to stand on all fours for balance in a rapid...claw marks will always keep the memory alive!

After a few swims in Sock it to me, we tried making sure there were dry bags rigged on the sides for a bit of a buffer. Never really needed a break in period, she took to it right away, and always got right back on after being tossed off. Though, as long as I was calm, she was calm


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Teesha started as a kayak dog. She used to run down the banks of Boulder Creek and Waterton canyon my first few years boating. She'd swim a little, but never recklessly (like me). Although Boulder PD put an end to that activity with a dog at large ticket years ago, she took right to the raft when we got one.

I will miss her terribly. Thanks for the nice posts everyone.

I can only hope that her (future) successor is half as cool.


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## RDrangstveit (Jun 10, 2008)

*Fischer and Meadow*

Awesome pictures everyone, keep em coming.


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

Owyhee dogs - 2009, at least one dog on every boat.


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## Wadeinthewater (Mar 22, 2009)

I no longer boat with my dog. She was very afraid of the water.


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## danadog (Mar 18, 2005)

Kodi's first trip at 9 months a couple of weeks back.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Ruby was dead keen for a day on the water, so we did a morning run to beat the wind. Just after we put in, Huey sent us some 50-60 mph gusts. 









The dog deck (that ubiquitous PolyMax stuff with aluminum tubing support) is split, with a footwell in the center for the Wolf Goddess. It rigs in about 5 minutes. Simplissimo. 

Call this one "A Boy and His River Dog."









Her PFD is so sun-faded we oughta get a new one. But the ones I've tried so far (Ruff Wear) don't fit. She's right between medium and large, and neither quite works.


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## Rschap (Apr 29, 2009)

Not at work yet but we'll be taking them with us when we start hitting the river (we're still new). The girl is the one that's not in the boat she freeks out when she's in the water so we'll porbably leave her at home and just take the other two (we have a third dog not in the picture, he LOVES the water)


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## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

Chip, see if you can find some NRS Doggie PFD's. A medium fits our 60lb doggie, but she is less fluffy than Ruby.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Thanks. Part of the problem with the Ruff Wear jackets was length. But that's the right weight range, so I'll give it a go. 

That fluff packs down when she gets wet. When it's hot, she goes for a swim before we put on her jacket. 

God help us if she ever learns to drink beer.


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## brocolliboy (May 26, 2005)

Sage getting her groove on.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Chip said:


> Thanks. Part of the problem with the Ruff Wear jackets was length. But that's the right weight range, so I'll give it a go.
> 
> That fluff packs down when she gets wet. When it's hot, she goes for a swim before we put on her jacket.
> 
> God help us if she ever learns to drink beer.



Jeff taught Hazel to drink beer as a pup, then she always knocked his over! We have a spare ruff wear pfd, could send it to you if you want. We had 4 pups, and they all had pfd's, now we're down to 3 and only 2 boat anymore. Let me know, Stella would be proud to pass it on to another water/river dog. It's lonely.


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## jwey (Aug 14, 2008)

*Stevie & Bruno, hard at work...*


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## jwey (Aug 14, 2008)

Whoop's... crap, sorry about the huge pics everyone. I'm an internetidiot. Cheers!


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## LSB (Mar 23, 2004)

Just adopted a German Wire Hair Pointer.... 
She is shaping right up to be a great bird dog too.
Named her Keeka (female conjugation for mustache)


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Great shots. Keep 'em coming. 

I got some of those foam pool noodle things and put deluxe edges on a piece of PolyMax grid. Here's Ruby trying it out. 









Our backyard class II run is perfect: rocks just out enough so you have to dodge 'em, and the river is the color of iced tea. Lots of warblers and dippers and such. Saw a baby beaver yesterday. Greener than green. 

Nice to have dog supervision. Otherwise I might get out of hand.


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## Old Fart (Oct 12, 2003)

My buddy Trout RIP


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## bmml112 (Mar 3, 2009)

anyone have a free puppy


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## Toni (Sep 18, 2006)

I know...I think I'm ready for one now.

"Trout" what a great name.


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## bmml112 (Mar 3, 2009)

or "Rivers"


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## LSB (Mar 23, 2004)

I'm a firm believer in adopting dogs. I wanted a good lab or pointer for hunting and refuse to pay $3-500 for a dog. so I started watching the ads on craigs list etc. and doing some searches of the regional shelters. I was careful not to jump on just any free pup. In fact I turned one down because he didnt seem birdy enough. This one came from an adoption outfit called PAWS in Cheyenne (I think) She cost a $125 adoption fee = donation to the shelter and gas money for the 8 hour trip to pick her up. PAWS has a pretty extensive adoption application (pain in the ass) but I got a kickass bird dog out of the deal.

In this economy I cant imagine that those high dollar pups are moving from the breeders very fast. I considered calling on some of the ads and saying "here's my number, in a few months when you still have these $500 dogs give me a call and I'll come get one of them for free"


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## Kathy (Jun 1, 2009)

*Pup's First Day on the River*

Nothing like a puppy nap on slack water!


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## CO14 (Nov 12, 2003)

Here's me and Charlie cruisin' Ruby Horsthief








and attack of the hungry labs "feed me, feed me"


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

Here's some pics of my aussie pup Tucker's first float. Southfork Snake. He was one "Tucker'd " out pup by the end of the weekend.
KJ


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

Harvey, the raftin' dog, the raftin' dog, the raftin' dog...
Hard at work- navigator, leg warmer, and booster seat.


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## ecarlson972 (Apr 24, 2007)

*Labor day weekend*

Stella and Kona on the Colorado 


[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

ecarlson972 said:


> Stella and Kona on the Colorado


Stella! My Stella died June 2008, black lab, enjoy yours! She was a seal, or fish, or hybrid of the two. Crazy about water. I miss her. She had one crooked ear also.


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## cadster (May 1, 2005)

Caddy in Westwater.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

I never seem to get good photos of the girls on the boat, but here's some from July's Main Salmon


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## summitraftgirl (Jul 23, 2008)

Here's our choco lab, Laura, doing what she does best! Cliff jumping with the boys on Brown's, Seidel's with my husband, and Deso/Grays last summer. She LOVES the water and loves being on our raft and cat.


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## Kathy (Jun 1, 2009)

Here are some photos of our little girl's first trip down the wild and scenic section of the Rogue. In these photos Kazie is 6 months old and already a total pro. 

As a side note, I was very pleased with the fit and the high flotation of her Ruff Wear Big Eddy Float coat!


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## brenda (Aug 10, 2008)

*In Memory of Arnie*

It took a while for me to get the courage to post this. Our little Arnie died while defending our neighbor who was attacked by a bear while out for a hike with his dog and ours. After many hours of plastic surgery our friend survived, but little Arnie was killed giving our friend a chance to get away. His little box of ashes sit on top of my computer to this day.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Sorry to hear— being remembered like that might be as much of heaven as we deserve. 

This is what Ruby does while we unload, and load, and unload, and load the boat. Heaven on earth p'raps—









Dogs can teach you to enjoy life.


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## kree (May 23, 2009)

*a smile on every snout!*

the pro (Jesus) Jones and rookie Benjamin enjoying Ruby.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

brenda said:


> It took a while for me to get the courage to post this. Our little Arnie died while defending our neighbor who was attacked by a bear while out for a hike with his dog and ours. After many hours of plastic surgery our friend survived, but little Arnie was killed giving our friend a chance to get away. His little box of ashes sit on top of my computer to this day.


What an adorable little guy! I'm so sorry for you, losing our angels is never easy, and he really was an angel in this life, wasn't he?


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## raymo (Aug 10, 2008)

brenda said:


> It took a while for me to get the courage to post this. Our little Arnie died while defending our neighbor who was attacked by a bear while out for a hike with his dog and ours. After many hours of plastic surgery our friend survived, but little Arnie was killed giving our friend a chance to get away. His little box of ashes sit on top of my computer to this day.


Both of you have a great amount of courage. Sorry about Arnie.


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## Boilerblues (Jun 15, 2007)

Some photos of my boys when they were pups. Their first time on the river was at 12 weeks old.


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

Seeing as how Mt Buzz is dead I thought I would add to the list of the departed. RIP the Shit Burglar (aka Rufus the river dog). I am sure he is now burgaling the giant golden throne in the sky (I have it on good authority the turds of the heavenly host taste like twinkies!).


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## class 3 felon (May 14, 2008)

RIP Rufus "Shit Burglar" floating on the river Styx.

Way to revive a thread from back in 2009 when my now 13 year old dog was just a pup, it's been a great 13 years on the water for me and Percy. Here's a pic of us playing wiffleball on the beach from our last float of 2021 and the old man still playing catcher, shortstop and outfielder. Hope we see the water together in 2022


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## BenSlaughter (Jun 16, 2017)

Reuben AKA The Sammich on the Middle fork a few years ago.
He did his first trip, on The Klamath at barely four months old, and he's been on every trip, since save for the gnarliest.








Without sufficient dog sitting, he even ran the Illinois a few years ago. Class V lab!









Turned 9 on Christmas Eve, and still charges like a pup!


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## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)




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