We didn't leash him at portages. He just stays right by my husband all the time. He will go after a squirrel or chipmunk but John can call him off. He barked a total of 3 times when he treed a squirrel. Honestly my four year old was far louder and I'm sure far more annoying to other campers than our dog. :)

He learned to get into the canoe by himself halfway through the first day. Also we learned that he can swim, but he really, really does not want to.

He ate our leftovers and did not have any ill effects. Thank goodness. Heh.

What kind of dog do you have?

Great news!

Good to hear you had a good trip. It is a nice luxury if the dog doesn't leave your side on portages. Does he stay at your husbands side even if you meet someone on the trail? That is my only concern with my dog. He stays pretty close and I can call him back but he's running up and back on the trail and would love to go say hi to anyone else who might be on the portage.

I kind of figured the dog would figure out how to get in and out of a canoe. Just takes a little practice and a little repetition. Also I was certain he'd be ok with swimming even if he didn't like it much. Most dogs figure it out in just a minute or two.

As for the leftovers, do you give him leftovers at home? If not you may want to avoid it when in the BWCA as well. His stomach won't be use to it so depending on what you give him he may have some upset stomach issues that you probably don't want to deal with. If he gets some leftovers at home and its a normal thing with no issues then he's probably use to it so not as big of a deal.

quote nofish: "It is a nice luxury if the dog doesn't leave your side on portages. Does he stay at your husbands side even if you meet someone on the trail?"

I am not 100% sure because we did not portage together. I will ask about it. That is my concern, too. I hope no one was bothered by him; at the same time, it proved problematic not to have him go with John, because he felt most secure with him and John could not portage the canoe while holding a leash.

(We know that he is very gentle...you should see what our four year old puts him through and there's no problem...also hasn't been a problem with strange children...but I recognize other people don't know that. He is a very submissive dog, probably unusually so.)

quote Goldenbadger: "What kind of dog do you have? "

He is an English Shepherd, which looks quite similar to a Border Collie and is a herding dog, but he's got an "off" switch that most Border Collies don't have. The breed was bred for all-around farm work.

quote nofish: "As for the leftovers, do you give him leftovers at home? If not you may want to avoid it when in the BWCA as well. His stomach won't be use to it so depending on what you give him he may have some upset stomach issues that you probably don't want to deal with. If he gets some leftovers at home and its a normal thing with no issues then he's probably use to it so not as big of a deal."

I don't give him many at all, but I suspect other people do (my husband, on purpose, and the kids, either by accident or in the case of the little one, on purpose, too). I try not to let him get much "people food" so yeah, it was a concern for me how he'd handle it.

As long as its not too rich or too fatty then I'm sure a little here or there won't be a huge issue. I'm sure you're right that he's getting a few scraps at home anyways. Hard to avoid that with kids around. But thats what makes dogs great, never have to worry about food on the floor being there for very long.

I'm pretty strict with my dog in terms of human food. The only thing he gets is vegetables and he loves seems to love them. When I start chopping veggies for dinner he'll come running as soon has he hears the knife hit the cutting board the first time. He'll then sit and wait patienly until I'm done becuase he knows he'll get the left over scraps. I usually toss the veggie scraps in with his kibble so that he's not at the counter begging more than he already is.

Glad you had a great trip. Welcome back.

Very happy to hear the trip with Booker was a success! Sounds like he did great. I bet he is looking forward to his next adventure :-)

My dog Jake is the same when it comes to swimming, he can do it (although he does sometimes forget to use his back legs and sinks), but really dislikes getting in the water. I had hopes he would get used to it and welcome the water during the really hot days, but nope, he'd rather find a spot in the shade to cool off. On our trip, he was always the first one in the canoe, and would barely touch the water getting in it. Here is a picture of him at the end of one portage while we were taking a snack break.

Do you have some pictures of Bookers first adventure?

I have been reading over all the great posts, funny stories, and great advice about dogs.

I have one big concern... My dog doesn't bark. While she is new to us and we don't know if she even can bark, we have only heard her moan.

We have had encounters with wolves, bears, and moose... This will be our first trip with a dog (and to our knowledge, a nonvocal dog). Had anyone encountered such wildlife with their dog? If so, what kind of experience has it been?