This weekend we spent the day at Patagonia Lake to finish off Kronos’s birthday celebration. I had spent the weekend attending a workshop in Phoenix and then went on a road trip to Los Angeles with my family. So after a week of not much activity, Bella, Terra, and Kronos were more than ready to stretch their legs. We packed lunch, bully sticks, toys, water, a water bowl, and poop bags and headed to the lake.

We found a little spot by the water and hung out there for a bit. Terra cooled off, then chilled on the shore. Bella and Kronos swam after tennis balls, and Kronos spent some time jumping into the water just for fun.

Bella and Kronos wore their life jackets for awhile, because Kronos still likes to try to swim on Bella. With the life jacket, she didn’t have to worry about being pushed under the water. And it allowed them to swim longer without tiring themselves out too much.

After playing fetch for awhile, we went to the marina and asked to take out a watercraft on the lake. We were advised to take out a canoe. The canoe fit all of us easily, although it was big and somewhat hard to maneuver for one person because it was windy.

Bella, Terra, and Kronos got in with their lifejackets and we paddled across to the other side of the shore. This was Terra’s first time doing this kind of thing and she did fabulous. I must admit I was concerned when she was interested in the ducks passing us by, though she didn’t make a move when I told her she’d better not even think about it.

During our trip to Lake Pleasant in Phoenix she had once herded some ducks out in the middle of the lake, deaf to any calls telling her to come back to shore. She hadn’t been wearing a life jacket, and I was terrified that she would get tired and I’d have to go out there and try to swim us both back to shore (I didn’t have a lifejacket either, because we had just been playing on the bank). Thankfully when she got close enough to shore, I was able to grab her collar and put her back on lead.

She is slowly working on earning back her off lead trust after misbehaving during various off leash outings. Bella and Kronos keep such a close eye on where I am and check in so often that I’m not too worried about them. Terra sometimes has her own agenda which doesn’t include a person, because she had never been asked to look to people or work with them growing up.

Terra sat in the canoe and just watched everyone and everything. I was very proud of how well she did.

We parked our canoe near a rocky area and then played some fetch, walked around the cliffs, and then warmed up in the sun.

When we brought the canoe back to the marina, three languid and tired pups leaped onto the dock and loaded up into the car.

Have you ever been boating, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, or anything else with your dog? This was totally new to us (with dogs), but we had so much fun and can’t wait to try more activities that can include your dog and dog sports!