Fishin' buddy

[dudley]

Took my dog fishin' yesterday for the first time in a couple of years
He's always 'gotten it'. He knows what it means when the fly rod gets strung up. He knows about rivers and fish. He knows to watch for rises and gets excited when he sees one. When a fish is landed and released he needs to be there to see.
That's all great, but in the past he'd get bored and wander off or worse, decide that he needed to wade in and splash around.
Now apparently at age 9 he's content to lie on the bank and watch.
4 or 5 people and another dog walked by yesterday and he didn't do anything more than turn his head to watch.

In the past, I'd either feel guilty about taking off and going fishing without him or skip fishing and take him out for a hike instead.
But now that he's more mature, I think I have a new fishin' buddy

[pork]

Great post! You couldn't ask for a bette fishing buddy than that.

I wish my dog could be a fishing buddy, but he needs to be on leash or he'll wander off. He won't go in the water and spook fish, so I guess that's a plus for him. I brought him to the Hammonasset River once last year and tied him to a tree (just below Chestnut Hill Rd.). Everything was going okay until I got out of his leash range (which was rather large w/a very long leash)...he cried. It happened every time I got even a foot out of his range. All that crying was kind of endearing, but didn't make for a paceful day of fishing. What a big baby. :)

[Col. Trautman]

Hi Dudley,

Did you employ any special training prior to bringing him out? I have a puppy who I would like to start taking but since fishing in CT is often done near roads/without a lot of wilderness I dont want to chance it yet.

Any suggestions?

Jamie

[dudley]

Hi Dudley,

Did you employ any special training prior to bringing him out? I have a puppy who I would like to start taking but since fishing in CT is often done near roads/without a lot of wilderness I dont want to chance it yet.

Any suggestions?

Jamie
I've taken him hiking a lot and he really enjoys that.
And he knows that if he doesn't behave himself he doesn't get to go.
It's mostly off leash, but I keep it handy in case of encounters with other hikers and dogs. He'll actually come to me to be put on the lead if he sees someone coming :)
Andy is very protective and when out in the woods always needs to know where I am...he doesn't want me to get lost I guess.
So I'm rarely out of his sight.

As for fishing, the dog is 9 now and has never been much of a wanderer, still I wouldn't ever bring him anywhere that's too close to paved roads and expect him to behave himself unsupervised
Yesterday, and any other time that I've taken him fishing, it's been far away from any traffic
Those are the kind of places I prefer to fish anyway

[Dave Underwood]

May I ask what kind of dog? I had an aussie shepherd like that, but my current dog I couldnt even consider it. When he was 6 mos old I brought him fishing and tied his rope to a small tree. A few minutes later, the pup and the tree were next to me in the water. Apparently the tree had a very small rootball...Maybe when he is older I can try again.
Great story.

[dudley]

May I ask what kind of dog?
Good question :confused:
He's part golden, but looks like a samoyed....very hairy
We got him locally, one of a litter of 20 !
(two mothers, one father)
..with 20 little white puffballs running around in a pen it reminded you of the movie 101 Dalmatians

[Col. Trautman]

Hi Dudley,

Thanks for the input....I also do a lot of off lease training as its good to build up the trust level when they are real young. He will even stay in the yard when someone walks by as long as they dont have a dog, after all he is only 5 months old!

I plan to start hiking with him on a reg. basis and I am sure it will help. The couple times we were out he was egar to please and like your dog didnt want to wander out of my sight.

But since the Housatonic is my fav. river it might put a halt to my plans. After thinking about it I should probably wait til he is 2 years old but I wonder if like other training I should start when he is young? Good suggestions.

Thanks,
Jamie

[aljack]

I can't imagine a dog like a black lab (I'm on my 2nd) under the age of 6 being able to stay out of the water. My dog sees water, he has to "check it out".

[paddy]

My yellow lab was the same. My wife would ask when I went fishin Penn's why I did not take our dog. My dog would stay in the water all day.