Marley's first SUP

by Alissa Costello
(Fountain Hills, AZ)

My dog Marley is my best friend. She's a rescue dog and a mix of breeds, possibly lab and hound, and like me, she loves the water. She'll leap into backyard pools without thinking twice even though her swimming skills could be improved (she has a hard time keeping her mouth completely out of the water and usually inhales water as she swims and then coughs and hacks it up once she's out of the water).

Because she is both excited to swim, and not so great at it for long periods of time I knew I needed a dog PFD on her if I ever took her out on the SUP with me. I didn't want her jumping off in the middle of the lake and not being able to make it back to shore. Once we had our canine PFD I was still nervous about SUPing with her because our first chance was on a vacation to the mountains where the lakes were very cold. I really did not want to end up falling in!

My excitement finally won over my fear when I was getting ready to SUP and Marley ran over and eagerly got on the board with no coaxing. So we put the PFD on her and off we went with me on my knees and her sitting squarely between my legs. As much as Marley loves swimming, I think she could sense my nervousness and hardly moved at all while we were paddling. I was even able to stand up and never lose my balance.

Marley is a 60 pound dog and my Tower iSUP is only 9'6" so I was concerned if she walked around on the board I would lose my balance. Luckily Marley stayed put and we were able to paddle around the lake without incident. I'm looking forward to being able to SUP with her again over warmer waters where we can be a little more adventurous!