Dog Kayaking Quaboag River

This is my first day paddling my kayak with my dog on the Quaboag River.  The boat launch is cement and in very nice condition and the river bottom is firm and sandy.  I left my boat and some gear at the launch and parked my car.  The boat parking is a ¼ mile walk around the corner on Mill Street.

Downstream and under the bridge at Whites Landing is a boat rental and we saw several canoes and kayaks were out while kayaking with my dog on the Quaboag River

My dog and I paddled and coasted downstream in our kayak on the Quaboag River for a while. The white water lilies were open and the sides of the river were amassed with white lilies.  We coasted through the Brookfield Wild Life Management until I felt I needed to start paddling back upstream and up wind. 

Something swimming in the water had a lily pad wrapped around it, and we watched the varmint navigate through the lily pads then crawled out of the water.  We followed it from a distance and the lily pads were dense.  Paddling our kayak through the lilies with my dog on the Quaboag River was slow going. I was moving too slowly for Daisy and she launched out of the kayak like a rocket after the animal. 

Daisy realized that being low in the water she couldn’t see over the lily pads, and she came back to the kayak.  She put her front paws on the gun rail.  I told her to wait, and she did.  I tried to pull her into the boat by the handle on her life jacket.  I couldn’t pull my 50lb dog into the boat without flipping our kayak.  So we headed to where the animal got out of the water.  Daisy did a little exploring.  She was totally covered in mud. The lilies and grasses were very tall and I didn’t get a very good picture of Daisy, now dark gray in mud. My Daisy is a messy puppy. 

When Daisy was finished exploring her little bit of river bank, she was ready to get back into our kayak.  She’s a very smart dog and knows this boat will flip over if she doesn’t stay centered.  I pointed to the bow of the boat and told her to come that way.  When I was close enough, Daisy came into the boat over the bow.  

This part of the Quaboag River would be a difficult place to recover my dog and Kayak.  The water is deep and there isn’t a shore line.  It’s all marsh lands.  Certainly no place for me to put my lunch box, dry bag and drain the boat.

We enjoyed a pleasant drift down stream roughly two (2) miles before turning to paddle upstream, up wind, in my kayak with my dog on Quaboag River.  I could rest a little in the lilies.  We found a patch of dirt.  Daisy got out of the kayak and I was able to reach our cooler.  I fed her dog treats while I had a granola bar.  I drank a lot of water and offered Daisy clean bottled water in her bowl.  She wasn’t interested.  I guess she wasn’t paddling.  We saw several herons, or the same one followed us. 

We made it back to the boat launch and I tried to rinse the mud and dirt off Daisy.  The muddy Quaboag was all over Daisy, and not letting go.  There were lots of little fish in the water. 

We walked to our truck and picked up our boat and gear.  The Clam Box on Route 9 in Brookfield is a mile away from the boat launch.  The Clam Box has plenty of outside dining tables and umbrellas.  The food is very good, and Daisy was welcome to sit with us on the deck.  (I’d only bring her on the deck when she is clean).
Daisy dog and I were tired after our paddling adventure in our kayak on the Quaboag River.  We decided to go home.

The food is good, servers were friendly, Daisy was welcome. We will go back again.