Dogs love paddle boarding!
Big or small, dogs can fit comfortably on any of our paddle boards. Paddle boarding with your dog is a great way to get them out of the house and bring them with you on your SUP adventure. Similar to riding in the car with their head out the window, dogs absolutely love going paddle boarding. It gets them out of their usual routine and gets the wind in their hair for a fun adventure. Throughout the years we have had dozens of customers send us their awesome paddle board dog photos and have compiled some of them here.
How to SUP with your Dog
Paddle boarding with your dog is very easy. You will want to enact a few safety precautions before embarking on a paddle with you pup however. First, if your dog is not completely comfortable in the water we highly recommend a dog life jacket. Yes, they make life jackets specifically for dogs, kinda cool huh. This will ensure that your dog will be safe if they were to fall off the paddle board. Another safety precaution you can make is to have them on a leash. This will keep them from walking around on the board and will give you a little more control. You can tie the leash to your waist so your hands are free to paddle.
Most dogs will like to be at the front of the board while you paddle. If you have a larger dog, having them at the front will create a tougher paddle as the nose of the SUP board will be digging into the water. You can counteract this by moving yourself a bit further back on the board. Another great spot for a dog is right in between your legs as this will give you control over them and won’t affect the dynamics of the board too much. If the dog is sitting on the back end of the board you won’t be able to see them and the weight distribution might be suboptimal for paddling so we don’t recommend that position.
Paddle Board Dog Photos
GoPro view of a paddle boarding dog from the front of the board.
Paddle boarding with her dog in La Jolla shores!
A timid puppy on his first paddle boarding adventure.
Our employee Galen paddle boarding with his dog in Mission Bay.
Two girls with their dog enjoying a day out on the lake!
Dog paddle boarding on his own!
2 small dogs with life jackets enjoying a sunny afternoon paddle boarding.
A lab puppy on his first paddle boarding adventure!
A golden retriever relaxing on his paddle board.
Chloe the boxer on our touring paddle board with her owners.
Best Paddle Boards to use with your Dog
Nearly all of our stand up paddle boards are suitable to bring dogs on. We generally recommend one of our inflatable paddle boards because the front nose of the board won't be as slippery for the dog as our wood SUP will. If you have a large dog or are planning on having multiple people on the board with your pup, our touring paddle board will be best as it is our biggest iSUP. If you would like just a standard iSUP, our adventure II iSUP is our most popular model and would work great with a dog.