I've had a few kayaks... the ones that I bought for kayaking with my dogs would be Clyde-worthy, but not a lot of fun. The first one was a WHITE, which was an entry level kayak so it had a big cockpit and was stabile. It was cheap, but I don't think they make them anymore.
The last kayak I bought (Old Town Loon) was for the express purpose of kayaking with a Bernese Mountain Dog or a Pyrenese in the cockpit with me. So it had to be huge* and stabile. It is a piece of work to go anywhere in it. If I tipped, I don't think I could turn it over.
Anyway, Stabile=no fun and hard work, so you basically just putz around shore. Good work-out, though, and it's still fun to be in* the water instead of above it. But I decided I should have just bought a canoe instead. It would be more versatile, and the piggy kayaks don't feel like Kayaks, anyway.
If you can find a dagger or something that you can fit into, you should be just fine in it! I don't know how the handling would be different--I haven't had a whitewater Kayak in 15 years. If you go to REI, I'll bet they're all on sale right now. They have tons of recreational kayaks with larger cockpits. If they have any with a drop skeg, that might be helpful.
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Last edited by solveg; 10-06-07 at 10:53 PM.