PFD Neutrality: The Small Game That Makes Paddle Days Easy

It’s finally starting to warm up, and I’m getting dangerously optimistic about paddle season.

And like everything else, I’m not looking at paddleboarding with Boston as one big event I hope goes well. I’m looking at it through the lens of how many little training games I can build now so the real day on the water goes smooth later.

One of those games right now is PFD neutrality with the Astral Bird Dog Float Coat.

Astral Bird Dog Float Coat unboxing and first look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBM6L7PE8qM&t=19s

Boston starting to get used to wearing it: https://youtube.com/shorts/wkqPm3dIZrE?si=mlt9chkG5lyyvHL0

The goal with new equipment isn’t get it on the dog. The goal is the dog isn’t thinking about it. Neutral is the win. Positive is a bonus.

Most people introduce gear by strapping it on and hoping the dog gets used to it. Sometimes that works. Sometimes the dog acts weird, shuts down, scratches at it, freezes, or carries that low level stress that turns into friction later, right when you’re trying to do something fun together.

Instead of gambling on tolerance, I’d rather run a simple rep based game and make the equipment feel normal.

The game is reps in, reps out, reps having fun: rep entering the PFD
rep exiting the PFD
rep doing fun stuff while wearing it

In the short you’ll see I’m not just throwing the float coat on Boston and letting him deal with the sensation. We rep getting into it first. Once he’s comfortable, I fit it correctly. Then we get right back to playing.

Boston’s a confident dog, so it comes together fast, but the principle is the same for any dog. You’re building positive association and neutrality through reps, not time.

If this sounds familiar, it’s the same concept I teach in my free course Rex Specs Goggle Conditioning. Different object, same game. Don’t toss it on and hope they tolerate it. Condition it with rewards and play and keep their attitude clean.

Free course: https://workyourpack.com/collections/frontpage/products/rex-specs-goggle-conditioning

Paddleboarding is the activity, but the process is training culture. Stack enough small games like this and the real day on the water gets a lot more harmonious because you’ve already handled the little stuff that usually turns into friction.

More paddleboard updates coming.