Dogs on boats, and our best Friends in general.

Well, at least that dog was returned to his proper ship.

Years ago in Kingman, Arizona, my parents came out of a grocery store and found a big mixed-breed dog in the back of their pickup truck. They spent an hour trying to coax, drag, lure or scare him out, with no success. Finally they gave up and took him home to their 20 acres in the desert, where he settled in and made himself quite at home.

 

What a great thread this is! I seem to repeat myself, as so many threads on this forum are great.

 

The Oban (homeport Kampen, Holland)




And Oban's ship dog on lookout (IJsselkade in Kampen, Holland)



Credits: pic 1 - pic 2

Cheers!
Angel

 

...a true "Sea Dog"...Gods gift to man, the Labrador.....I guess that vessel has been lab tested.

 

Just came across a picture and an article that support that.



Cheers!
Angel

 

Ship's Officers and Crew . .

Cheers!
Angel

 

No doubt about that!

 

Dogs and boats....been told quite a few times that those are two passions that hardly mix...can't help it though, I've always loved both just as much.

That's Moon. she stood by my side for 11 years and lived with us on our little 36 foot schooner. Surprisingly, when we moved to the country she had a hard time getting used to it...she liked the boat life better.


Moon is gone now and Marley took ever caring for me. My fluffy puppy has not lived on a boat yet but will probably end her life on the water.


As if one big dog wasn't already too much we just got a second one a few month ago. Marvin is a crazy hound, bred for sled dog racing. If boat eats 50% of my time here's what I do of the other 50% :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-r1PNrfn5c

 

This one got me. So much like King, this dog...

 

That dog reminds me of a Rotty a few years ago that was so bad he was scheduled to be put down. His owner brought him to my buddy Dan to give him one last chance. Dan had bought a small farm with his layoff money and was training dogs for a living back then. An odd thing for a former engineer and mathematician to do one might think, but it had been his life's dream.

So "Roddy the Rotten Rotweiler" was brought to the farm. Dan tried to introduce him to his dog pack to learn basic manners but he was far too strong and dominant so he had to be isolated. His owner had said, fix him if you can, or put him down if you have to. Roddy was so scary, snarling at the end of his chain, Dan had to be very careful. With more than 20 dogs being kenneled, many being obedience or hunt trained, and only one helper, Dan gave him all the time he could but to no avail.

I chose that time to visit for a few days. Dan showed me Roddy, chained to a tree stump, obviously far gone in rage and fear. He wasn't barking, not even snarling a lot, just striving to get his teeth into one of us. I felt sorry for this beautiful animal and kind of took over the case as Dan was about out of ideas, and the next move for Roddy would be to the vet for the last needle.

It took many hours to get him to calm down, this was done by chaining him out in the hot sun and giving tiny sips of water occasionally in the hope that he would start to understand how much he depended on us humans. Eventually he become exhausted and I could approach carefully. I held his water dish while he drank. I guess that put him into a submissive position as Cesar Milan might say, but this was a long time before the "Dog Whisperer" TV program and I was running on guesswork. Whatever: it worked. By the end of the weekend, when I had to go home, I could go inside the reach of the chain to feed him and even stroke him a little.

Weeks later Dan was able to tell me that Roddy was happy around the other dogs, walking properly on a leash, doing all the regular obedience things, and about to return to his owner. These days there would, I hope, be kinder ways to rehabilitate such a dog, but what worked, worked, and he was able to live out his life.

I think Roddy was an example of some guy wanting a powerful dog for the macho image, not having any idea how to handle it. Many of the notorious breeds suffer from ignorance. My first dog was not so powerful or aggressive but she could become dominant, but I had a lot of help with her from my Siamese cat!

 

I am filled with dismay every time I see some noble animal tethered on the end of a chain like a friggin' rowboat. It makes them psycho. If you can't treat the animal like family instead of a lawn ornament, you should not own it.

 

I don't know the previous history of Roddy the Rotweiler or what caused him to be a problem, but I suspect it was not being chained up, at least until he got nasty. If the owner doesn't stay in charge the dog will try to do it.

My current dog Bayley was brought to the Humane Society as uncontrollable and constantly running away. From her scars and the skill she has of untangling her leash if she steps over it, it is obvious that she was tied up, apparently with a wire loop around her neck, for hours every day. She was very nervous in our house for a week, constantly trying to escape, but was never aggressive and within a couple of weeks I was able to let her off leash safely knowing she would return. She is now a very secure, well behaved and a loving and deeply loved dog, in excellent health and surprisingly fit for a dog of 10 or 11, her age is only apparent in the rapidly spreading grey in her otherwise perfect black coat.

 

way to go Terry
sounds like you did a great job with that dog

 

When it comes to an abused or mishandled animal, they are the ones who do all the work, puting aside their misery and once again placing their trust in on eof us flawed humans. And when it happens, is there any greater reward?

 

Now we have lost Play-dough, at 14 years. We had this posted on our fridge for years.: