If I had a dog ...

[markpierce]

... it would be a Portuguese Water Dog.* My pet-sitting sister came over today and introduced me to a three-month-old Portuguese water dog,*about half-grown.* The animal was well-behaved, followed command, friendly, eager to learn and to please.* Read they don't shed (but need haircuts.)* They were bred to assist Portuguese fishermen to retrieve gear,*carry messages*between boats and shore, etcetera,*so they've got to be good swimmers.* Sounds like an ideal boat dog.

 

[FF]

Sounds like an ideal boat dog.

In Florida you would need a bunch of them , the Gators are loads faster than any dog can swim.

 

[swampu]

I think I am strictly a dog pound guy these days. I like the different breeds but dog gone they are expensive!

 

[JD]

markpierce wrote:... it would be a Portuguese Water Dog.* My pet-sitting sister came over today and introduced me to a three-month-old Portuguese water dog,*about half-grown.* The animal was well-behaved, followed command, friendly, eager to learn and to please.* Read they don't shed (but need haircuts.)* They were bred to assist Portuguese fishermen to retrieve gear,*carry messages*between boats and shore, etcetera,*so they've got to be good swimmers.* Sounds like an ideal boat dog.

*Mark,

They*can be*fairly active.* They (like many other breeds) are very good at manipulating their owners.* Health wise they (as a breed) are in pretty good shape.* No big problems as long as the breeder did their home work.

Here are some pictures of our dog.* The last one is a three generation picture.* Grandma, Son and Grandson.** A retired show dog is sometime a good match for folks.* You miss the puppy stage problems (good and bad) and show dogs are crate trained and most are house trained.* Of course they are lead trained as well. Ours was 17 months old when we got him and he is a very much "love the one you are with" dog.* So if we have to leave him with someone for a couple of days he has no problems with it.* This is not true of a lot of breeds.

One more thing.* They all are not natural swimmers.* Yes if they fall in they will swim but the ones that have been around water when they are pups will be*more relaxed in the water.* If you get one that has not had water experience then it just takes some time and patience to get them to start.* Once they learn they*will do it like they were bred too.

If you are interested, or anyone else that may be interested for that matter, I'll be more than glad to help you locate a good breeder and a quality dog.* Also the parent club web site is

http://www.pwdca.org/newmembers/

*

-- Edited by JD on Friday 20th of January 2012 08:39:29 AM



-- Edited by JD on Friday 20th of January 2012 08:44:54 AM


-- Edited by JD on Friday 20th of January 2012 08:46:41 AM

 

[7tiger7]

Personally - any kind of dog you get - I hope you get a dog from a shelter or pound... there are some GREAT dogs in shelters (some pure breed), and you will save a life which would otherwise be euthanized.
Try this link -

http://www.petfinder.com/index.html

I'm on my 2nd dog, both I adopted from local shelters, both were pure breed Pomeranian, and both were amazing dogs...

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

7tiger7 wrote:
Personally - any kind of dog you get - I hope you get a dog from a shelter or pound... there are some GREAT dogs in shelters (some pure breed), and you will save a life which would otherwise be euthanized.
Try this link -

Roger that.* All our animals have come from either the shelter or a rescue group.* If you monitor their websites you can often pick up a pure bred animal,* sans papers of course.* But if you're into that sort of thing you're not going to the pound anyhow.

 

[JD]

All pure bred dog parent clubs have rescue operations.* So one can get a particular breed of dog through the rescue arm of the parent club.

Also there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to the pound and saving a dog.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

markpierce wrote:
... it would be a Portuguese Water Dog.* My pet-sitting sister came over today and introduced me to a three-month-old Portuguese water dog,*about half-grown.* The animal was well-behaved, followed command, friendly, eager to learn and to please.* Read they don't shed (but need haircuts.)* They were bred to assist Portuguese fishermen to retrieve gear,*carry messages*between boats and shore, etcetera,*so they've got to be good swimmers.* Sounds like an ideal boat dog.

One of the members of our yacht*club breeds them.* They often cruise on their 36' sailboat with 3 full grown*ones.* They are not small dogs, that's for sure.* Very sweet dogs and they love swimming.*

 

[Egregious]

A Boykin Spaniel (the South Carolina State Dog) is hard to beat on a boat.* They are duck dogs who are bred to be on a boat.* Our two Boykins came with us on our two month cruise and they did just fine.* Russell was rescued and Catfsh was bred.* Russell stays calm on rough days and Catfish hides under the console.

 

[7tiger7]

Not to hijack this thread but - anyone here cruise with a cat aboard? I'm debating taking our two cats cruising this summer with us...
(here is one of our cats, pictured)

 

[Carey]

7tiger7 wrote:
Not to hijack this thread but - anyone here cruise with a cat aboard? I'm debating taking our two cats cruising this summer with us...
(here is one of our cats, pictured)

I tried cats once, but found dogs to make better crab bait.*

 

[7tiger7]

There are quite a few jokes there about pussy cats and crabs... But I'll keep quiet.

 

[Marin]

7tiger7 wrote:
Not to hijack this thread but - anyone here cruise with a cat aboard? I'm debating taking our two cats cruising this summer with us...
(here is one of our cats, pictured)

For a couple of years we cruised off and on wih a couple with a sailboat and they had a cat that went with them.* The cat did fine on the boat.* Even got along with our dog (as much as cats get along with anything).* They had introduced the cat to the boat when it was a kitten so perhaps that helped.

 

[Codger2]

7tiger7 wrote:
Not to hijack this thread but - anyone here cruise with a cat aboard?

* * * * Years ago my son moved aboard my 54' sport fisher for 3 months while he was looking to buy a house. His cat was about 12 at the time and loved it! It took her about 5 minutes to find a spot where she could see out & she settled right in for the duration. At the end of her stay, however, we had cat hair everywhere.