Dogs and Trawlers

I've met more than one Skipperkie owner who had no clue their dogs were bred for work on barges.

Shammie with added photo of her perfect boating dog.

Shammie? That dog should be called Shippie. It looks like a Greek Sea Captain

When he smiles he has a gold front tooth. After I showed Shammie his picture I had to keep the computer locked as she was using our entire data plan on the net. Also a picture of her old boat.

Pura Vida, I`m so easily taken with a sweet older dog, slightly vulnerable, totally trusting. A gold tooth, good on you! May you and Shammie have many years together.

Our dogs on our trawler

Peanut in the salon after a day on the water.

New boat dog

Adopted a rescue in October. Seems to be adjusting to boating. Not real thrilled with riding in the dinghy to get to shore for potty breaks. We meant to set up a pee spot before we anchored out for the first time with him. We were so excited we fixed our windlass last weekend that we forgot all about the pee spot when we decided to anchor this weekend.

The picture was taken on the ski boat.

Here's another one of our Peanut, enjoying a dinghy ride on the west side of Prince of Wales I.

Forgot to put up a photo of Jenny.





Jim
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Hi Jim,

Nice pooch & dinghy...what kind are they?

Here's Zain, the Beach Master, languishing on a rock watching over his herd (that would be us). The stuff hanging on his collar are old strike plates from door jams; they make enough noise when he's moving through the bush that bears hear it and move away quietly...well...so far anyways.

Here are our two. One with fur --

The second picture, he's waiting for Pop to get back on the boat.

And the third picture, the one with feathers --

Molly, the "energetic" Pug.

Just came across these three shots while cleaning out one of my drives. First shot is our previous dog, RJ (named for R.J. Mitchell), second shot is our current dog Albi (named after the city in France where the fellow our PNW boat is named for was from) when he was just a puppy. Last shot is RJ and Albi playing on a beach in the San Juans.

Albi is now 11 years old.

We had both dogs together for two years until RJ died and it was impressive to see how much Albi learned from RJ. Swimming, for example. RJ and our previous dog, Brandy (same breed for all three) took a long time to decide to start swimming, almost a year in the case of Brandy.

The first time we took Albi out on the boat he was nine weeks old. He and RJ were playing on the beach and I threw a stick out in the water for RJ to fetch. Albi ran back and forth at the water's edge for a few moments as he watched RJ swim out to the stick and finally couldn't stand it any more and plunged in and started swimming, too.

What breed are those? They don't quite look like Brittanys or Goldens. Beautiful pooches.

chester613 said:

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Molly, the "energetic" Pug.

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Molly is unique amongst mammals in that she has, through some throwback gene from her ancient reptilian ancestors, a series of plates not unlike those found on the bottom of Gecko's feet which allow her to affix herself to the pilothouse ceiling for afternoon naps.

kthoennes said:

What breed are those? They don't quite look like Brittanys or Goldens. Beautiful pooches.

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They are the smallest of the purebred retrievers. The maximum weight for a male is about 50 pounds. In size, they compare to a working UK Border Collie.

The breed was developed in Nova Scotia in the later 1800s for a method of bird hunting that uses a dog to first attract the birds into gun range, in the air or on the water, and then goes out and retrieves any that are shot. The concept was originally developed in northern Europe. They used a very different kind of dog but the idea migrated across the Atlantic.

The method of using the dog in this way is rather unique but is very effective. The method is called "tolling." One can accomplish the same thing with a white rag on the end of a long stick, but the stick won't go out and fetch the birds.

In the late 1940s or early 50s the breed was named the offical dog of Nova Scotia. At that point it was given a very long and tedious name. I much prefer the breed's original name, which is derived from the place in Nova Scotia that is said to have been where the breed was created. So I use this name, which is Little River Duck Dog. But most people, indluding most owners of this breed, wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about.

The offcial name is (deep breath), Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.

We have never shown our dogs so have never been interested in acquiring one for that purpose. But Albi's father, Don, was a Grand Champion in Canada.

The photo below is of Albi's father in his heyday, and gives you a much better idea of what the breed looks like when it's groomed up rather than all wet and sandy on a boat. If we polished up Albi and groomed him appropriately, he would look exactly like his dad.

MurrayM said:

Hi Jim,



Nice pooch & dinghy...what kind are they?



Here's Zain, the Beach Master, languishing on a rock watching over his herd (that would be us). The stuff hanging on his collar are old strike plates from door jams; they make enough noise when he's moving through the bush that bears hear it and move away quietly...well...so far anyways.

Click to expand...

Jenny is a "Bulkley Retriever"...actually she's a Sooner. Sooner be a dog than anything else. I call her a Bulkley Retriever because she's from a rescue outfit called Turtle Gardens near Topley in the Bulkley Valley. There's a bunch of dogs from there that look just like her.

The Skiff is by Sterling boats. It's okay but it's minimal as a fishing platform.


Jim
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10 week old Lab and new member of the Emily Anne crew, Bos'n, reported for training last week. Our 9 year old Lab, Reacher, will be leaving us soon due to prostate cancer, although Bos'n has instilled some new life into him.

This picture is of our Maddie who unexpectantly passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 12. In the background is the old boy who is pushing 17 and I think will outlive me.

Here's photos of Lucy taking her private elevator to the upper deck and taking a nap in the pilothouse. Best all around fur person we have been luck enough to have as a companion.

HiDHo said:

Here's photos of Lucy taking her private elevator to the upper deck and taking a nap in the pilothouse. Best all around fur person we have been luck enough to have as a companion.

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Hilarious. Jenny is one reason we operate our KK42 from the Pilothouse, instead of the flybridge. Hadn't thought of winching her up!


Jim
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My age and a worn out lower back caused me to come up with the idea. The Manatee has a 12 VDC davit on the upper deck so I used a snatch-block to center the davit cable over the hatch. My wife did the sling out of some awning Herculite material that I had from our sailing days.
Bill

Dog's life ...
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39009&stc=1&d=1428520289

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=39010&stc=1&d=1428520289

Dogs

I'll have to come back with a better photo, but this is Hudson (the big goofy 153 lbs one) and Finley (the much smaller grey one)

This is Major. He MUST be on or in any vehicle or vessel if you are going anywhere. He's a good 1st mate.

Now there's some real dogs...ones that can look out a window without jumping on the furniture, or look down into your eyes when you're sitting on the chesterfield (sofa)

Dog pics

Here are 2 pics of my MinPin mix Dalton, all 28 pounds of him. Pic of him checking out the bow when we purchased the boat last year and another of him cuddling under a blanket when cold, which is quite often! The MinPin side of his mix gave him the short fur.

A few more...

Here are Hudson and Finley.

Here are our two goofballs enjoying a sunny afternoon at 8kn. Bailley on the left is a Golden Doodle ( yes, a black one). Frankie is a Standard/Miniature poodle cross. Don't let the poodle fool you, these are water dogs. Frankie sometimes prefers to jump out of the dingy and swim ashore.
My wife loves the no shedding thing after having a Newfoundland, then two Labs.