Boat Dogs

Sailor of Fortune wrote:I believe Belgian barge dogs are scipperkes...Hollywood?
There used to be a Scipperke breeder in Annapolis who would only sell these dogs to cruising boat people. Some amazing stories of them being found hundreds of miles from land after being swept overboard.
A schipperkes job was to guard the cargo and wake the owners of the barges in the canals of europe. They only come in one flavor,Black.

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*Sailor,

You are correct if in fact it is a Schip.* I was just*guessing Schip*form the picture. The Dutch boat or Barge dog is*the Keeshound. It is a lot larger dog*than the dog in the picture and they are a combination of grey, black and cream*colors. Not solid*black.

Here is the way the Schipperke*Parent Club describes their breeds history*on the AKC web site,

"A Look Back
The Schipperke originated in the Flemish regions of Belgium, bred down in size from a black sheepdog called the Leauvenaar. The breed worked as a companion of tradesmen as well as a watchdog and ratter on the river barges, which is where they got the name "Schipperke" since the Flemish word "schip" means boat. Another common nickname for the Schipperke is "Little Captain.""

They are good Ratters so they control Vermin on*boats as well.* Not as much a problem as in the old day due to how we store food I'm sure but an added plus none the less.

Well I guess I am the Grinch, I love*dogs but they do not fit our cruising style and they are so messy, unless you get the gerbil sized ones of course you can keep in a cage and on a treadmill. I've read some marvelous stories over the years regarding animals on the*sailing ships of yore. Geese, chickens, horses, cows, sheep and prisoners in the bilges. Maybe dogs aren't so bad after all. My wife says I am messier than our dearly departed Yellow Lab who got every cracker crumb off the floor. I miss a few.

We recently passed* on considering a vessel because*the leather settee had been trashed by the owner's pride and joy. They towed their dinghy to help the frequent shore trips - do not back towards your dinghy if you have line cutters was their advice.


-- Edited by sunchaser on Friday 16th of December 2011 09:17:24 AM

sunchaser wrote:
*My wife says I am messier than our dearly departed Yellow Lab who got every cracker crumb off the floor. I miss a few.

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*It's tough to beat the BioVac.

There is a saying; "Faster than a Labrador Retriever can clear off an unattended counter top". They do love their vittles (and anyone else's). BioVac indeed.

I love dogs! Until recently, I've had dogs all my life but I don't think it's fair for the dog to be cooped up on a boat for extended periods of time.

Willy wrote:*JD ya the little tough guy is a min pin. He is standing close behind his bud the Rotty. You just have to bark back and all is well.

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*Min Pin.* OK the perception in the picture wasn't good. But now I see he is standing on something which makes him look taller way back there.

They can be pretty tough as well.

Miniature Schnauzer...... perfect size and doesn't shed.*

Great dogs! keep 'em coming. *It looks like about 2/3 of us so far have boat dogs.

My vote for having the ugliest boat dog goes to Seahorse II.

Moonstruck wrote:
My vote for having the ugliest boat dog goes to Seahorse II.

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*LOL Yeh, Don...Moonstruck should be so ugly.*

Oh! You said boat dog! I'm sorry!

Dogs on a boat, what are you nuts?
Bill Noftsinger (and Brody)
Amazing Grace

Thanks for the clarification JD.

Look at this face...

Willy,
I can tell you boat in much more rugged place than I do!! I can tell this by the axe you have strapped to the side of your dinghy! My dinghy, as well as our trawler, has not one axe aboard!

dwhatty wrote:
What I want to know is how everyone deals with dog hair aboard.

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LRDDs are notorious for shedding, and all year round*not just seasonally. All three of ours have been major shedders, particularly of*their long*undercoats.* We thought Albi might not be but he eventually*developed a thick undercoat, too.

The most valuable tools on the boat are our two small 2-gallon*wet/dry shop vacs.* One has a bag for use in the cabins, the other has no bag and is for vacuuming up water only.* We generally give the main and aft cabins a quick vacuum after every weekend cruise (the dog does not go down into the forward cabin).* On a longer cruise we vacuum every three or four days.

A damp rag is great for getting hair off upholstery, particularly woven-type upholsteries that tend to snag and hold dog hair.* The wet rag pulls it all off easily.

The LRDD we had when we bought the GB had a very thick coat for the breed and shed much more than the other two.* We have friends who at the time lived on Sucia Island in the San Juans.* The wife was into spinning and weaving and she asked us to save all the hair we got off RJ and give it to her so she could spin it into yarn.* We did and she did, but I don't know if she ever actually made anything from it.

So if you have a heavy shedder and don't want to mess with a vacuum cleaner, buy a spinning wheel * Maybe you can get some socks or something out it.

Marin wrote:
So if you have a heavy shedder and don't want to mess with a vacuum cleaner, buy a spinning wheel * Maybe you can get some socks or something out it.

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* * ** I found that* a "kennel" worked the best. Absolutely no hair problems.

Now that we have a boat with 120v, I've tried a couple of different vacs with limited success in dog hair pickup til I finally found a small hand held vac with a beater bar. Works quite well on dog hair and stows in a small space, readily available.

The stains the dog has left on the new Sunbrella cushion covers are another matter, particularly a couple of ointment stains. Sunbrella said to use Acetone on ointment stains. Was leery of that, but nothing else worked so I tried it. Nope. Didn't hurt the fabric but didn't get the stains out. Its frustrating being anal sometimes. Right Walt?

dwhatty wrote:Its frustrating being anal sometimes. Right Walt?

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******* You bet! But really satisfying when I go to the boat. People are always asking me why I have so much work done on the boat. I have no answer other than "it's my 57 Chevy."

SeaHorse II wrote:dwhatty wrote:Its frustrating being anal sometimes. Right Walt?

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******* You bet! But really satisfying when I go to the boat. People are always asking me why I have so much work done on the boat. I have no answer other than "it's my 57 Chevy."

*Walt, if you really want to do a lot of work on your boat, call it a '53 Jaguar!

Ozzy

Why do you ask?

Sailor of Fortune wrote:
Thanks for the clarification JD.

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*With all the breeds it is hard to keep them straight.* Glad to share.


-- Edited by JD on Saturday 17th of December 2011 03:51:10 PM

dwhatty wrote:
What I want to know is how everyone deals with dog hair aboard.

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*Also David some breeds are less prone to shedding.* PWDs do not shed, Poodles do not shed and most Terriers do not shed.* Some of the new designer breeds do not shed either but the problem with these breeds is that they are new and the illness problems are not known yet.

PWDs come in two coats Wavy and Curly.* The Curly is much like a Poodle coat.* The problem is it holds sand and small sticks.* So we went with the Wavy.

JD wrote:dwhatty wrote:
What I want to know is how everyone deals with dog hair aboard.

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*Also David some breeds are less prone to shedding.* PWDs do not shed, Poodles do not shed and most Terriers do not shed.* Some of the new designer breeds do not shed either but the problem with these breeds is that they are new and the illness problems are not known yet.

PWDs come in two coats Wavy and Curly.* The Curly is much like a Poodle coat.* The problem is it holds sand and small sticks.* So we went with the Wavy.

Yes, but we have a 6 yr old yellow Lab that we love, so not about to trade him in on a wavy PWD in spite of the hair (unless he snarfs the Christmas roast off the counter). As my wife says, "suck up and live with it". Yes, Dear.

dwhatty wrote:JD wrote:dwhatty wrote:
What I want to know is how everyone deals with dog hair aboard.

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*Also David some breeds are less prone to shedding.* PWDs do not shed, Poodles do not shed and most Terriers do not shed.* Some of the new designer breeds do not shed either but the problem with these breeds is that they are new and the illness problems are not known yet.

PWDs come in two coats Wavy and Curly.* The Curly is much like a Poodle coat.* The problem is it holds sand and small sticks.* So we went with the Wavy.

Yes, but we have a 6 yr old yellow Lab that we love, so not about to trade him in on a wavy PWD in spite of the hair (unless he snarfs the Christmas roast off the counter). As my wife says, "suck up and live with it". Yes, Dear.

If he snarfed the roast it would be a come to Jesus meeting for sure.*

The info might be of value in the future.*

Great post guys, I just lost my lab today. She got run over about 4 hours ago... Great thread though, it helps to see all the other dogs doing there dog things.

Sorry to hear that Paul. I feel your pain.

Elwin*

Thank you Elwin, I've got to tell my son tomorrow and go bury her. We had 12 family members here for a Christmas party and all this happened 15 minutes before everyone started to arrive. She was old and I guess it was her time. Thanks again.

I am so very sorry Paul. My heart aches for you.

As Will Rogers said, "If dogs don't go to heaven....I wanna go where they go."!!!!

Or likely my favorite:
"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare
and love we can spare.
And in return, dogs give us their all.
It's the best deal man has ever made."

swampu wrote:
Great post guys, I just lost my lab today. She got run over about 4 hours ago... Great thread though, it helps to see all the other dogs doing there dog things.

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*That's so sad. Sympathies.