I wonder if the Portuguese Water dog can be trained and used to untangle
lobbers pots rope and fishing net wrapped around your propeller?

Background: From Wikipedia encyclopaedia: Originating back to the 1500s in
Portugal these dogs were used to send messages between boats, to retrieve
fish and articles from the water, and to guard the fishing boats. (They
often received a portion of the catch after a job well done, too!) They
helped to bring in nets and to save fishermen when they fell in the water.

May be some of the cruisers already have a Portuguese Water dog and want to
share their experience with that breed of dog for cruising.

There is little chance you could train a Porty (or any other dog) to
untangle a truly fouled line. However, there was one case where we
hired a diver before we tried ourselves, and the line was only
slightly wrapped - we could have nudged it off our saildrive with a
boathook. Rather than use our dog, we have purchased (as yet untried)
this implement of destruction:
http://www.captnhooksolutions.com/

A Porty makes a great boat dog. The first thing you need to know is
that they are very high energy; don't consider getting a puppy unless
you can give it several hours of exercise a day. Ours gets a one hour
walk most mornings, plus an hour in the puppy play group. When we're
traveling, she'll get at least an hour most days running on the beach
or some other exercise.

Molly took to boat life even easier than house life - she immediately
figured out that the trampoline on the bow of our catamaran is the
perfect place to do her business. She's never had an accident on
board, the house hasn't been quite so lucky. Molly has no trouble in
the dinghy or kayak; in fact she insists on joining us for every trip
and gets rather upset when she isn't included. She has to be tied up
if the pumpout or harbormaster boat comes alongside or she'll jump ship.

On one short but very rough trip across Vineyard Sound (a two knot
current against 25 knot wind can turn the Sound into a Mix-Master)
Molly sat in the cockpit munching her kibble and chasing down bits
when they went flying.

Although Molly has no fear of the water she doesn't like to swim. At
first we thought it was just because she was a puppy and she would
grow out of it (and she may yet) but we've met lots of others that
don't hesitate to swim or even dive 5 feet with only a bit of
coaching. Other than that she's very intelligent and responds to
training quite well. Porty's are known as "courier dogs" because they
will not just retrieve, they will deliver packages to other boats.
This skill usually takes several years of training, and is often the
highlite of the Porty Association Water Trials.

http://www.sv-loki.com/Molly_Doodle/molly_doodle.html

wrote:
I wonder if the Portuguese Water dog can be trained and used to untangle
lobbers pots rope and fishing net wrapped around your propeller?

Background: From Wikipedia encyclopaedia: Originating back to the 1500s in
Portugal these dogs were used to send messages between boats, to retrieve
fish and articles from the water, and to guard the fishing boats. (They
often received a portion of the catch after a job well done, too!) They
helped to bring in nets and to save fishermen when they fell in the water.

May be some of the cruisers already have a Portuguese Water dog and want to
share their experience with that breed of dog for cruising.

"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
There is little chance you could train a Porty (or any other dog) to
untangle a truly fouled line. However, there was one case where we hired
a diver before we tried ourselves, and the line was only slightly
wrapped - we could have nudged it off our saildrive with a boathook.
Rather than use our dog, we have purchased (as yet untried) this implement
of destruction:
http://www.captnhooksolutions.com/

A Porty makes a great boat dog. The first thing you need to know is that
they are very high energy; don't consider getting a puppy unless you can
give it several hours of exercise a day. Ours gets a one hour walk most
mornings, plus an hour in the puppy play group. When we're traveling,
she'll get at least an hour most days running on the beach or some other
exercise.

Molly took to boat life even easier than house life - she immediately
figured out that the trampoline on the bow of our catamaran is the perfect
place to do her business. She's never had an accident on board, the house
hasn't been quite so lucky. Molly has no trouble in the dinghy or kayak;
in fact she insists on joining us for every trip and gets rather upset
when she isn't included. She has to be tied up if the pumpout or
harbormaster boat comes alongside or she'll jump ship.

On one short but very rough trip across Vineyard Sound (a two knot current
against 25 knot wind can turn the Sound into a Mix-Master) Molly sat in
the cockpit munching her kibble and chasing down bits when they went
flying.

Although Molly has no fear of the water she doesn't like to swim. At
first we thought it was just because she was a puppy and she would grow
out of it (and she may yet) but we've met lots of others that don't
hesitate to swim or even dive 5 feet with only a bit of coaching. Other
than that she's very intelligent and responds to training quite well.
Porty's are known as "courier dogs" because they will not just retrieve,
they will deliver packages to other boats. This skill usually takes
several years of training, and is often the highlite of the Porty
Association Water Trials.

http://www.sv-loki.com/Molly_Doodle/molly_doodle.html

wrote:
I wonder if the Portuguese Water dog can be trained and used to untangle
lobbers pots rope and fishing net wrapped around your propeller?

Background: From Wikipedia encyclopaedia: Originating back to the 1500s
in Portugal these dogs were used to send messages between boats, to
retrieve fish and articles from the water, and to guard the fishing
boats. (They often received a portion of the catch after a job well done,
too!) They helped to bring in nets and to save fishermen when they fell
in the water.

May be some of the cruisers already have a Portuguese Water dog and want
to share their experience with that breed of dog for cruising.

Do they shed much?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Capt. JG" wrote

Do they shed much?

Portys are sort of industrial strength poodles. They don't shed much at all
but you do have to keep them trimmed.


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

My daughter's dog is only eight weeks old. She lives right on the water
where the tide is approx. 2 to 3 feet and the current runs up and down the
river.

The dog will probably attend some aqua class if the proper school can be
found?

Not to mention that I may be in more need for water training.

Unwrapping a lobster pot, mooring and fishing net line can be a nightmare.
When the line or rope is tightly wrapped around the shaft in the space
between the propeller and the strut it becomes almost impossible to un -
wrap the line.

In this situation, I do not know if the captnhook can do the job?

The first thing we do is to get a hold on the line/rope and run the engine
slowly in reverse. Sometime it does free the line/rope?

When this did not work, we try to cut the rope/line. Cutting a 5/8 to 1"
nylon or poly rope under water with a knife does not work well.

A fisherman serrated bone knives or a quality long bread's knife will give
some results. When all of the aforementioned failed to work as a last
resort, I use a bi-metal hacksaw blade and hope for the best.

The coast of Maine is beautiful and full of lobster pots. When sailing in
pea soup fog with a vision of about 10 to 30 feet even if you are very
careful you may get hook on some lines. Even in bright day light my rudder
got tangled up in an abandon fishing net floating loose below the water
line.


"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
There is little chance you could train a Porty (or any other dog) to
untangle a truly fouled line. However, there was one case where we hired
a diver before we tried ourselves, and the line was only slightly
wrapped - we could have nudged it off our saildrive with a boathook.
Rather than use our dog, we have purchased (as yet untried) this implement
of destruction:
http://www.captnhooksolutions.com/

A Porty makes a great boat dog. The first thing you need to know is that
they are very high energy; don't consider getting a puppy unless you can
give it several hours of exercise a day. Ours gets a one hour walk most
mornings, plus an hour in the puppy play group. When we're traveling,
she'll get at least an hour most days running on the beach or some other
exercise.

Molly took to boat life even easier than house life - she immediately
figured out that the trampoline on the bow of our catamaran is the perfect
place to do her business. She's never had an accident on board, the house
hasn't been quite so lucky. Molly has no trouble in the dinghy or kayak;
in fact she insists on joining us for every trip and gets rather upset
when she isn't included. She has to be tied up if the pumpout or
harbormaster boat comes alongside or she'll jump ship.

On one short but very rough trip across Vineyard Sound (a two knot current
against 25 knot wind can turn the Sound into a Mix-Master) Molly sat in
the cockpit munching her kibble and chasing down bits when they went
flying.

Although Molly has no fear of the water she doesn't like to swim. At
first we thought it was just because she was a puppy and she would grow
out of it (and she may yet) but we've met lots of others that don't
hesitate to swim or even dive 5 feet with only a bit of coaching. Other
than that she's very intelligent and responds to training quite well.
Porty's are known as "courier dogs" because they will not just retrieve,
they will deliver packages to other boats. This skill usually takes
several years of training, and is often the highlite of the Porty
Association Water Trials.

http://www.sv-loki.com/Molly_Doodle/molly_doodle.html

wrote:
I wonder if the Portuguese Water dog can be trained and used to untangle
lobbers pots rope and fishing net wrapped around your propeller?

Background: From Wikipedia encyclopaedia: Originating back to the 1500s
in Portugal these dogs were used to send messages between boats, to
retrieve fish and articles from the water, and to guard the fishing
boats. (They often received a portion of the catch after a job well done,
too!) They helped to bring in nets and to save fishermen when they fell
in the water.

May be some of the cruisers already have a Portuguese Water dog and want
to share their experience with that breed of dog for cruising.

Capt. JG wrote:
Do they shed much?


No shedding at all. We let Molly's hair grow out in the winter, but
trim it close in the summer. She gets a modified "Lion Cut" where
below the waist its very close, above its left at about an inch. (The
proper working cut leaves the top somewhat fuller.) Although it looks
like an "affected" show cut, its actually the traditional small boat
cut which gives freedom of movement and allows them to climb aboard
without having to pull in a few gallons of sea water in their
hindquarters.
http://www.bluegrace.com/groomer.html

Although Porty's look a bit like a poodle, there is no recent
connection in their lineage - the Porty's go back at least 1500 years.
I think they both share a common ancestor, probably a Russian water dog.

BTW, they have webbed feet - part of drying them off is to squeeze
their feet to release about a pint of water!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Water_Dog

wrote:
My daughter's dog is only eight weeks old. She lives right on the water
where the tide is approx. 2 to 3 feet and the current runs up and down the
river.

The dog will probably attend some aqua class if the proper school can be
found?

They are scattered around the country - CT is very active with
training. There is a strong owners group, with a glossy magazine
(paid by breeder ads) and several mailing lists.

Because they are so active and overly friendly, obedience training is
recommended. Its actually more important for the owner than for the dog.


Not to mention that I may be in more need for water training.

Unwrapping a lobster pot, mooring and fishing net line can be a nightmare.
When the line or rope is tightly wrapped around the shaft in the space
between the propeller and the strut it becomes almost impossible to un -
wrap the line.

In this situation, I do not know if the captnhook can do the job?

Well, if it can't, the next step would be to pull the shaft! Its got
sharp edges in so many places I'm afraid to take it out of its box!
The real advantage is that it can be firmly attached to a pole.


The first thing we do is to get a hold on the line/rope and run the engine
slowly in reverse. Sometime it does free the line/rope?

When this did not work, we try to cut the rope/line. Cutting a 5/8 to 1"
nylon or poly rope under water with a knife does not work well.

A fisherman serrated bone knives or a quality long bread's knife will give
some results. When all of the aforementioned failed to work as a last
resort, I use a bi-metal hacksaw blade and hope for the best.

The coast of Maine is beautiful and full of lobster pots. When sailing in
pea soup fog with a vision of about 10 to 30 feet even if you are very
careful you may get hook on some lines. Even in bright day light my rudder
got tangled up in an abandon fishing net floating loose below the water
line.

Usually we've avoided a tight tangle and can coax the line off. Once,
we needed some cutting. After the worst episode, a few hours of
help from friends was needed to get loose. A week later we heard
someone else from the same anchorage fouled so badly the coupling
broke and pulled the shaft into the rudder. They needed to get hauled
at Billings. When powering downeast, I always keep a hand on the
gearshift!

Jeff,

I have been considering a PWD for some time. I think they would make the
perfect boat dog but I worry about one thing. My daughter had one for 11
years but at about 8 years he developed a problem with his hip which I
understand is a common problem with some lines. He was still game for
anything up until he died but you could tell he was in pain.

You know of any test to tell if a particular litter is prone to dysplasia?

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
Capt. JG wrote:
Do they shed much?


No shedding at all. We let Molly's hair grow out in the winter, but trim
it close in the summer. She gets a modified "Lion Cut" where below the
waist its very close, above its left at about an inch. (The proper
working cut leaves the top somewhat fuller.) Although it looks like an
"affected" show cut, its actually the traditional small boat cut which
gives freedom of movement and allows them to climb aboard without having
to pull in a few gallons of sea water in their hindquarters.
http://www.bluegrace.com/groomer.html

Although Porty's look a bit like a poodle, there is no recent connection
in their lineage - the Porty's go back at least 1500 years. I think they
both share a common ancestor, probably a Russian water dog.

BTW, they have webbed feet - part of drying them off is to squeeze their
feet to release about a pint of water!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Water_Dog

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
Jeff,

I have been considering a PWD for some time. I think they would make the
perfect boat dog but I worry about one thing. My daughter had one for 11
years but at about 8 years he developed a problem with his hip which I
understand is a common problem with some lines. He was still game for
anything up until he died but you could tell he was in pain.

You know of any test to tell if a particular litter is prone to dysplasia?


The breed stock for Porty's was rather small about 80 years ago, under
100 dogs, I think. Thus they were prone to several genetic problems
before these issues were well understood. The Porty breeders
volunteered for special studies so the genetics are now well
understood. Nowadays, you should get a medical report from the
breeder that explains exactly the genes of the litter. Certain genes
are acceptable in a non-breeding dog that would be unacceptable for a
breeder.

As for hip dysplasia, I don't know if there is a genetic test, but the
breeding dogs should certainly be examined carefully by a professional
for any signs. X-ray's are pretty definitive after the dog is two
years old. Any reputable breeder should be able to provide enough
details to determine that the line has not had any such tendencies for
several generations. This is a good reason to go with a small breeder
who is doing it out of a love of the breed rather than a puppy mill.

refer to:
http://www.pwdca.org/Puppy_Pkt/Puppy_Pkt.html