I am looking for opinions regarding most suitable dog for
security/companionship on blue water cruiser. Is a boat dog a bad idea?
Clearly it brings new meaning to the term 'poop deck'. Are there other
problems?

Thanks for the feed back,
R.B.

We have a new (6 month old) Portuguese Water Dog, that so far, loves the boat. We only a
little encouragement, she learned to do her business on the bow - we have a catamaran so
there's a lot of room up there, and the trampoline is "self draining." The washdown hose
gets a lot of use!

Surprisingly, although she's not afraid of the water, she is only slowly learning how to
swim. We're told this is true for many dogs, and it can take a year or so to become
adept. We have a good life jacket that she wears all the time - the handle on it ensures
there's a "retrieval point" to grab her if she falls in.

Other dog owners might address the "guard dog" aspect; right now we're trying to cure
Molly of barking at everything. One thing they were bred for is a piercing bark that
serves as a fog horn! They can be trained to do a number of chores, such as diving for
overboard items, and delivering things to other boats. The breed's newsletter is "The
Courier."

http://www.sv-loki.com/Img_1411a.jpg

"rotoryracer" wrote in message
et...
I am looking for opinions regarding most suitable dog for
security/companionship on blue water cruiser. Is a boat dog a bad idea?
Clearly it brings new meaning to the term 'poop deck'. Are there other
problems?

Thanks for the feed back,
R.B.

Jeff thanks for sharing
On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 14:40:02 -0400, "Jeff Morris"
jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote:

We have a new (6 month old) Portuguese Water Dog, that so far, loves the boat. We only a
little encouragement, she learned to do her business on the bow - we have a catamaran so
there's a lot of room up there, and the trampoline is "self draining." The washdown hose
gets a lot of use!

Surprisingly, although she's not afraid of the water, she is only slowly learning how to
swim. We're told this is true for many dogs, and it can take a year or so to become
adept. We have a good life jacket that she wears all the time - the handle on it ensures
there's a "retrieval point" to grab her if she falls in.

Other dog owners might address the "guard dog" aspect; right now we're trying to cure
Molly of barking at everything. One thing they were bred for is a piercing bark that
serves as a fog horn! They can be trained to do a number of chores, such as diving for
overboard items, and delivering things to other boats. The breed's newsletter is "The
Courier."

http://www.sv-loki.com/Img_1411a.jpg

"rotoryracer" wrote in message
. net...
I am looking for opinions regarding most suitable dog for
security/companionship on blue water cruiser. Is a boat dog a bad idea?
Clearly it brings new meaning to the term 'poop deck'. Are there other
problems?

Thanks for the feed back,
R.B.