Last winter I lost my "boating partner", a 10 year old large boned German Shepard that loved being on the water almost as much as I. (Yeah, lets see someone even think about stealing somethig from my boat.)
Dog lovers out there know how hard it is when you lose your dog after so many years and that I was hesitant about getting another dog. Well, life has a way of changing a persons mind. A friend had bought a German Shepard pup a year ago and thought he could keep him in his apartment. Pups grow into dogs and German Shepards grow into large dogs. He came to me and asked if I could take the dog (now a year old) as I have a farm where he can run.
I wasn't too keen on the idea really, not sure I wanted another dog yet and I've always raised my dogs from pups. But in the end my friend said if someone didn't take him he would have to have him put down because he was tearing up the apartment while he was at work during the day. Ok, call me a softy, I took the dog.
So I've had him a couple weeks and he is shaping up very well, made a good transition to "farm life" and loves the open space to run and chase the occasional rabbit. So yeasterday I had to test run a boat I've been rebuilding and took him along. He wasn't the least bit shy about walking out the pier and jumping in the boat. His nose was going a 100 MPH with all the new smells.
Fired up the engine and, no reaction from him at all. He was more than happy to just be along and seeing the sites, until I put the boat in reverse and started backing away from the pier. When he realised we were no longer next to the shore he ran to me and barked, guess he was trying to tell me something. We went out maybe 100' from shore and I killed the engine and just sat there letting him get used to everything. He must have made 50 trips from one end of the boat to the other.
The water was absolute calm (no other boats on the lake) and the surface was glass smooth. He sat at the bow a minute or two and finally decided to "walk" back and stepped off the boat. Not dived in, just stepped off as if he thought he could walk on the water.
Needless to say, that didn't work and he went under for a second until instinct kicked in and he began swimming, but not just swimming, the howl he let out would have made anyone laugh. Have you ever tried to lift a 90 lb. dog into a boat when his instinct is to keep swimming? I dang near went in with him!
Finally got him in the boat and after shaking about 50 gallons of water all over the place he came to me, sat and looked at me like I had lost my mind. I didn't want him to remember this as a bad experiance so I fired up the engine and brought the boat on plane for a spin around the lake. He was still hesitant about the entire thing but gradually seemed to lose the negatives and walked around a bit and then decided the best place was sitting in the bow with his nose in the wind.
By the time we got back to the pier he was relaxed and enjoying the view from the bow. We tied up and he jumped to the pier and waited on me. Just to see how he would act, I got out and walked around with him for a few minutes (he found a tree that had to be watered) and then went back to the boat. The good news, he beat me to the boat, got in and was sitting in the bow waiting for another ride! I think I may have a new boating partner.
Dog lovers out there know how hard it is when you lose your dog after so many years and that I was hesitant about getting another dog. Well, life has a way of changing a persons mind. A friend had bought a German Shepard pup a year ago and thought he could keep him in his apartment. Pups grow into dogs and German Shepards grow into large dogs. He came to me and asked if I could take the dog (now a year old) as I have a farm where he can run.
I wasn't too keen on the idea really, not sure I wanted another dog yet and I've always raised my dogs from pups. But in the end my friend said if someone didn't take him he would have to have him put down because he was tearing up the apartment while he was at work during the day. Ok, call me a softy, I took the dog.
So I've had him a couple weeks and he is shaping up very well, made a good transition to "farm life" and loves the open space to run and chase the occasional rabbit. So yeasterday I had to test run a boat I've been rebuilding and took him along. He wasn't the least bit shy about walking out the pier and jumping in the boat. His nose was going a 100 MPH with all the new smells.
Fired up the engine and, no reaction from him at all. He was more than happy to just be along and seeing the sites, until I put the boat in reverse and started backing away from the pier. When he realised we were no longer next to the shore he ran to me and barked, guess he was trying to tell me something. We went out maybe 100' from shore and I killed the engine and just sat there letting him get used to everything. He must have made 50 trips from one end of the boat to the other.
The water was absolute calm (no other boats on the lake) and the surface was glass smooth. He sat at the bow a minute or two and finally decided to "walk" back and stepped off the boat. Not dived in, just stepped off as if he thought he could walk on the water.
Needless to say, that didn't work and he went under for a second until instinct kicked in and he began swimming, but not just swimming, the howl he let out would have made anyone laugh. Have you ever tried to lift a 90 lb. dog into a boat when his instinct is to keep swimming? I dang near went in with him!
Finally got him in the boat and after shaking about 50 gallons of water all over the place he came to me, sat and looked at me like I had lost my mind. I didn't want him to remember this as a bad experiance so I fired up the engine and brought the boat on plane for a spin around the lake. He was still hesitant about the entire thing but gradually seemed to lose the negatives and walked around a bit and then decided the best place was sitting in the bow with his nose in the wind.
By the time we got back to the pier he was relaxed and enjoying the view from the bow. We tied up and he jumped to the pier and waited on me. Just to see how he would act, I got out and walked around with him for a few minutes (he found a tree that had to be watered) and then went back to the boat. The good news, he beat me to the boat, got in and was sitting in the bow waiting for another ride! I think I may have a new boating partner.
