Today we brought the smallest of our fur-babies, His Royal Highness, King George! He is a 2 yr old male, Caviler King Charles Spaniel. He is my (Nancy’s) baby. Since he is the smallest of the 3 we have and the easiest to manage, we thought we would introduce him to the boat and check out his sea legs. We have a life vest for him that he will always wear when in the cockpit or out on deck. I would hate to have him go overboard and while he is a excellent swimmer and loves the water, I wanted piece of mind and safety for my baby.
At first, he wasn’t too sure about this… We are on a floating doc so it moved but he quickly lost interest in that as there are so many birds that he can chase on the dock. I left him on the lease so he wouldn’t go too far or fall off since his life vest wasn’t on him just yet.
We got him on the boat and into the salon area where he clearly was not happy. There was a slight current and our boat was ever so lightly and I do mean light (maybe a degree or two) but enough for him to know that this wasn’t right. He was clearly uneasy or scared and pretty much followed me around and was very insistent that pick him up. So I took some cushions and laid them out on the floor for him to calm down. Soon after, he got up and started to follow us around and explore his new surroundings.
Next, was to get him to wear his vest so I can take him back up. He was not happy and wasn’t having any of it but too bad, I told him sternly if you want to come up, you have to wear this… clearly he was not happy but his need for me out weighted the desire to not wear the life vest.
After a while, he started to explore the cockpit and found a nice spot on the companion way to sit as he could see everything and have his water bowl. And did I mention the food was there? If mommy is eating it, then I can eat it he says. We grilled some boneless chicken thighs and had some baked beans with potato salad and some fruit. Clearly he enjoyed lunch as the little rascal stole the chicken off my plate! With that regal look that he gives you that says “I AM KING MOMMY!”
After lunch, he found the towel that I had and made a bed. While daddy, washed the deck it was time to snuggle with mommy. I think he enjoyed the day and will be fine sailing with us. Next step to bring the other 2 and see how they fair on the boat as well.
