Boarding & dogs (Chris)

Chris - Have you trained your dog to pee on board in a specific place or does he/she just hold it for a long time? How did he/she react to the guys with the big sticks? I love dogs but have been putting off getting another one as we hope to set off cruising in 5-6 years. We have a 18 month old son who I had hoped would grow up with our lab/pitt mix but she died suddenly at age 8 of cancer. Best dog I ever had and still miss her dearly. Are you back in Rock Hall or have you made it further south. I am in Salisbury but keep my boat in Cambridge. Cambridge has a very well protected harbor where you can tie up for free to a blukhead, mere steps from a restaurant called Snappers. A fully equipped boat yard, Yacht Maintenance Co. is across the harbor and Mid Shore Electronics is another 200 yards up the creek just thru the drawbridge. If you need anything, I am 30 min away from town. I also have a fuel polishing business and give Cal owners a commercial rate. Let me know if you need anything. Paul In a message dated 2/3/2010 2:37:15 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, ch… [at] gmail.com writes: I subscribe to Clairbon Youngs list/newsletter on the ICW. Apparently this is becomming quite common now in Florida.according to reports submitted to the group. While in Baltimore I was handled most professionally by USCG while at the City Docks during President Obama's visit while staring down a 50 calibre machine gun. "Captn what are your intentions" was the order, "To remain in Port until the harbour is officially opened to public transit" was the response."Many thanks" and a smile from a lad at least 6 foot plus and armed to the teeth. Both parties smiled and the USCG vessel moved off some 100 meters. The canine unit (I have a german shepard on board) in the blacked out SUV then also left its watch position about a 100 meters to my port. All in all extremenly professional and polite proceedings, if not a bit intimidating. But heck, I would also be suspiciouse of a vessel moored in the middle of winter, the only boat in the barbor, flying a yellow quarantine flag (till I cleared customs), no people on board (Chris and I were at the customs station) just a full grown german shepard. Would look really funny to me if I was running security for a presidential visit..:) /ch

Commnets in line; On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 3:53 PM, <pw… [at] aol.com> wrote: > > > Chris - > > Have you trained your dog to pee on board in a specific place or does > he/she just hold it for a long time? How did he/she react to the guys with > the big sticks? > No not yet. I started the training exercises with her by getting her comfortable on the boat first. She does not like waves at all so I had to get her used to being on board. Made a big mistake and let it go a bit far. She is comfortable jumping on and off the boat now independent of the level of the boat in relation to the finger dock a distance up to 3-4 feet pending on how much the water gets sucked out. She would run up the dock, some 200 meters do her stuff, go for a walk and play in the parking lot chasing a rabbit that she found and of course never gets and then come back and sit on the finger dock and stretch out. All was good. THen the boat iced up and the dock ices in the morning pending on temps. Well the inevidable had to happen and in she went. Luckily the first time Chris B was here and I had a rescue plan in place with the boarding ladder tied so that it would drop simply by pulling a line. She cooperated after swimming in the wron direction and swam to the back of the boat, In I went grabbed her by the cuff of the neck and pulled her up to Chris B who dragged her on board. Dried her off, wrapped blankets around her and stuck the block heater at the end to warm her up. Figured she learned her lesson, and no longer allowed her off the baot without escort. Two days ago she did a double sow cow off the front end missing the dock completely and got tangled in the lines supplied by Swan Creek to hold the bubbler in place. Fracken shit. She immediately swam to the ladder and in I went again. Expecting me to immediately get her on board as the last time she paniced when she realized that I could not lift her up myself after two tries, so swam to the ice flow to take a break. Once relaxed I called her back, she swam over and with every ounce of strength I one armed a 65 lb dog to the edge of the rear comming. Touching anything that was solid, she did the rest and I just pushed her butt up the ladder. So we have a new drill. Once on deck, the PFD goes on. Below decks it comes off unless under way. As soon as she leaves the comfort of the salon the PFD goes on. She does not like it at all but thats the way its has to be, The PFD has a nice grab handle on it, so I can use a boat hook on her and I have some extra line and pulleys that I want to play with so I can make a rig that I can fasten to the end of the boom quickly and winch her in. Two things Im going to have to get, some form of hook for the end of the line, and a second harness that she's going to be wearing permanently, the type the sled dogs use. So if she goes in the theory is rig the hook to the boat pole on a slip not, get it around the handle of the PDF or harness toss iine over boom and winch the girl on board. Undignified but necessary. Started the PFD drill two days ago. Today she;s on strike and comfortable sleeping in the VBirth.:) Wont move, Tells ya something. A dog with attitude. Relieveing herself is going to be a problem that Ive given a lot of thought. Initially I tried to lead her to the bow of the boat but it was too slipper for her as her nails were too long and these older CALs dont have a very deap tread pattern. So part A was just to get her used to moving around the boat at will. Let her discover it. To help and force her to the bow, I changed the rotation of the boat from med moored to standard. So now she has to go to the bow to get off the boat. Its been a week and she;s got that part down pat now. The next step is to train her to relieve herself on the bow. This i dont think is going to be easy as she would not even relieve herself on my property. Very considerated that way, always the neighbours front lawn and then down at the river was her favorite place were we used to play, a half block away. There are lots of dogs in the neighborhood where I am, so gonna use the scent routine fist, to see if that will work. Grab some do, run it on disposable carpet and place it in the bow. Then a little forced confinement and lets see what happens. > > I love dogs but have been putting off getting another one as we hope to set > off cruising in 5-6 years. We have a 18 month old son who I had hoped would > grow up with our lab/pitt mix but she died suddenly at age 8 of cancer. > Best dog I ever had and still miss her dearly. > > Completely understand as the dog becomes part of the family and typically bonds with one person specifically. I had no options with this dog as she's a resuce and would not bond a third time. What is interesting is that since we have been in close quarter now for a couple of months, the bond has changed. Its weird to say, but we really are partners. I just talk to her as I woudl talk to anyone else and 90 percent of the time she understands. And yes she does talk back, thats the funny part, low growls of malcontent when she;s not a happy camper, like when I take her spot at the dinner table, which is actually my spot. For some reason we have to play this silly game each time I dress the table for a meal. Funny but true. > Are you back in Rock Hall or have you made it further south. > Hunkered down and iced in in Rock Hall. Swan Creek froze up the night we got back from Baltimore and today is the first day that stern of the boat is clear of ice. However we have to big blows comming one fri-sat and the gribs are showing a similar event next thurs. So have to see what this will do to the back bay, Temps next week are gonna be cold. Im sure its gonna freeze up again, which is fine as I have a number of projects to complete still. Most of the work is inside so I can complete them in about two days outside once the weather is warm enough to work. You dont get to motivated to work outside when its below 32. Anything above I can handle but below makes me very lazy. > I am in Salisbury but keep my boat in Cambridge. Cambridge has a very > well protected harbor where you can tie up for free to a blukhead, mere > steps from a restaurant called Snappers. A fully equipped boat yard, Yacht > Maintenance Co. is across the harbor and Mid Shore Electronics is another > 200 yards up the creek just thru the drawbridge. If you need anything, I am > 30 min away from town. > Thats a great offer and I may take you up on it, as I need a change. Been here long enough and starting to get bored, then lazy but the good part is I am loosing weight..:) The last issue I have to sort out is a good supply of dry heat. Currently on power so three block heaters are keeping the engine room and boat toasty. 30 AMPs to play with. Once underway however the propane heater I brought along is a source of moisture so useless, and Ive had the water supply lines freeze on me while at dockside. So those are the two main projects that I need to resolve in a cost effective manner. I could install a standard propane heater but dont really want to drop a boat buck on it. So currently looking at alternatives. Ive you happen to come across a used solid or propane heater, dickinson or other would appreciate hearing about it. THe engine I will deal with by bringing in a second line on a valved T that allows the engine to suck in antifreeze one the thermostat is removed. Thats what the fishing boats do that stay out over night but they pull the hose off the through hull. For me, thats to dangerouse, I would rather add a T and a valve so there is no pressure on the c-cock at all. > > I also have a fuel polishing business and give Cal owners a commercial > rate. > Thats interesting, I was wondering about that. When a dock side I try to run the engine every couple of days and add stabilizer to the fuel. Remembered that trick from the days when I used to ride motorcycles. I used to get pulled over a lot as I used to drive it in the winter as well while at University. The cops always thought the bike was hot. It was a honda 360T, who the heck would want to steal that. > > Let me know if you need anything. > Thannks Paul, its really appreciated. The two things that Im looking for is a simple hook that I can attack a 1/2 inch line to, so it needs an eye at one end, and the other thing is a good used heater solid or propane fueled. Actually I would love to drop a wood stove into this girl where the vanity is, but the folks at westmarine here in town have told me horror stories about insurance. The one lad who did it one his big boat here in town ended up spending several boat bucks just to meet their requirements. But the old timers had it right, a wood or coal stove on board with a cooking surface is a must in this season as its delivers reliable dry heat. and doubles as a cooking surface. Currently Im getting ready for the blow on Friday. Lets keep in touch, Once the weekend passes will contact you off list. Thanks for the information and offer of help.Talk more later. As a footnote, spend two days helping two lads I met at another marina putting in their hydraulic windless. Lovely vintage yawl with center board and amidship cockpit.Can carry 1700 square feet of sail, an old woody and one off. Suggested they not leave port as there was a big blow comming but they were anxiouse to leave after being iced in for a week or two. The vessel is over 40 feet but with a center board, so Im sure they will be OK and the owner is well seasoned.spending many years in the Sea of Cortez but heck given the weather forcasts for the seven days, I would have stayed in port no matter how big the boat. But thats just me. So to sum it up, its nice to know that Im not the only nutbar out here..:) /ch

comments in line: forgot to anwere one question On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 3:53 PM, <pw… [at] aol.com> wrote: > > > Chris - > > How did he/she react to the guys with the big sticks? > Fine. I made it very obviouse that I had a dog on board, and asked permission to restrain the animal as she is a german shepard. The exercise was completed in full view of CG staff and I put her collar and lead on so she was under full control. She's been trained to work on voice and hand signal for this trip so once the collar goes on, she's working which means she quitely sits at my side. She does not know guns so they are not a factor. Had they boarded the boat, which they did not, perhaps because she was present or their was no need, I would have asked permission to take her to the bow and restrain her at that location. She would have been fine. Basically she is a very quite and socialble animal but Shepards are territorial so you need to deal with that fact. Hence the work routine where I have control over her and her disposition as when she's working she wants to please me. Or so the theory goes. Best regards /ch

chris123 wrote: > Basically she is a very quite and socialble animal but Shepards are > territorial so you need to deal with that fact. There's a Cal 25 in the marina where my other boat lives, and one of the crew is a big German Shepherd. He paces the deck and looks a bit nervous but the capt. says that he wants to be there, so he goes. It's obviously his boat. Chris Campbell