DESTINATION: AN ISLAND FOR DOGS.
Shell Island is a pristine barrier island just off Panama City, owned by the State of Florida to the west, Tyndall Air Force Base to the east, and in the middle — by a messy mish-mash of private landhold- ers, county government and state govern- ment. The middle portion, where owner- ship and regulation is murkiest, is where dog-owners go. So we stopped to let Colter piddle and play in the sand. Without missing a beat, Colter put his nose in the air and went from first gear to fifth gear in 2.5 seconds flat. He was tear- ing across the barrier island with nary a care in the world for his clueless and ter- rified humans. I thought for sure we’d never see him again. Then he smelled food. We caught up with him as a nice young couple was feeding him potato chips. It was both a good and bad lesson. The leash went on, and the training began. That’s when I realized there was some relationship work to do. I needed to make my dog want to hang with me, rather than take off for parts unknown. Boating with my dogs, Colter and his lit- tle rescue brother Rory, a red Australian Cattle Dog, is now a weekly outing for us. I will share with you some of the most important things I have learned the hard way, so that you won’t have to. Take them seriously, because duct-taping a propeller laceration at nine o’clock on a Saturday night when you are six miles from land, is not a situation you want to experience (and yes, the dog in question did well after seeing a vet and having drain tubes inserted).
BOATINGWITH DOGS CHECKLIST: Always have these with you on the boat
1) Leashes secured to the interior of
the boat. If your dogs are new to boating, clip the leashes to the interior of the boat so that they cannot jump overboard. Dogs have a tendency to want to go for- ward on the boat to “catch the breeze,” and if you hit a wave or back off the throttle suddenly, they can plummet for- ward off the bow and be run over by the boat. Do not assume your dog knows better. My dogs are seven and five-years- old, and I still clip them in as I near my
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Above: Colter and Rory at Shell Island, Panama City Beach, courtesy of Catherine M. Zehner. Below: Dezi, a Hairless Chinese Crested of Vero Beach courtesy of Karen “Keko” Ekonomou.
destination because I have seen them more than once, get impatient with my anchoring maneuvers and dive off the boat to swim to shore. Don’t chance it. 2) One gallon per dog of fresh water
and two water bowls — one for the boat and one for the shore. I freeze water in large juice/milk jugs and place them on shore, where they thaw. Then I periodi- cally add cold water to the water bowl, which the dogs enjoy. 3) Poop bags. The water, the sand,
and the experience will almost always immediately “set your dog free.” Watch carefully in the first 15 minutes of frol- icking. You will have ‘nuggets’ to pick up. 4) Aerosol sunscreen. Seriously.
Short-haired dogs will sunburn on their bellies and faces. Hold your hand over their eyes and spray the top of their
Summer ~ 2013 THE NEW BARKER 35
heads. Cup your hand over their noses to spray the muzzle. And don’t forget to spray their bellies. A dog with a sunburn on his belly is a pitiful, pitiful thing.
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