[Ninefingers]

Today we were sailing around the Toronto Island when I came up a dog crossing my bow. He had a red lifejacket on.

He had apparently jumped overboard without the owners knowing. We circled and pulled up beside him. A nice family in a powerboat who were obviously in distress looking for their dog arrived a minute later when they saw us circling and pointing.

Dog and family reunited.

As grateful as they were to us in spotting him, I am sure they much more grateful they bought him a lifejacket. I don't think he would have been found otherwise.

If you have dogs on board, put a lifejacket on them.

It was a beautiful dog BTW

 

[Tim R.]

Good on you. Our dog has strict rules about where he can go when underway and he has a bright green life jacket with lifting handle built in.

 

[PaulinVictoria]

One of ours is so safety conscious he won't even walk down the finger dock without his lifejacket on.

 

[Dog Ship]

One of ours is so safety conscious he won't even walk down the finger dock without his lifejacket on.

Ours has one up on that Paul, he simply will not go down the dock, period. He's a Newf and would probably swim out to the boat but go down the wharf, no way, no how.
I did put him in a wheelbarrow once to get him to the boat but he was not impressed. And he got laughed at.

 

[jrcanoe]

I have never been able to teach my dachshunds to swim back towards the boat, they all take a look around and start swimming towards the nearest shore. If there is some wind it is easy to sail up to scoop them up. If there is no wind it is easy to swim faster than them and grab them and then swim back to the boat. They have to have life jackets cause their back end sinks.

 

[svHyLyte]

...

If you have dogs on board, put a lifejacket on them.

And a tether to the lifting handle on the life-jacket to keep the dog aboard. They work. BTDT with our Sea-Dog...

 

[trantor12020]

Two reasons why crew jump ship ...or overboard, 1.bad food 2.bad food...

 

[hellosailor]

"Ours has one up on that Paul, he simply will not go down the dock, period. He's a Newf and would probably swim out to the boat but go down the wharf, no way, no how."

And I thought mine was the only one like that.

But it makes sense, you know. Rule #1 for a water rescue dog: If you don't let the folks get anywhere near the water, they won't need rescue. Right?

We did con her into the ocean one day, down a sandspit that angled off into the surf. Once it got too deep for her to walk on her hind legs, she circled me three times and took off for the shoreline. Pulling to grown adults out of the water, we couldn't hold her on the leash.

And then she encamped above the high tide line and proceeded to swat and eat flies. Umm, yummy.

I think the Italians did some testing on that, apparently one Newf can pull some 20 souls in a lifeboat. They've got one that parajumps out of a low flying hopper, too.

"OK, I told you before, get OUT of the POOL."

 

[CaptainForce]

A great story and important message. I had fallen off my boat early in the morning. The deck was wet and my crew didn't notice. As a little black dog with nothing but a black harness, I was in the water for almost two hours before people from another sailboat picked me up and located my boat and my frantic crew.



Stay safe out there, Zorro