Puppy on Boating Trip

So the new recruit, Smeagol, my Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla is a little gem. She takes most things in her stride and water is definitely not an issue. She swam out for dummies at 4.5 months old and never hesitates on the entry to the water.

I went on a little trip, just her and me, where we had to take a motor boat 40 minutes, hook up to the mooring and get in a dinghy to get on land. It was great fun. We also went to check the lobster pods.

Here is Smeagol behind me as I drive the boat. Funny how nice it is to have a canine companion.

Once we got to where we were going, I had to catch the mooring with the boat hook and tie it up. Then get the rubber dinghy and get in to the shore. No problem hoisting Smeagol on board the dinghy and she is happy sitting in it, but I also liked her to get some exercise as she had been in the car for nearly four hours. So I got her swimming with the dinghy. The photo is not so good as I had my hands full.

There is a lot of sea weed closer to shore, but it doesn’t bother her.

A beautiful place on the Scottish west coast and I enjoy the cockles, so I went to pick them. Smeagol is funny, she also starts to dig.

Some say that if you have been out shooting with your gun dog and you then come home to dress the birds, you should not allow your dog to see you pluck and cut the birds as it makes them think they should do the same. I have always dismissed that as over the top, but seeing Smeagol digging when I dig with a rake makes me think it could be possible that they mimick like that.

She is proud of the bucket of cockles and we got a nice meal. I do give her some of the cooked cockles and she is very happy taking them out of the shells herself.

Dogs just love beaches and the sea.

I knew there were some lobster pods out, so I took her the next day to check them. There were just little crabs in them.

Dogs can do more than we sometimes think. There is no problem taking a dog on a boat and if they are calm, they won’t fall off. They do have a sense that tells them it would not be clever to step outside the boat.

The evenings after a busy days like that are great. Wood burner on and dog asleep, APART FROM ONE THING: TICKS!! There are lots. Smeagol has been treated, so they would just die and fall off, but I prefer to pick off the ones I see. Just after one day she had a collection of them:

Horrible things.

When we felt ready, we took the boat home to the harbour. Nice boating weekend out with my puppy.

Approaching the harbour.