Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! It was a beautiful weekend for the holiday – much needed after not many good weekends prior. We were at Watch Hill Fire Island for the holiday – if you were there that weekend you would have enjoyed Christmas in July sponsored by Friends of Watch Hill. It’s one of my favorite times there. Santa, Rabbi, and Elf boat around the marina while everyone plays Christmas music and sounds their boat horns. The kids meet at the ferry dock waiting for Santa and the Rabbi to arrive after their boat ride and they each get a toy. The excitement on their faces is priceless. It fills my heart to see them so happy and excited!
In last month’s article I told you about the newest addition to our family – our Golden Retriever puppy we rescued from LIGRR and named her Baci. Baci had no choice but to get right into our boating lifestyle. The weekend after we got her, we eased her into our boating life and took her to Zach’s Bay for a day. She didn’t like when the boat first powered up. Our diesel motors can be loud and scary, lol, but she didn’t mind the ride. She was even very agreeable to get in the dingy and go to the beach twice. She had fun running on the beach but we kept her close and away from others because she didn’t have all of her shots. Our next trip was going to be a big one for her – going to Watch Hill for 10 days. The Amazon delivery truck was at our house multiple times per day dropping off stuff I ordered for her. Five years ago, we lost Golden Jake, and didn’t have his doggie items left. Plus, after doing TONS of research, lots of things changed over those five years. We needed a crate for her to sleep in and keep her safe in the cabin if we were to the beach. She sleeps in a crate at home so it wouldn’t be an issue. What I didn’t know was what type of crate I should get. When Jake was a puppy on the boat we had a soft sided crate for him. I remember a Sunday night years back when I made pasta and meatballs at Watch Hill. Unfortunately, with Jake, we allowed him to have table food and pasta was his favorite along with Italian bread, lol. While we were eating, we put him in the crate…later I hear noise in the cabin and opened the door and there was Jake in the middle of the cabin having eaten his way out of the crate. That was the end of the crate for Jake!
Back to Baci. It’s been a long time since we had a puppy and wanted to do right by her, I inquired on boating Facebook pages for suggestions from others as to types of crates others use. I got helpful tips which confirmed what I was originally thinking of doing. I got her a smaller version of her crate at home. By next year we won’t be needing it. We just needed to get through this season. On the other hand, I learned not post every time when I have a question. One response was “what if there’s an accident and the crate goes overboard?” I was upset by this answer because we never travel with her in the crate – it’s only used when docked in the marina. From now on I’ll go with my own instincts and research when I need to purchase items.
I thought I had everything covered…metal crate, two dog bowls with rubber bottoms, leash, collar, harness as and bones for chewing as she would be teething and soft plush toys so our cabin floors might survive morning playtime. I got the cutest nautical ones from Target – a starfish, crab and stingray. Blankets that came in a package of three that I ordered from Walmart…super cute with dog bone designs. One for her home crate , one for her boat crate and one for the cockpit so she’d be comfy during outside playtime or she just wanted to rest. I’m sure at this point my sons think I’ve completely lost my mind. Then there is her “Baby”. It’s a stuffed “Snuggle Puppy” I purchased from Amazon. It’s like having a litter mate with you – it has a heartbeat you can turn on and warming pads. Items like this didn’t exist when we had Jake. They’re very comforting to Baci and she sleeps with hers every night. And then sometimes her poor “Baby” takes a beaten for unknown reasons.
I even ordered a portable umbrella you put on a beach chair. I thought we’d attach it to our beach cart and put Baci in the cart and pull her around the marina since she was little and not walking on her leash yet. Well, what I thought would happen and what actually happened couldn’t have been further apart! The second night at Watch Hill our younger son tried putting Baci in the beach cart and pull up to the tent for Friday night bingo. They were going to go on an “adventure.” Really what happened was that they went two feet and she jumped out of the cart. We tried two other times during our trip to get her to ride in the cart. Reality was that most of our time there, I wound up carrying her around the marina. By the end of the ten days, Baci grew bigger and I was tiring from carrying her. I think that she was happy when we were finally going home because she missed eating the clumps of grass from our backyard. I’m sure our grass was a happy break.
As usual, I sidetracked again… back to our trip. Baci did great considering she was only home with us for eleven days before our long trip. We really threw her curve balls. She learned to go down the stairs in the cabin, napped quietly in the afternoon with no issues and mastered potty training – only one accident the whole time. We were pretty impressed Baci was able to do her business in the sand as opposed to her grass. I bought her a patriotic bandana to wear up on the Fourth of July – she tried eating it when I when I first her but she got used to it. The picture you see is Baci at the Ferry dock wearing it after we saw Santa.
I learned during this trip what is needed to make Baci comfortable on future trips. We gave her water from our water bottles when away from the boat. At Target they have a Dog Water Bottle. I got one,. She loves it! Often she drinks water from there rather than her bowl. Boating friends with a black lab told us about Musher’s Secret Dog Paw Wax. It protects paws and noses from sun and hot pavements. You can use it in the winter to help with snow not getting balled up in between their toes.
I realize this article was about both our puppy and boating. Since I learned much in the last month and a half since we adopted Baci about boating with a puppy, I liked sharing in case anyone thinks about getting a puppy during boating season. I’ll be honest…as much as I wanted to add a new addition to our family, I was extremely nervous about doing so. However, getting a puppy used to the boating lifestyle during boating season is the perfect time to do it. If anyone is wondering…I have no affiliation with Amazon, Target or Walmart …I’m just a savvy shopper and love sharing my purchases and ideas with everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed Baci’s first trip to Watch Hill, Fire Island…next month we be back to boating basics…our first Watch Hill trip back in 1998, Where it all started 27 years ago…