Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 15 of 15
  1. #11
    Senior Dog JackK's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Southeastern MA
    Posts
    1,045
    Thanked: 733
    Quote Originally Posted by TuMicks View Post
    I've never been in a boat on the water and had to recover my dog... only can go on what others tell me. BUT, I'm told that if the dog can get his feet on the gunnel, then holding the back of his head, he can pull himself in. I've done it from a dock and it worked fine. The dog was a big male and I'm a skinny female. We didn't do any training to learn how to do it, it just seemed natural for him to pull himself up using his front end.
    Tumicks, that method works just fine in smaller boats where the distance from the water to the top of the gunnel is reasonably short - Skiffs, row boats and most small lake boats. In the ocean the gunnels need to be much higher to handle the conditions of the sea. On my 30' boat, it is a long stretch to the water and I'm not a little guy - 6' 1". Picture bending at the waist, leaning over almost 90 degrees and trying to grab a bobbing dog collar.

    This is my brother and CASSIE looking to see what he caught.

    -img_0388-jpg

  2. #12
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Posts
    1,816
    Thanked: 2198
    Quote Originally Posted by TuMicks View Post
    I've never been in a boat on the water and had to recover my dog... only can go on what others tell me. BUT, I'm told that if the dog can get his feet on the gunnel, then holding the back of his head, he can pull himself in. I've done it from a dock and it worked fine. The dog was a big male and I'm a skinny female. We didn't do any training to learn how to do it, it just seemed natural for him to pull himself up using his front end.
    Would probably work well enough for a stable row boat. The floaty in the pool for Hemi in my profile picture he gets on that himself out of the pool the exact same way you describe. But things like canoes and paddle boards are too unstable with a lot of weight on the side. Sure two human people can stablize a canoe and get each other back in because they know to kind of roll into the canoe stay low and not bounce around too much. A lab that is all more than ready to go jump back in the water....

  3. #13
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Mass and NH
    Posts
    559
    Thanked: 406
    I have the exact same one (Ruffwear) In Jack's picture. It's very good quality. I got it when Tanner was in water therapy a few years ago and Yukon has used it a couple times in a lake. Sadly I don't use it much as I don't have a pool or a boat and Yukon is somewhat limited over the past year, although he used to love to swim. I'm sure Griffin will be wearing it at some point when he gets to swim.

    Another piece of equipment PT required was an inflatable donut around the neck. These are typically used like the cone of shame when you want to prevent a dog from licking or biting an area. The off label use for swimming is it keeps his neck up and they thereby ingest much less water than may otherwise happen. It also assists in keeping him afloat as well. I know Yukon has come out of the lake before and drooled for a day or so because of whatever contaminants he's swallowed. The donut helps prevent that.
    Griffin growing up!

    Hidden Content


    Griffin Male Black Lab 03/14/16 -

    Yukon My Wonderful Yellow Lab 11/20/06 - 03/12/19 Will cherish the memories!!!!
    My Precious Tanner Boy 11/25/02 - 6/25/15 Will miss you always!!!!

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to outrag For This Useful Post:

    SoapySophie (07-26-2017)

  5. #14
    Best Friend Retriever SoapySophie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Eastern ON, Canada
    Posts
    483
    Thanked: 241
    Update: went to a marine supply store in Kingston and bought Sophie a Salus Skippy vest. Got a medium for her, as the large was a bit... large.

    Went to the lake, let her try it out using the stairs attached to our breakwall, and it works great. It helps keep some water out of her ears, too.
    https://www.salusmarine.com/?products=skippy
    Sophie: Born July 28, 2014
    Hidden Content

  6. #15
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    2,366
    Thanked: 1096
    Quote Originally Posted by JackK View Post
    Tumicks, that method works just fine in smaller boats where the distance from the water to the top of the gunnel is reasonably short - Skiffs, row boats and most small lake boats. In the ocean the gunnels need to be much higher to handle the conditions of the sea. On my 30' boat, it is a long stretch to the water and I'm not a little guy - 6' 1". Picture bending at the waist, leaning over almost 90 degrees and trying to grab a bobbing dog collar.

    This is my brother and CASSIE looking to see what he caught.

    -img_0388-jpg
    You're right. The people I've talked to were hunters and it was a small boat they used. I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis, MD) and the rich and beautiful would sail their very wonderful ocean-going yachts into the small harbor there. We would sail past on our historic little gilling skiff. We watched a little terrier come running out onto the deck of one, go poop in his little pan, run to a line that was attached to a boom, and swing it over the side and empty it. Then pull the apparatus back in. We were so amazed we didn't even bother reporting the pollution. But yes, whereas we could easily haul a dog into our skiff, something much more sophisticated would be needed to recover a swimming dog onto one of those vessels.

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •