My husband and I enjoy taking our boat out on the Connecticut River and to local lakes. Bill and I decided to take Sadie with us on one of our outings, as she gets extremely upset whenever my husband leaves without her. Never having taken her in the boat before, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we were both up for the challenge.
This particular excursion happened at a local lake that we frequent every year. When we arrive at the launch site, I usually help unhook the boat, and then Bill and I transfer our personal belongings from the truck into the boat.
Apparently, Sadie felt that she should be the first one in the boat. Before we had a chance to secure much of anything, she jumped out of the truck and then into the boat, clearing the sides. The boat at this time was still on its trailer, and stood about four feet off the ground. I knew that this was going to be an interesting adventure for all of us.
After we got underway, we cruised the lake, Sadie stood at the front, ears flapping in the wind, checking out every smell, every breeze.
When we hit a wake caused by the speed of other boats nearby, our boat slapped the water and jumped quite a bit, as we motored our way over the wake. Apparently, Sadie didn’t like that movement too much, because she got off the front of the boat, curled up under Bill’s seat and didn’t move again until we stopped.
We found a nice place to anchor and decided to go swimming. We usually throw a couple of life jackets in the water so we can float and stay in the water without having to come out to rest. Bill threw a life jacket in the water and next thing we knew, Sadie was flying through the air. She grabbed the life jacket and started swimming back to the boat, the retriever part of her working just fine.
There was no land near us, and Bill had to jump in the water after her, to get her back in the boat safely.
After making sure Sadie was back on board, Bill grabbed the life jacket and started swimming. A minute later, Sadie was back in the water, happily swimming around. I was still in the boat at this point, so once again, Bill retrieved Sadie from the lake and I hauled her back up the ladder, this time telling her to, “Stay!” A little tired and waterlogged, Sadie didn’t try to jump in again.
Bill decided that we should move closer to shore. If Sadie was going to keep jumping in, she would be able to find her footing if we were closer to land and we wouldn’t have to keep pulling her back into the boat.
We cruised over to a little island and anchored there. As soon as the anchor was in the water, Sadie jumped into the water again! Eventually, she got tired from swimming and was having trouble finding a place she could stand to rest. Since we didn’t have a dog life jacket for her, I decided that the best solution was for us to take turns staying in the boat with her.
I must tell you that our boat isn’t anything fancy. It is a Tracker. I think it’s about sixteen feet long, carpeted, has a few “holds” and drains in the floor – drains that ended up coming in handy.
Apparently we forgot that dogs pee. I was sitting in the boat with Sadie, reading a book and just relaxing. Suddenly, Sadie started to pace and then squatted. I experienced a moment of panic. I managed to grab her by the front of her back legs, swing her around, just in time for her to aim for the drain!
At this point, I figured it was MY turn to swim and Bill’s turn to baby-sit. I threw my life jacket into the water - big mistake - and a flying Labrador promptly retrieved it. This continued for the entire day and I must say that on occasion, we purposely threw the life jackets into the water, just to watch the pure joy of Sadie bringing them back.
By the time we were done, the three of us were exhausted. I think Sadie would have been content traveling in the boat the entire way home, but after about 10 minutes, we coaxed her out of the boat and into the truck. She slept the entire way home.
As for Bill and me, we just laughed at her character and personality and now, we look forward to many more summers on the boat with Sadie.
Copyright 2007 Melanie Ouellette All Rights Reserved
About the Author:
Melanie Ouellette is employed as a Service Coordinator for a Commercial HVAC Vendor. She is also a Licensed Barber and Nail Technician, and has a degree in Computer Science. Melanie loves writing children's stories and poems, and enjoys snowmobiling in Vermont and Northern Maine with her husband, Bill. She is also the parent of two children: a US Sailor, and a special-needs teenager. Currently, she resides in Connecticut. You can contact Melanie at melaniejpitt@att.net
