Baxter and Jaela are best friends, but they couldn’t be more different. Baxter is very intelligent and extremely moody. Jaela doesn’t share Baxter’s intellect, but she is loving and sweet and always happy. She also has some killer hunting instincts. A day in Jaela’s life looks a little different than Baxter’s.
This is Jaela. She is three and we adopted her when she was about 10 months old. She is a shepherd mix. We think she’s mostly Belgian Malinois. Her boat duties include catching and eating flies (like a ninja), patrolling the boat’s perimeter while we are away, and looking fierce so robbers and/or navy officials are too intimidated to board the boat. When she’s not hard at work, she enjoys hunting lizards, hunting crabs, swimming, and cuddling.
7:30am Cuddles with Dad in bed until Baxter goes outside. Climbs the companionway stairs to join her brother on deck.
7:45am Patrols the perimeter of the boat until morning walk.
8:00am Jaela’s favorite time of day. She jumps into the dinghy for a morning walk on shore. Hunts crabs on the rocks until it’s time to return to the boat.
8:45am Returns to the boat and patrols the perimeter.
9:15am Finally gets around to eating breakfast. Mom and Dad have to wait for her to finish before leaving for the next anchorage.
9:30am Sleeps on the cockpit floor while underway.
12:30pm Patrols the perimeter of the boat at the new anchorage until Mom and Dad return from exploring.
3:30pm Afternoon nap once Mom and Dad return to relieve her shift.
5:00pm Afternoon swim/walk. Runs up and down the beach chasing lizards.
5:45pm Patrols the boat’s perimeter until dinner.
6:00pm Dinner time.
7:00pm Settles into a comfy spot in the cockpit where she can still guard while she sleeps.
11:00pm Reluctantly goes below deck to sleep in the aft bedroom when a rain storms rolls in.
This intimating looking guard dog took a little longer to adapt to boat life. She was terrified of the new noises and took a while to develop her sea legs. But, she now loves life at sea. She has turned into a strong swimmer and a fierce huntress. Having new scenery to explore every couple of days is a dream come true for this one. This mountain dog has turned into a salty dog.
You may have heard that here in Australia we have a thing about dogs coming into the country without knowing about it. Do you have any troubles bringing these two into various ports as you travel ?? If you are tied dockside or reasonably close to shore do you ever get an ‘abandon ship’ situation ??
I remember the Johnny Depp incident. So far the only country that has really cared about the dogs is BVI. We made sure to have our ducks in a row (rabies, FAVN titer, and USDA endorsed health certificate) and we had no issues. When we’re docked, we keep them below deck. While we’re at anchor, we kept them up on deck, which they prefer. However, during our 2nd to last week cruising…we did have a pup abandon ship, swim a very long distance to shore and track us down in the bar! While we admire her athleticism and tracking abilities, we have to find a way to make sure that doesn’t happen again next season.