First off, I'd like to apologise for not having photos of the Midnight Mochi on the water. Sunday was our first time taking him to a boat dock and on a ride in our Lund Rebel XS, which is a 16.5' long fishing boat suitable for just about any river, lake, or stream short of the largest of the great lakes that resemble freshwater oceans more than lakes. That might have sounded like an ad, but it's meant more to describe the boat since I have no pictures.
Moving on!
His first time at the lake was surprisingly good. There were people at the launch gathering their kayaks and he sat quietly to watch while my husband readied the boat. As cars drove by he had no interest in chasing but wanted to explore. We had visited another part of this lake before to see where we wanted to launch from and Mochi was so excited he was all about choking himself to get to the interesting things. This time around was considerably more leisurely as we strolled down the 3-boat launch area to the docks.
Floating docks didn't seem to bother him and he was fascinated by the sheer amount of water. The boat itself was interesting to him as well. Getting in to the boat, however, wasn't entirely inline with his good senses. His human mommy had to do a quick lift and lower to get him in and he was ready to get out right away and back onto the more comfortable dock.
Once we launched and were out in the water, Mochi was rather concerned but not panicked. He explored the full perimeter of the boat which has flat-topped compartments by the hull that are flush with the bow's platform. There's about a 12-inch depth between the platform and the top of the hull so it's a good Shiba-sized railing as long as he doesn't get the notion to jump, which he didn't, but he did think it'd give him a better view to put his front paws on the ledge to prop himself up. His human mommy didn't allow that.
For his safety, we got him a life jacket and a harness. (Pictured below) We think about boat safety for ourselves but it's also important to remember our pets, too, can get tired in the water, disoriented, or injured. Large enough lakes actually can have currents, wind can so easily push you across the water (which I will get into later), and rivers always have a current to fight. Mochi sports a soft mesh harness under his life jacket that I can attach a reflective nylon lead to in case he falls overboard. When on land, though, we use his normal slip-lead for better control, but it comes off when in the boat as I don't want anything attached to his neck accidentally catching on things, especially in the water.
Moving on!
His first time at the lake was surprisingly good. There were people at the launch gathering their kayaks and he sat quietly to watch while my husband readied the boat. As cars drove by he had no interest in chasing but wanted to explore. We had visited another part of this lake before to see where we wanted to launch from and Mochi was so excited he was all about choking himself to get to the interesting things. This time around was considerably more leisurely as we strolled down the 3-boat launch area to the docks.
Floating docks didn't seem to bother him and he was fascinated by the sheer amount of water. The boat itself was interesting to him as well. Getting in to the boat, however, wasn't entirely inline with his good senses. His human mommy had to do a quick lift and lower to get him in and he was ready to get out right away and back onto the more comfortable dock.
Once we launched and were out in the water, Mochi was rather concerned but not panicked. He explored the full perimeter of the boat which has flat-topped compartments by the hull that are flush with the bow's platform. There's about a 12-inch depth between the platform and the top of the hull so it's a good Shiba-sized railing as long as he doesn't get the notion to jump, which he didn't, but he did think it'd give him a better view to put his front paws on the ledge to prop himself up. His human mommy didn't allow that.
For his safety, we got him a life jacket and a harness. (Pictured below) We think about boat safety for ourselves but it's also important to remember our pets, too, can get tired in the water, disoriented, or injured. Large enough lakes actually can have currents, wind can so easily push you across the water (which I will get into later), and rivers always have a current to fight. Mochi sports a soft mesh harness under his life jacket that I can attach a reflective nylon lead to in case he falls overboard. When on land, though, we use his normal slip-lead for better control, but it comes off when in the boat as I don't want anything attached to his neck accidentally catching on things, especially in the water.
Mochi sporting his stylish life jacket.
Mochi did really well, as I said before, but it was a bit of a stressful time for my husband who hadn't launched the boat in a high-wind situation before. Pro tip: launch off of the windward side of a dock rather than leeward. Why? When you're leeward of a dock in high winds, those winds will push you with increasing momentum into the next dock it's blowing towards and it's much easier to maintain control with little momentum than to try to avoid hitting the next dock once the wind's got your boat moving. Yup, it was a learning experience and thus why I was unable to take photos while actually in the boat.
Anyway, the next time we hit the water with the canine star of this blog, I'll try to get pictures of him in the boat and by the water.
Anyway, the next time we hit the water with the canine star of this blog, I'll try to get pictures of him in the boat and by the water.