This makes us sad!
This is one of the toughest posts I have yet to write. I have been staring at the screen, trying to come up with some less-than-sad way to talk about leaving our dog, a true member of our family, behind on shore when we take off cruising.
For the last four years, since he was just a tiny pup, Tyson has been with us. Each day he accompanies us to our workplace, and each evening he makes the drive home with us. Blessed with acres of land to run free on, and being trained well enough that he won’t stray too far, he has never been burdened by a chain or line. How then could we consider confining such a high-energy dog onto a small sailing vessel? We can’t, as much as we would like to, and believe me Rebecca and I have agonized over this.
So what to do then? Do we give up on our dreams and not go? If Tyson could talk I am sure he would have none of that. So where to then? Being trained as well as he is, with such a great personality, there are hundreds of people who would take him. But you don’t just sell a family member! And you can’t just give him away to anyone. No, we have been searching for just the right family, who will be able to care for him as we have. We think we have found such a family, but this whole ordeal still causes us a LOT of stress.
seems silly to comment on these old blogs posts…
I’ve also had to give up a great dog due to lifestyle conflicts – tough days they were…but finding the RIGHT home made all the difference in the world…you guys made a good decision.
That being said, this has been a concern that my girlfriend and I have both been considering (though unspoken) since we broached the topic of a long term liveaboard. Ya see, we have a 2 year old red nosed pit bull that we would have to consider very carefully if the sailing life is for him (he is blind in one eye, so a pirate eye patch would be oh-so-apropos). Thankfully we still have some time to think on it and will be introducing him to a sailboat this weekend, in the hopes that he doesn’t absolutely freak out (much positive reinforcement in the form of hot dogs and butt scratches will be bestowed upon him). He is only two years old, so pretty high energy, but hopefully he follows suit and turns into even more of a lazy bum as most pits do when they get some age on them.
I think we have some readers who have a pit bull on their boat with them. It can work.