It’s a terrible scenario: You’re out on a boat in the water with your family… which includes your beloved dog. It’s like being with a young child… you take your eye off them for ONE second and they can be gone. Frantically, you search the water. Nothing. You put out distress calls. Nothing. Then the only thing left to do… is wait. Hope that the dog knows where to go home. One family went through that, as this video shows.
Rylee, a Beligan Malinois, went on a boat ride on Lake Michigan with her mommy and daddy. The boat had electrical problems and they had to go into the cabin. When they came out, the pooch was gone. Enter panic. There were Rylee sightings in various places, with one boater scooping her out of the water and dropping her off at a beach. She walked another 12 miles before finally reaching her destination: home. That made both her mommy and daddy so relieved.
It’s great that Rylee was reunited, but I was disturbed to see that she wasn’t wearing a life vest on the boat. Dogs and small children should always have them on in case of emergencies like this. It’s basically Boating Safety 101. Yes, Belgian Malinoises are strong swimmers and it was probably that which saved Rylee’s life. Had she been smaller, like a Chihuahua, who knows? Hopefully, they learned their lesson so we don’t see this happen again.
That’s the thing about taking dogs on boat rides. People often think that they can watch their pooches for the entire time on the boat. That’s not possible. People will have to go inside from time to time. The only solution that I could think of would be to have an extra-long leash tied to the side of the boat to give the dog room to roam but would also allow enough slack for their mommy or daddy to guide them back should they jump off. That and the life-jacket would be more than sufficient, I think, aside from not bringing them.
What do you think? Do you have experience taking dogs on boats? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. Also, it would be great if you “Like” us on Facebook.
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