Canine Babe-Catcher

Bikini-clad ladies dotted the sugary white beach that filled the panorama stretching across` the bow of Scud, our 44’ catamaran. Warren, our twenty-year-old son, was in overdrive – his normal operating speed. “See ya’, Mom! I’m going in to find some hot babes,” he shouted, sliding sunglasses into his pocket.

“Dad’s got the dinghy,” I shouted up from the galley towards the cockpit where he was standing.
“No worries; I’ll swim in!” He said with a muffled cry.

I scrambled into the open cockpit just in time to see him pulling out of a smooth swan dive from the deck stanchion (good thing his dad missed that launch platform!).

Oops, there goes the dog too. Wherever Warren goes (or anyone in our family), Bella – our little Belgium barge dog – goes too. She’s performed Herculean acts of bravery to prove her loyalty and devotion: many times to near loss of life! She’s on life number twelve now, way past the eight that we told she was allowed.

To lengthen her lifetime with us, we installed a doggie boarding ladder from the port sugar-scoop. At her leisure, she can come and go at will. (We stow it when underway, to ensure against wandering walkabouts.) In port, she hangs in our shadows when we scrub the bottom, dive the anchor, or cool off on a hot day. She paddles in like a little kid!

So, today she strutted down the sugar-scoop with toes just over her rubber ladder, launched into a makeshift swan dive, paddled after Warren, and then promptly boarded his back. His stern instructions rode the hot still air: “Look Bella, jump on ALL the girls this time when I throw the Frisbee!” She’s his guaranteed ‘babe-catcher’! (Even when an old mom like me walks her, pretty girls approach, curious of her breed.

Bella is our third Schipperke raised onboard our various sailboats while rearing our two sons in the Caribbean. Better known as the Belgium Barge dog, these little dogs are perfectly suited for boats and children. With their protective, gentle nature, a child can dress up a Schipperke, cuddle next to it, and whisper angelic secrets into its little pointed ears, all while the dog is maintaining a sharp look-out for possible hidden dangers to the child or boat. And being a guard dog is their 2nd nature: They were once used to guard the cargo holds of the great barge-canal boats of Belgium. It’s where their more common title of ‘little captain’ and ‘little skipper’ originated. So, I love it when overly eager boat boys want to haggle for a bunch of bruised bananas I don’t want. Bella won’t let them hang onto the lifelines long enough for negotiations to ensue! When new friends arrive, she’ll settle down, once being ‘introduced’ and sensing our comfortable arrangement.

She’s rescued us from potentially serious trouble many times, when we’ve been delayed below decks, making tea or analyzing charts. Being exceptionally alert and curious, a Schipperke will bark at anything before she took a nap, a large cargo ship advancing out of the haze on the high seas, or a boat dragging by during a gnarly squall in some tiny anchorage. “Good girl!” We tell her.

Such alertness keeps the dog entertained during long passages too. Dolphins drive her mad. They whistle and chortle to each other, while she dashes from port to starboard chasing their disappearing fins. Relishing her antics, the dolphins linger at our bow wake, and perform butter-slides across our rooster-tails.

Our minds were made up to get this clever dog, when we were boarded one night in Jamaica, several years ago. A crafty thief swam out to “Antilles’, our 46’ wooden boat, crept around six people, and stole three currencies, along with a sack of canned food! It’d been a long passage from Florida….naturally we’d celebrated. Rum was twenty-five cents for a shot of rum at the Chinese dive, back in those days. Today, I know I am safe when my husband Peter disappears into town to hunt down spare parts. If anyone cruises through the anchorage with suspicious curiosity, my canine protector is standing sentinel on the bow giving tongue. Schipperkes are not yappy though; she won’t bark without reason, so my neighbors aren’t annoyed. Just on notice.

Like any good pet, Schipperkes must be cherished and loved, as they are very affectionate. Bella relies on and looks forward to her walk every day: Me too! (They can be trained to ‘use’ Astroturf, strung onto a line for rinsing.) It gets me off the boat and into the world. Often, it’s a little too easy to languish like a tourist, but the ‘list’ beckons, and a beach stroll invigorates me to tackle my morning chores. Dinner get-togethers have often been planned when walking her on long afternoons: I run into friends; meet new people.

Her size makes it easy to smuggle her into any island restaurant, café, or indoor market. She fits comfortably in my open duffle that slips over my shoulder. She watches the show go by, quiet as a mouse.

From the bow, a familiar percussion of frivolity brings me out of my sweet reverie. I put down my cloth and tin of stainless polish to walk astern. Warren is back with Bella…along with a girl so stunning looking, she could be a Vogue model.

“Hi, Mom! Meet Laura, my new friend on vacation from California.” He winks at me, and my heart swells from his charm. I reach down to pat Bella, saying, “Good girl!” then I say to Laura, “I see you caught the Frisbee!”