Iris' Accessories

Iris in her classy PFD aboard her dinghy

Without going into detail regarding all the paperwork, shots, tests, etc. that were necessary to get Iris admitted into the BVI, other planning was also necessary for her comfort and health.  There is a great Facebook group “Sailing and Cruising with Pets” which was helpful, Jody’s writing from “Where the Coconuts Grow” and Carolyn, writing in “The Boat Galley” all had interesting, informative suggestions for cruising with four-legged crew.  Below are some of the items we have tried and found to be good Iris accessories for this trip.

First agenda item was a PFD for Iris.  After cruising the internet for suggestions, we went more expensive and settled on a medium sized RuffWear doggy PFD.  Her red PFD is sturdy, adjustable and has saved her twice so far.  She has become adept at getting on and off the dinghy.  About a week ago, Steve and I misjudged the wind/current conditions, the dinghy shifted and she missed.  NOT HER FAULT but nevertheless a dunking ensued.  Steve was able to grab the vest handle and pull, while I got underneath her legs and pushed and she popped right into the dinghy, after floating/swimming around for only about two minutes.  We have decided swimming is not natural for a Plott hound, although she didn’t look too terrified.  She was a little hesitant the next couple of times jumping into the dinghy but by now she is ok again.

The quality, heavy duty construction of the PFD has been everything advertised.  Iris jumps on and off the dinghy onto the beach end and floats or scrambles onto shore.  She has gotten used to wading back towards the dinghy and jumping in with a shove from me or lift from Steve.  While we’re not convinced she enjoys the process, the vest helps maintain my sanity around her beach trips, as well as when we are sailing and she is sitting in the captain’s chair with us.

We also purchased a 20-foot floating leash which we keep attached to her while sailing and for isolated beach trips.  While not a necessary item, it works well to let her loose on a beach, but still have control of her where we aren’t comfortable with her running free.

Food and Storage of Same

All the blogs alluded to the absence of good quality food in the BVI and we have found that to definitely be the case.   Since I’m picky about what I feed her anyway, I started looking into blog suggestions.   The Honest Kitchen and Sojos were the two I tried samples of; these would supplement her regular dry food.  Both are dehydrated, person grade, dog food.  For whatever reason, she didn’t care for The Honest Kitchen brand I offered but likes the Sojos Turkey a lot.  Alternating that with the homemade turkey/rice/veggie mixture that I brought frozen from Santa Fe, and her regular dry food, has keep her eating well.  Snacks are treats from the BarkBox delivery just before we left home, along with her regular homemade biscuits which we’ve kept frozen.  At this point, halfway through the two-month trip, it looks like she will have enough food to last, without resorting to Purina.

Anyone who has been to the Islands knows that moisture and bugs can be a problem on a boat.  So, proper storage for the dog food became the next agenda item.  We settled on a Gamma Softstore30 bag.  With only the three of us on the boat, storage hasn’t been an issue for one dog.  Keeping the food dry and bug-free is, however, and the bag has been a wonderful solution.  I’m tempted to buy another one for use at home in Santa Fe when we go back.

OK, I think that does it for the accessories.  Oh, Iris has adamantly refused to do anything but sit on the Astroturf, touted as the dog potty solution.  Since we aren’t planning any long, several day cruises, we make regular beach trips for her instead.