Thursday, July 28, 2011

Divers' Best Friend

Tadd & I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time... but living on a 30 foot sailboat hasn't been exactly conducive to that lifestyle.

So when we got to Mana Island and saw the dogs running around the village I think we were doomed. We didn't want to actually own one of them, as we know we can't take them with us. So we decided to "sponsor" one of the overly-skinny puppies that were around.

So that's how we ended up falling for Sandy (Tadd always joked about naming our kids Rusty and Sandy and bringing them up on a boat!).


She's a little hyper at times... so much so that when she gets really excited she literally jumps around in circles... kind of like a kangaroo or something.

We started giving her some love... and some leftovers.

And the next time we went to the mainland we picked up some flea shampoo. So, the first order of business on our return was a bath. She was little enough then to fit in the tub... and one of the smaller puppies wandered over to see what we were doing... later to be named Ringo.



Sandy whined and shook and generally made a fuss about being bathed... then promptly ran off and rolled around in the sand (not surprisingly). Meanwhile, Ringo came and sat in the tub... so we just bathed him too.


The little fella didn't mind a bit.


He looked so much less fluffy (an earlier name) once wet... but still too cute.


Luckily Sandy forgave us, and loves to hang out in the bushes outside our room.

But as she was growing fast... and litter after litter of puppies appeared from the other female dogs on the island, we had to start forming our plan to somehow get her neutered.

We would have to get her to the mainland to the SPCA, but we weren't allowed to take her on the ferries... not to mention the problem that she freaked out when Tadd tried to leash-train her... and when I tried to see if she would lie down in a box... no chance!!

So one day, one of the staff came up with the idea of making a traditional basket. The next time the activities guys were doing basket weaving, we tested our idea... using Ringo.





He always looked this pathetic!






It seemed like it would work... so Samu (the activities guy) wove us a Sandy-sized basket...



and Tadd, Mari and Sami modified it to keep her in.


Even so, she was not at all happy with the idea. We were almost at a loss, until Tadd came up with the only solution.... Drugs!! A quick call the to the vet, some playing in the dive shop with weights to guess how much Sandy weighed by that stage, and we got some pills sent over.

At this stage Sami had to hold her so she couldn't disappear into the bushes and fall asleep.


Sandy resisted for a long time... but finally succumbed to the drugs... and promptly peed on Sami!

Into the basket she went... still fighting it a little... and then Sami and Mari smuggled her aboard the ferry... can you spot the dog? Nope!


Since then, Sandy has been a happy, unhassled puppy... who gets lots of love from the guests, plenty of leftovers, especially on roast chicken dinner night... and of course, regular baths... which she deals with, if she still doesn't really like them.




And plenty of her favourite... belly rubs!!


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