:hi:
We have one Australian Shepherd that we take with us pretty much everywhere we go. Here name is SiTara. She is well trained and listens well to commands:halo:. As far as taking her on dive trips we have never had a problem with her. When she sees us preparing the dive gear for a trip she gets excited. Most times we give her the choice of whether she wants to come on the boat or not. When she doesn't want to come, she'll insist on waiting for us in the room. If and when she does decide she wants to tag along, by going on the boat on her own accord. I make sure the conditions are right. Cloudy, as I don't want heatstroke happening!. Not windy, as I find it unsafe if the waves are to high. One time she did insist on coming when the waves were a little higher than usual and, she did get seasick by the end of the dive. She ended up sitting out the boat rides for that dive trip and the next two! She was quite happy to get back to shore! Most importantly she must wear a life-vest at all times when going out near the water. Plus the usual of bringing extra water for water. We mostly dive in a Bay so the water is fairly calm. I do u/w photography and prefer diving in ideal conditions. The only problem I've come across so far is the Dog Hairs! Does not mix well with camera equipment...lol. As for taking her on a live-aboard or long trips to unfamiliar places, no I would never subject her to any danger without taking the time to check it out first. Though I know she would adapt well in most cases. Oh and yes...we are lucky by being where we live in that, hired help is cheap...we have a driver that subs as Tara's doggy-sitter, he goes wherever she goes. One of the things I enjoyed most second to diving is having taught her to swim with us while we snorkel. When I met her she was 5 yrs old and didn't know how to swim! Now when we do our surface intervals and go snorkeling, she comes with us. Though she does have a tendency to use me as a life-raft even with the life-vest on, when she gets tired! Meaning it's time to hit the shore! I guess it all depends on the dog's personality, type of dog (some dogs are not ment' to swim like bulldogs and sharpie's...lol), the time you take to train them to make them part of the family, location, weather and, yes having someone available to watch them while your doing your favorite thing is very helpful!
And I don't think we'll be snorkeling in Florida anytime soon....*<grin>*. Were both allergic to gator's:gator: and flying:fly:!
