Sailing with a Rescue Dog

A young couple from metro New York took their friends sailing on the York River along with their dog Liberty.

Meg Kelly said, “Liberty is mix of lab, boxer, pit bull and more. We’re not sure exactly because she’s a rescue dog. We thought of getting a second dog and calling her Justice. We live in a 900-square-foot apartment in Jersey City. It’s the new Brooklyn in terms of gentrification. It’s amazing how little a space you can live in, simply by not accumulating so much stuff.

“Liberty is something of an anxiety dog—hers not mine. She doesn’t like people at first when they approach. I can tell you she definitely doesn’t like men wearing hoods. She also has separation anxiety and doesn’t like to be alone.

“She’s so smart that we had to have a locksmith come in and install a dead bolt on the front door. The guy asked if this was a bad neighborhood. I told him no, that the dog was so clever as to open the door to get outside and try to find us. She can’t slide the deadbolt. She just doesn’t like to be alone.

“Rescue dogs are very sad. The greatest number of them are puppies, and the SPCA is eager to place them because otherwise they have to be put down. They’re too much trouble to feed and care for at a young age. We wanted a small black dog and wound up with this large white puppy instead.”

Liberty behaved well on board, staying close to Matt and Meg without moving much from the aft quarter of the boat. She flopped around and occasionally stood up to see the water, but she showed no hint of jumping in. Indeed, she was just curious about her surroundings. She sailed along in oblivion, sometimes anxious when the boat heeled to 15 degrees. Matt caught a gust that took us to 30 degrees, and the dog reacted better than the people as they shrieked with laughter.

Let’s Go Sail                                                          

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