Daisy May

This page will be dedicated to Daisy May. We got her two years ago from Homeward Bound Dog Rescue, not knowing what kind of life she had before us. They didn't know much about her. After a couple of weeks with us, we discovered that she had a life of abuse. Slowly she has learned to be a trusting friend. Occasionally she drifts back to her previous experiences, but then she looks around and sees her life now, and everything is alright again.
She took to boating easily, a lot more easily than she took to riding in a vehicle, but that's another story. She has only experienced sea sickness once, off the coast of Sandy Hook, N.J.  The weather was rough, she couldn't get her footing and was sliding all over the fly bridge with Sharon trying to hold onto her.

Since then, she spends her days relaxing on the back of the boat or curled up in the corner of the couch. Life on a boat with a dog can have its difficulties, but life without a dog is non-negotiable, so it all works out for the better.
She has had many firsts in the last 2 years. We don't know that for sure, but we surmise that when she is apprehensive about something, she hasn't done it before.

Yesterday, we took her to the beach at Surfside. At first, she wouldn't walk on the sand, then she felt the warmth and jumped right in then the cool sand felt different so she hesitated for a moment. Then that was alright, then came the surf. The first couple of times, she ran away from the waves, but looking back to make sure they didn't get too close. Then she figured if the Dad (Jim) could walk in the water, it would be alright. Her tail started wagging and she pranced along the waterline. She stayed out of the water, but once her paws got wet she discovered that the water wasn't going to hurt her. She'd venture about 4 inches in the surf and when the waves came in, she would back up until they were over her paws. Soon her tail was wagging, and she was enjoying the cool water.

Once, back on the boat after a day at the beach, she was fast asleep for the rest of the day.

She loves to walk around the marina a couple of times a day, We haven't ran across any alligators yet, but she is on the lookout for them. I don't know who would run faster.

The goats were curious as to what this dog was, so they came over to the fence to check her out, and Daisy had to check them out also. First couple of times she had to bark, but when she did, the goats would just look at her. Daisy figured if they didn't care if she barked, she wouldn't bother wasting the energy. So now, every morning we walk up to feed and check on them then back to the boat for another nap and breakfast.

She celebrated New Years Eve with us this year. We all fell asleep early, woke up to watch the ball drop and then back to sleep.

When we lost Hershey, we weren't sure that we wanted to get another dog, Daisy came into our lives shortly after looking for a family and we were considering another dog. It all worked out in the end. Daisy got another lease on life and we got another companion. When you look in her eyes, you see an understanding in her that she appreciates her life now. We don't know what kind of life she had before joining us, but we can only hope that she is enjoying this lifestyle now. Our life is better with her in it.