Our Girl

Dyna is short for Dynasty. Dyna produced the first litter at Birchwood Labrador Retrievers, a small hobby kennel in Maine, and went on to produce four more litters before she was retired. There are dozens of adorable Labs out there thanks to Dyna. JoDee Edes allowed us to adopt Dyna two years ago, the same summer we brought home her grandson Dylan.

Dyna turned 11 this year, but don't tell her that. When we decided to bring Dyna into our home Jeff made me promise we would only keep her if she could learn to do all her business on the boat - something we feel is a requirement for safe cruising with your dog (see our article, Canine Crew). Fortunately, he didn't check for crossed fingers behind my back. We worried if we could teach an old dog new tricks. We didn't need to worry.

Since leaving her comfortable home in Castine, Dyna has kept up with numerous dogs half her age, swam nonstop with Dylan and several groups of children, boldly climbed the pet ramp at every imaginable angle, calmly slept through rough seas, and even dove from the dinghy into the water for an unplanned swim. She now eats "senior" food and takes supplements for her joints, and sometimes gets up a bit more slowly after a hard swim but we have some medication for that.

Dyna brings joy and humor to us every day. We have satellite TV on the boat but haven't bothered to turn it on. We've been busy and besides last night I watched the two dogs tussle over a toy. What sitcom could be better than that?

Yesterday I met a women who's Black Lab lived to be 18 years old. Come on Dyna, we can beat that!