Twiggy

Twiggy is a 9 years old Brussels Griffon. Before she moved with us to the boat, she lived quite a pleasant life in Manhattan.

Twiggy at a young age.

Daily commute in New York.

Twiggy is sweet but very opinionated and she thinks the universe resolves around her. She is the most loyal and loving companion one could ever wish for.

Due to her compact size we take Twiggy everywhere we go.

Jetsetter Twiggy on the plane under the seat.

Pet passport

We got a Swiss Pet Passport for Twiggy while we were in Switzerland. The document contains her microchip number and all mandatory vaccinations with date and official stamp. Most important for dogs are rabies and tapeworm. We kept her vaccinations up to date at various ports along the way.

Twiggy with her newly obtained Swiss Pet Passport.

Twiggy at the vet in Greece for a routine vaccination.

Early days on the boat

Moving onto S/V Kaya was very exciting for Twiggy. The first day onboard her whole body was trembling. Twiggy hates the water and the moving motion of the boat completely freaked her out. But she got used to it and after less than a week she was fine, running up and down the dock and happily barking at boats and people passing by.

Twiggy walking on the dock in Vigo, Spain.

Scarred Twiggy on the steep stairs that lead down to the bedroom.

Twiggy's sleeping quarters.

Pooping and peeing

Twiggy has always been a house dog and we trained her to pee on a pad inside and do her #2 outdoors. She is quite good at holding it. Even on long flights from New York to Europe it's no big deal for her.

However, when we first moved on the boat she didn't want to pee on board. We tried to encourage her to use the pee pad in many ways but without success.

This became somewhat of a problem on our first passage from Galicia to Lisboa when Twiggy didn't go for more than 24 hours. We're not sure whether she was seasick (like everyone else) or just too confused to use the pee pad. She looked miserable.

Twiggy on passage not feeling well.

What finally did the trick was collecting some of her pee when she went on land and putting it on her pee pad for scent. For the next couple of days, we rewarded her with loud hurrays and treats every time she went to the pad.

She still prefers to do #2 on land.

Boat life

Twiggy got used to life on the boat and is loving it.

Twiggy doing an early morning watch with me.

Chilling with Sha-Mayn during passage.

This is how you find Twiggy onboard S/V Kaya 80% of the time.

Enjoying the sun.

At anchor in Paxos, Greece.