Bella and Clyde, Issue 159

Bella

This toy poodle may not be a typical boatyard breed, but she nevertheless loves the water and considers herself a true “sea dog.” She has cruised with her family along the Maine coast for 10 years and loves to explore island paths, the rocky shoreline, lighthouses, and villages. She’s been offshore as far as Ragged Island and has assisted lobster fisherman friends with sterndog duties, including the inspection of lobster holding crates. She is also a certified therapy dog. A proponent of fashion and function, Bella always wears her pink polka dot PFD when on the water.

Clyde

He could be a cross between a miniature pinscher and a beagle; no one knows for sure. Some of the workers at Strouts Point Wharf Company think he might not really even be a dog. All his companion, Cym Hughes, who runs the boatyard, knows is that Clyde, a 10-year-old rescue dog from Baltimore, is good company.

“We all work for him,” said Hughes.  Clyde calls the shots at the yard, and he knows it. As befits such a confident canine, when he decides to relax, his favorite spot is not on the floor nor in a common dog bed, but rather in one of two leather chairs in Hughes’s office—the ones usually reserved for customers.