Tough topic, but a great "Sea Dog" is an amazing animal. Neighbor had one, Gus, a golden retriever who as since gone to the CC in the Sky. Gus was hysterical, always wanting to be there when you caught a fish. AAMOF, if you dropped one, he'd turn around and look at you with that, "Dumb $hit!!!" look.
One day I went over to fish Gus' dock and neighbor said he had to run into town, asking if I'd mind looking after Gus. "Sure, Gus will help me find the fish!" Well it was one of those days and even Gus, who never got bored of watching you fish, left the dock after a while to find a nice tree to "water". Well I hooked up and the second my drag started screaming, it was like a stampede, as Gus comes tearing down the dock, ramp and the float, almost knocking me into the water as he muscled in to see the action!! Great dog, and we all miss him. He would be a welcome mate on any boat!!