Boat Dogs

A little while back I was commissioned to do a very special painting for a nursery and I have been given full permission to talk about it here, which is very exciting.  I never quite know whether to keep unfinished work under wraps, or whether to flap it around and shout it from the rooftops?

Anyway, I am going ahead with talking about this, even though the piece isn't finished, mainly because I have reached an impasse and am hoping you can help.

In my painting there is to be a dog; a sweet dog with an adventurous little boy sailing away in their dinghy. I've been thinking about dogs in boats (some dogs are good boat dogs and some dogs are definitely not) and wondering what this little dog would be doing?  I've done some drawings and whittled it down to three rough options but can only choose one...
1. Dog and boy talking to each other.

2. Sniffing the wind!

3. Lookout at the bows.

My question is easy.  Which one do you like best?

I'd love your help.  If you're feeling brave, click the comments link below and vote 1,2 or 3....  (it should be easy... you can even be anonymous!)  or hop on over to my new facebook page which is a perfectly perfect place to leave comments and chat. (I'm planning on adding a facebook link to the sidebar on the right here straight away, but if it's not there yet just click here).

RNLI Boxing Day Dip

Here I am dropping Stormy Stan ashore for the 2012 RNLI Boxing Day Dip (I think he might have got wet feet).  This is the first year I didn't swim but I had a good excuse.

...and here are some of the dippers (photo from jjdoyle.com who couldn't help dipping too);  a few people got cold, nobody drowned.