Dog

From WikiPOBia

On shipboard, a 'dog' could refer to a small, wooden wedge used to secure another item. Battens, for example, might have holes in them through which loops of the coaming of a hatch would project. Dogs would be thrust through those loops to make the batten fast to the coaming. A dog could also be inserted between the strands of a line to provide an extra check against its running through a block. As Aubrey instructs the disposition of the anchor cable in the unfamiliar and deep water off Pulo Batak, "Double the stoppers, clap on two dogs, and veer out to the bitter-end.”^[1]

References

1. ↑ O’Brian, Patrick. H.M.S. Surprise. © 1973. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110: p. 269