He is! He moves his arms so the rows will move the opposite way the boat is hanging to.
BTW! Pay attention once you have your boat built and you’re about to add the little dog companion. For some reason I didn’t even see that the instructions prompted me to add a tiny part before adding the dog, so the dog would look like he’s standing a bit. Mine is not because I forgot about that tiny part 
and apparently I’m not alone in that small mistake. So my dog is not that high (like looking at the fish), he’s just… You know, quietly standing there in the boat haha
Here’s my own if you’re curious.