How many here boat with dogs?

Here's our guy 4 mos. later (see post #138) on his first trip out out of the boathouse. He has spent many afternoons on the boat while I have been doing maintenance. Seems to like it and he's turned out to be a good swimmmer. Sorry, not cruiser, but Drewski, (don't ask)
Oh Yeah, He's a Shiba Inu, basically a cat dressed up like a dog.

JD said:

Have you tried a Thunder Shirt? They are very calming for the dog. Work for sea sickness, car sickness as well as thunder storms.

Thundershirt | The Best Dog Anxiety Treatment

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The Thundershirt worked great for TiVo. We used it for docking mostly. We called it "the chicken wrap". He loved his chicken wrap.

Our Daisy has had to get accustomed to boating. For some reason she honestly never ever liked our Monk 36- she would sit in the aft stateroom shaking while underway. However, she seems to love our 45 and seemed at home on it immediately. I don't know what she didn't like about the monk but she is right at home on our current boat.

A boat is just another place to sleep for Dory. Boats, cars, trucks and tractors, doesn't matter, she's always ready to go.

Angus hated the sailboat--no room to turn around. He's much happier on the skiff.

We are hoping to do some cruising soon and our crew will be an 18lb Cairn Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer, 7 years old and our spoiled little princess. Our concern is that she is a barker (goes with the breed) and having grown up in a very quiet environment, not accustomed dockside traffic and noises. Anyone have a cure for the barking?

Schoona, the best boat dog.

We recently lost our wonderful little dog Schoona to a car.

I have written about it on our blog, and the arrival or our new dog Rosie. I think any dog will be comfortable on a boat if its owners are.

Nostra Signora (Our Lady) - Marine Trader 34 DC Trawler yacht : Life's ups and downs

sailtones said:

We recently lost our wonderful little dog Schoona to a car.

I have written about it on our blog, and the arrival or our new dog Rosie. I think any dog will be comfortable on a boat if its owners are.

Nostra Signora (Our Lady) - Marine Trader 34 DC Trawler yacht : Life's ups and downs

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So sorry for your loss Tony. Hoping Rosie fills the void somewhat for you. We are certain our Phoebe will adapt to boat life just fine but our dock neighbors might not be too pleased with her.
Best wishes,
George

capt.George said:

We are hoping to do some cruising soon and our crew will be an 18lb Cairn Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer, 7 years old and our spoiled little princess. Our concern is that she is a barker (goes with the breed) and having grown up in a very quiet environment, not accustomed dockside traffic and noises. Anyone have a cure for the barking?

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Hi capt George.
Thanks for the message re: Schoona. Thank god that time heals!
As to the barking, we have a couple of friends that live on their boat here in Montenegro. You can catch their blog here.

Watery Tails

Its well worth a read as they are 'the' inspirational couple that left the office lifestyle for a cruising one.

Anyway, their little dogs get a dose from the water spray bottle every time they bark. Bung a little vinegar in it and it is double fold for the dog!

Good luck with it.
Cheers.
Tony

Yep. We take our duck everywhere...

My former police dog love to boat before his passing - sad he wont be able to join us on the loop next year

Girl, Girl has been excellent considering this is her first time on a boat. Molly is her real name.

gwkiwi said:

My former police dog love to boat before his passing - sad he wont be able to join us on the loop next year

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There is absolutely nothing like a great dog. They really leave a hole in your heart when they go.

Thanks Don, its been 18 months but when they work with you and save your butt in alot of varying situations it definitely leaves a huge hole and he was my 3rd working K-9.

Here is a picture of my dog early in the morning at Naha Bay State dock.

Dog Harness

Our trawler is a Sundeck, with a swim platform. Lacey, our Brittany needs a way to get down to dinghy. Has anyone developed a lifting harness that we could lower her with (she loves the boat but hates the water).. We would use our motor hoist as the actual lifting system. Ideas or solutions are welcome.

capt.George said:

We are hoping to do some cruising soon and our crew will be an 18lb Cairn Terrier/Miniature Schnauzer, 7 years old and our spoiled little princess. Our concern is that she is a barker (goes with the breed) and having grown up in a very quiet environment, not accustomed dockside traffic and noises. Anyone have a cure for the barking?

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Yes. My brother just moved into a fancy apartment and his dog is a constant yapper. Barks all day every day, as long as they aren't home. he loves the dog and refused to give her up. As a last resort he purchased a dog barking collar. 3 days later, she was trained not to bark.
I thought it was cruel initially, but I guess it doesn't really hurt them, it's just a reminder. But, it does work. She doesn't bark anymore.

Sucia last week

davechili said:

Our trawler is a Sundeck, with a swim platform. Lacey, our Brittany needs a way to get down to dinghy. Has anyone developed a lifting harness that we could lower her with (she loves the boat but hates the water).. We would use our motor hoist as the actual lifting system. Ideas or solutions are welcome.

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Dave, we have a Sundeck and an 80-pound lab. Things I have tried:
1. Pulling him like luggage in a dog life-vest
2. Pulling him like luggage in a throw cushion (with straps)
3. Pulling up to the side of the cabin in the dinghy and he jumps. (he's good)
4. Carrying him under my arm up the back ladder (bad idea.)

Things I have not yet tried:
1. Making a specialty harness that is better than dog life-vest
2. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the sundeck diagonally.
3. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the side of the boat in the same manner.

We love our boat, but some days we think about a trunk cabin or Europa style. But for now I am doing 80-pound dead-lifts.

Ben said:

Dave, we have a Sundeck and an 80-pound lab. Things I have tried:
1. Pulling him like luggage in a dog life-vest
2. Pulling him like luggage in a throw cushion (with straps)
3. Pulling up to the side of the cabin in the dinghy and he jumps. (he's good)
4. Carrying him under my arm up the back ladder (bad idea.)

Things I have not yet tried:
1. Making a specialty harness that is better than dog life-vest
2. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the sundeck diagonally.
3. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the side of the boat in the same manner.

We love our boat, but some days we think about a trunk cabin or Europa style. But for now I am doing 80-pound dead-lifts.

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That's exactly why we chose a 20LB Dog!

I used to boat with 2 - 70 LB Goldens, way back when my back was in better shape!

Ben said:

Dave, we have a Sundeck and an 80-pound lab. Things I have tried:
1. Pulling him like luggage in a dog life-vest
2. Pulling him like luggage in a throw cushion (with straps)
3. Pulling up to the side of the cabin in the dinghy and he jumps. (he's good)
4. Carrying him under my arm up the back ladder (bad idea.)

Things I have not yet tried:
1. Making a specialty harness that is better than dog life-vest
2. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the sundeck diagonally.
3. Making or getting a ladder that reaches the side of the boat in the same manner.

We love our boat, but some days we think about a trunk cabin or Europa style. But for now I am doing 80-pound dead-lifts.

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we are facing the same issues... Heidi our lab was very boat happy, Montana our Anatolian Sheppard rescue not so much.. she quivers in the shower in the aft cabin while under way... happy at the dock but no clue how to get her from the sundeck to the swim platform.

Ben said:

Yep. We take our duck everywhere...

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That looks like a pretty old pic of Matty

I'll never forget two things about last weekend, Ben. One is watching Marley follow you around on the SUP. Then, and the most special one, was watching him endlessly bellyflop off your swim platform... see you push him back up on it just to have him shake off and do it again! Priceless.

How about potty time? How have you trained and where?

My Skipper is trained to use the swim platform. She used to think the dinghy was "outside" if you get my drift? That got old the first time. That's why I taught her to use the swim deck. It's easy to wash off and works -- at least for us.

I wrote an article on my website about it a while back:
Janice142 article Pet Poop Primer (it's not horrid!)

This is my girl:


Hope the article gives you some ideas jbowlby

Love dogs but have none. I'm away from home too often for long-distance travel, which would cause psychological abandon from the dog's point of view.

jbowlby said:

How about potty time? How have you trained and where?

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It ain't rocket science. Put out a mat, point to it and and tell them "potty". They aren't stupid. You just need to hold out longer than they do - in my case it was 48 hours!

jeffnick said:

They aren't stupid. You just need to hold out longer than they do - in my case it was 48 hours!

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Golden Doodle?

jbowlby said:

How about potty time? How have you trained and where?

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We've had two dogs of the same breed since acquiring our PNW cabin cruiser in 1998, and for two years we had both of them together. We never discouraged them from relieving themselves on deck. The dogs have had no real qualms about this but they've both preferred to go to shore, mainly because it means playtime. The breed loves the water and so the shore trips are a great way to get them exercise doing what they really enjoy doing which is retrieving from the water. And it gives us a chance to get some exerciser, too.

We take the dog ashore at least three times a day, the last run in being about 9 pm.

RJ was introduced to the cabin cruiser about halfway through his life. Albi's first trip on the boat was when he was nine weeks old. When Albi was still just a puppy we were on our way back to Bellingham and he needed to pee. So I took him out on deck and he lifted his leg (he learned to do this the day we first got him home by watching RJ) against the side of the forecabin.

I had my back to the bow watching him when I heard this huge roar behind me. I turned around to see one of Customs and Immigration's big gray, triple-outboard SAFE boats doing a powered 180 off our bow and heading away. The entire crew was laughing.

My wife, who wsa driving, told me that the boat had come speeding toward us with its light flashing, presumably to board us or whatever. But when they got right up to us they saw Albi peeing against the cabin and they burst out laughing, waved at my wife, spun the boat around, and roared off. I guess they figured that anyone who was carefully monitoring a puppy peeing on their boat was probably a law-abiding citizen.

First photo is Albi at eight weeks, last photo is Albi a couple of years ago.

Haven't posted to this thread for a while...

We still have 3 dogs on our 30' boat, and they don't 'go' on the deck. One reason may be that the bigger one is 130 pounds, and nobody wants to deal with that kind of a mess. The other reason is that we spend lots of time ashore anyway, checking out beaches, creeks, forests, etc, for photographic opportunities.

Hawgwash said:

Golden Doodle?

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Yup.