sailing with a dog - advice please

[convey]

Of course, one important lesson is to measure your boat to make sure it fits your dogs.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Our little dog is quite content on board. He's very much a lap dog, and as long as he can get close to his humans, he's fine. We did have one major accident when he was little - a combination of seasickness from being confined below, and internal pressure from waiting too long! He rather exploded at both ends...

Now, he usually sails in the cockpit, or in calm weather, on deck. He hasn't suffered sea-sickness since then; we think it as being below decks that triggered it. If there's much motion we tether him.

However, he's been boating since soon after he came to us as a puppy; it's simply part of his routine. He loves a good run on grass when we go ashore, and at the marina he often meets two other dogs who he is best mates with. There's an occasional rabbit or hare as well - not that he stands the faintest chance of catching one! Arrival at other places often means a long walk, which he generally enjoys; he's short-legged and only weighs about 6 kilos, so his need for exercise isn't as great as other, larger breeds! The walk to the pub at Levington from Suffolk Yacht Haven is plenty far enough for him - indeed, too far in hot weather! But he learnt to pick blackberries on that walk - my wife was blackberrying along the path, and he decided that he would help!

 

[jimi]

 

[chrishscorp]

We rescued ours when he was 3 he is now 9yrs old, his first season sailing was last year travelling from Pompey to Dartmouth and back, bizzarely he did seem to enjoy himself. He is 40KG a big lab crossed with a mastiff, a little large for our 26 footer he doesnt bark much which is nice as it would wake the entire marina. He does have a jacket but it is too hot in warm weather so we use a dog car restraint and put a lifeline on it. The slats in the cockpit need some padding and he just settles down.

He will not go on the boat, we tried astroturf to no avail, so we dinghy him ashore 8 hours is max we will travel between stops so Lyme bay can be a push. To get him up and down the companion way and from the cockpit into the rubber flubber I have a scaffold board chopped so two lengths 6 1/2 foot long with carpet nailed topsides and covering the ends, good grip and the covered ends mean no scratches to the gel coat, they will double as garboards. I have had a selection of coments when walking down the club pontoon stowing long planks on board, must get a pirate hat and a cutlass for next time.

Stopping in a marina is favourite but we wont raft as not fair on other boat owners to have a great mutt tramping accross decks, small dogs can be carried, we have to drop our guard wires every time.

We put the boat on the club pontoon in order to mend the mast last week the Admiral came down with pooch and he ran down the pontoon straight to the boat managed to wriggle through the guard wires and stood in the cockpit tail wagging so i guess he is up for another trip

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Pup, now 9 months old, has quickly taught himself to swim from a slipway into the Hamble until he paddled further out without touching the bottom, then further out still (swimming after the tennis ball) so he could experience the effect of the running stream.

That evening he was bombing around on the hard, when he suddenly - stupidly -launched himself at very high speed off a concrete wall. It was low tide and the river was a good five or more meters below. From my position further back I couldn't see anything but - with the old cartoon image in my mind of blurred legs rotating in thin air just before the plummet starts! - I heard the eventual splash.

I couldn't stop laughing! Fortunately he was completely intact, as his high horizontal speed saved him from the broken back which would have been his certain fate had he just fallen straight down. Given that he'd earlier chewed the straps right off his buoyancy aid, this little episode has given me some confidence that he's learnt an important lesson.

I've just ordered a florescent-coloured harness for him to wear instead of buoyancy when aboard, the hoik-out handle being the important thing, and will encourage him to swim as often as possible to build up muscle-strength.

PS - also taught him to use my own mid-river pontoon for his business. This means he'll also use marina pontoons, but there's always plenty of water about to wash it all straight off.

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That dawg looks like a Neville. Theo says hello.

 

[Babylon]

? Nev says hi Theo!

 

[Babylon]

...now 9yrs old, his first season sailing was last year travelling from Pompey to Dartmouth and back...8 hours is max we will travel between stops so Lyme bay can be a push.

Stopping in a marina is favourite but we wont raft as not fair on other boat owners to have a great mutt tramping accross decks, small dogs can be carried...

Lovely to hear your Lab-Mastiff enjoys the cruising. I reckon most dogs would but smaller ones, especially on small boats without sugar-scoop sterns, are definitely easier. Nev is currently about 12kg, should top out around 16kg or thereabouts - and hoikability was one major factor in deciding on a Cocker.

Lyme Bay would be the big one for us as I'm hoping to slowly get down to Cornwall this summer. 8-10 hours is the span of a long night at home, which he can now very easily hold himself for, and there's always the option of cutting his rations from the night before the crossing and limiting his water accordingly (he'd pee in the cockpit I'm sure if he was that bursting, its the sticky brown stuff one wants to avoid). Once this is realised, then the 12-13 hrs to Alderney from say Yarmouth becomes practicable for the future, or the same timespan to Cherbourg (would need to passport him up first).

Before anyone cries "cruelty to dogs!"please note that in the wild dogs only eat every 48hrs on average! Also many dog nutritionists recommend a 24hr food fast every month.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Before anyone cries "cruelty to dogs!"please note that in the wild dogs only eat every 48hrs on average! Also many dog nutritionists recommend a 24hr food fast every month.

I think it depends on the size of the dog - smaller breeds need to eat more often than larger ones.

 

[Mudisox]

Don't tell my wife or she will use the knowledge to restrict my rations.