Best dog for boat

[Tintin]

Chatting to a friend last night about dogs and boats.

She's got a wire fox terrier, which seems reasonably compact and well mannered for a terrier: not at all aggressive and yappy.

I've never owned a dog, more a cat person.

But my son would love one, so anyone got any thoughts on good breeds for boat life.

Something that could put up with passages, with a bit of astroturf to poop on.

 

[Poignard]

A Newfoundland.

Apparently they have an instinct to try and rescue people in difficulty in the water.

I also read somewhere about them being trained to take a line ashore from a fishing boat so it could be warped into a berth.

I think you'd need more than "a bit" of astro-turf though.

 

[nortada]

Portuguese Water Dog

 

[Clancy Moped]

If your more of a cat person get one of these The Turkish Van - A cat that likes to swim! | Pets4Homes

 

[Sandy]

One that you can leave in a kennels. A boat is no place for a dog. Total lack of trees and other doggy stuff.

 

[greeny]

Get a stuffed one,
No need to go for walks.
Don't need to feed it.
No sh*t on the pontoon.
No barking all night.
Don't need dog sitters or kennels if you go away.
Don't annoy the neighbours.
Think about others and what we have to go through.
Oh - and don't moor near me please.

 

[Stemar]

A Newfoundland.

Apparently they have an instinct to try and rescue people in difficulty in the water.

I also read somewhere about them being trained to take a line ashore from a fishing boat so it could be warped into a berth.

I think you'd need more than "a bit" of astro-turf though.

Could be useful if you need a tow...

More seriously, I'm not a doggy person, but I've seen mutts of all shapes and sizes on boats and, from what I've seen, one that's small enough to carry up a boarding ladder from the dinghy. It'd be a pain to have to rig the man overboard recovery system every time you take the dinghy ashore.

 

[NotBirdseye]

Sandy has a point. Long hops are not going to suit a dog at all, they will need regular beach walks and lots more boat space (think cata rather than mono).

If you don't have a dog already I would advise not getting one.

A Newfoundland is completely inappropriate for anything less than 60ft. Can be done, but wouldn't advise. There are certain small Labradors that might be suitable, terriers perhaps but... bad idea on the whole. A virtual pet might be a better investment...

 

[Adrian62]

We have a cockapoo comes out with most of the time , seems to be happy on board . Always has his life jacket on and we have netting on the guard rails .The jacket has a really good grab handle which makes transferring to tender easy .

 

[greeny]

Oh, and many marinas have a no cats and dogs rule. Not that anyone follows it.

 

[ashtead]

A small version so when it’s older you don’t need a passer Elle for boarding due to hip problems and also much easier to haul out of the mud by its life jacket handle. Would also suggest no multi variety that doesn’t want to attract swans. Cocker spaniels are intelligent but mult so a cocker poo type seems a compact boat dog and soft mouthed compared to those terrier types.

 

[duncan99210]

Met all sorts of boat dogs from the small stamp-on-it breeds (easy to manhandle but tend to the yappy end of the spectrum) to a pair of Newfoundland’s on a 30 ft boat (like, one of those on a 40 ft boat is silly, but 2 on a fairly small boat?). I think a dog is reasonably well suited to day sailing with runs ashore but could be a nightmare on longer trips (Although the pair of newfies had just crossed Biscay when we met them....).

 

[newtothis]

A small version so when it’s older you don’t need a passer Elle

From now on I'm going to tell people that the etymology of passerelle is from the French " to pass her"

 

[Koeketiene]

Consider a Schipperke - originally kept/used aboard barges in the Low Countries.

Breed Information

 

[Laysula]

We have a Jack Russell. She's happy on board, managed 15 hours once without a toilet break, doesn't relieve herself on the pontoons and is happy going ashore etc in the dinghy.. she's also a quit dog and not a yappy one. She's not quite purbred and we had her at about three years old from the dogs trust. She is also very safe with the grandchildren. To be honest I don't think that we could find a better dog. Her only faults are that she absolutely hates wearing her lifejacket and she's a bloody useless wicketkeeper.

 

[Laysula]

Consider borrowing one from the dogs trust and try her out on the boat. Some dogs take to it very easily and some just hate it. It would be a terrible thing to find out that the dog that you have hates your boating life.

 

[Poignard]

Best to get one that doesn't bark or, even worse, yap!

Talking of Newfoundlands, at the Beale Park Boatshow a few years ago the owners club was holding a demonstration of their dogs doing various activities in the water and I was very impressed by how intelligent and well-trained they were.

If I ever got to like dogs enough to want one, I think I would choose a Newfounland.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Sandy has a point. Long hops are not going to suit a dog at all, they will need regular beach walks and lots more boat space (think cata rather than mono).

If you don't have a dog already I would advise not getting one.

A Newfoundland is completely inappropriate for anything less than 60ft. Can be done, but wouldn't advise. There are certain small Labradors that might be suitable, terriers perhaps but... bad idea on the whole. A virtual pet might be a better investment...

I once saw a Corsaire (about 18 foot) with a compliment of 4 adults and 3 children complete with what looked like a St Bernard on the foredeck moored up in the Glenans, two French families enjoying a cruise.

 

[Poignard]

I once saw a Corsaire (about 18 foot) with a compliment of 4 adults and 3 children complete with what looked like a St Bernard on the foredeck moored up in the Glenans, two French families enjoying a cruise.

Some of the French owners are very adventuorous in the cruises they undertake in these very popular boats.

No French equivalent of the YBW forums to advise them not to do it!

 

[Fr J Hackett]

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Some of the French owners are very adventuorous in the cruises they undertake in these very popular boats.

No French equivalent of the YBW forums to advise them not to do it!

I met a French guy that had sailed his from Concarneau to Glengarriff via the Scillies in one his wife was flying out to join him having declined to take part in the delivery.