Dog life Jackets

BruceK

BruceK

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For those whose dogs cruise with them do you keep the life jacket on your dog full time?

We have a sailing staffie who can swim like a brick sinks and will chew through anything that he doesn't take a fancy to. I watched him with a single bite sever a 12mm braided docking line and a telephone pole is no match either....

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...so keeping a life jacket on permanently hasn't really been an option. He will tolerate it so long as he gets to get in the tender for his beach walkies when on the hook.

This has worked well enough for the last 4 years he has been cruising with us but yesterday he finally took the plunge. I had absent mindedly left the swim platform door open to go in the tender to a neighbouring boat and in his mind tender means beach walkies and he was not about to be left behind. Suicidally stupid he just jumped in to catch up and went down like a brick.

I fished him out after he was under for a short while and I've never seen him look so pathetic or feel so sorry for himself.

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I have no idea how we are going to persuade him to keep his life jacket on permanently, any training tips for the wilfully stubborn breeds gratefully accepted. He is a much loved member of the family and a complete softy, just all jaws and bum.
 
that's a proper ears down, tail between the legs frightened doggy :-(
unusual for a dog not to be able to swim, sounds like he had a narrow escape.
I would try the life jacket a bit at a time - for example getting on and off the boat so he is not wearing it for more than a few minutes and reward him for wearing it with a treat.
Then build the time up slowly until it doesn't bother him anymore.
 
We will have to try. I have a feeling we will need a good few life jackets before he learns.

kashurst said:
unusual for a dog not to be able to swim, sounds like he had a narrow escape.
.
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His backside sinks and then his front legs become useless. Last thing you see is the nose.
 
Is the problem just with a lifejacket? Will he wear an ordinary dog coat? If so, make him a custom lifejacket by stitching closed cell foam into a coat. There used to be a couple of companies on the web that made custom coats for dogs - I discussed getting a lifejacket made up by one of them.
 
No he doesn't wear a coat. He is a house dog. But that may well be a good idea, training him from home with a coat. Thanks.
 
Teach him to swim!
Is he a rescue dog? Many rescue dogs don’t like to swim because they never had a childhood where they learned. But when you finally get in water deep enough they can. Take him out in water with you and hold him until his panic subsides.
Try first in a fresh water lake, dogs love fresh water
Good luck
 
Teach him to swim? You know that thought never actually crossed my mind. There is a veterinary hydrotherapy unit down the road. I'll take some advice from them :encouragement:
 
It's certainly worth trying to teach him to swim, but that should not rule out teaching him to wear a lifejacket too - I can swim, but the RYA tells me that I should also wear a jacket! Most dogs like playing in shallow water provided it is not too cold - get him started like that, then encourage him to go slightly deeper under strict control.
 
Bouba said:
Teach him to swim!
Is he a rescue dog? Many rescue dogs don’t like to swim because they never had a childhood where they learned. But when you finally get in water deep enough they can. Take him out in water with you and hold him until his panic subsides.
Try first in a fresh water lake, dogs love fresh water
Good luck
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its not the swimming thats the issue - its the rescue. LJs have handles and spread the lifting load on the dog.

They are also a signal. Tells the dog it is/is not ok to swim. On tender trips ashore off comes the l/j and in goes the dog - he swims the rest of the way.
 
maby said:
It's certainly worth trying to teach him to swim, but that should not rule out teaching him to wear a lifejacket too - I can swim, but the RYA tells me that I should also wear a jacket! Most dogs like playing in shallow water provided it is not too cold - get him started like that, then encourage him to go slightly deeper under strict control.
Click to expand...

Goes without saying, then again if I am perfectly honest I wear a life jacket when on top deck, in the tender and when motoring. I do not wear the life jacket when in the salon or cabins and never when sleeping on the hook. We have applied the exact same rules to the staffie. Obviously we need to revise them for him at least.
 
We keep our Westie in his harness and he is clipped on under way. At anchor he is free to roam, but the aft deck is off limits unless we are with him.
 
This is a true story (honest!). Sometimes dogs need motivation, unfortunately near drowning is not motivation for a dog. My last dog (may he Rest In Peace) was a rescue dog and he did not want to swim for anything. One day we are moored in a canal in the Camargue and I took him for a walk, now remember these canals are really wide and this was at a place where the canal met a river so was extra wide. On the beach on the other side were some people and dogs walking when one of their dogs got a whiff of my dog and ran in the water and started to swim towards us. Now my dog was big, cross between Beauceron and a Rottweiler but he was a friendly lump and he looked concerned about this beast coming towards us like a torpedo. I assumed that since our side of the canal had steel sidings there was no way he could get out of the water. But one muscular arm came up out of the water and grabbed the steel plate then another big arm came up and he just pulled himself up and over like he was doing chin ups. Me and my dog had never seen anything like it! Anyhow after a lot of argy bargy between dogs and a lot of calling from his owner he eventually decided to dive back in and swim back. From that moment my dog knew he had to swim, so when we got back home I took him to a lake where he practiced and practiced until he felt ready.
A few months later we were back moored in the same spot and my dog went straight to the spot to look for the sea monster unfortunately of course he never came.
He just needs motivation ;)
 
Bouba said:
He just needs motivation ;)
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That might prove difficult now. Maybe I might try Elessar's trick and let him jump out of the tender progressively earlier in shallow waters. He's fine with wading about chest deep. Maybe take him neck deep and tempt him with my biltong stash.
 
BruceK said:
That might prove difficult now. Maybe I might try Elessar's trick and let him jump out of the tender progressively earlier in shallow waters. He's fine with wading about chest deep. Maybe take him neck deep and tempt him with my biltong stash.
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With a lab you just chuck a ball. Where the ball goes the dog goes.
 
Some dogs are more natural swimmers than others.
I have a lab....webbed paws....always swims.
Husky....nope....he’s too cool for that
collie....nope....too scared but probably could
Pug....scared of nothing but wrong shape! Like a staffy, stocky build, short levers...never going to be a great swimmer. Muscle weighs more than fat which is why the lab floats so well :)
 
FARSCO said:
Muscle weighs more than fat which is why the lab floats so well :)
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I used to have a Rottie he was such hard rippling muscle that people would ask to touch him
He was so fast he could hydroplane with only his feet getting wet.
But it is the excuse I use:p
 
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