Dog on a boat in the Med. Advice please?

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Deleted User YDKXO

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Thanks to my sister in law letting us down and against my better judgement, it looks like our mutt will be accompanying us on our boating holiday in the Med this year. She's fine in the car so I have no particular worries for the drive to SoF but she's never been on our boat or indeed any boat before. In particular these are my concerns

Do we try to get her to poo/pee onboard and if so onto what? (astroturf?). How do we encourage her to do it? What do we do with the debris?
I have no idea if the mutt can swim. Should she wear a flotation device if she looks like she wants to jump in the water from the boat? How do we get her out (she weighs about 25kg)?
I'm sure Med based dogs are used to the heat but do dogs coming from cooler countries suffer from the heat and how could we cool her down?
Are we going to find it difficult to get her to jump on/off the pasarelle?
What about visiting other marinas? Are there likely to be rules for dogs in some marinas?

Any other issues I should be thinking about (other than throttling my sister in law)?
 
Getting dogs to do business on a boat is never easy. A piece of astro turf might help, put a hole and rope through it then tow it to clean. That’s what long distance yotties do. Like I say, I’ve never achieved it, what I have achieved is taking the dog ashore by dinghy several times a day and sometimes at night. A life jacket is essential, plus it gives you a handle on the back to haul her back onboard. Special equipment, like a doggy dock, and a platform that clamps to the swim ladder below the surface, were very successful.
You can take the dog anywhere in France, although some dastardly people don’t like you taking your dog on their boat
 
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Last time I was on your boat it was like the freezer section at Tescos. Your dog will not overheat on your boat
 
Bouba said:
Get dog bowls that are wide based and black, so you don’t keep stepping in them
Click to expand...

When you feed your dog onboard where do you feed him, inside (in the galley?) or outside? Thats another way of saying I'm worried about getting dogfood slobber on my teak cockpit deck
 
Mike you and I will talk separately, but for reference this is what we do and did.
1. Vet paperwork to leave U.K. Start early. Ensure you get your pet passport for the EU.
2. Life jacket for your four footed friend. Get your dog use to wearing this.
3. Get use to your routine now being around the dog 100%
4. We walk George for a minimum of 3 times a day for 30-60 minutes when he is on the boat. This stops him getting bored.
5. At anchor this goes up to 5 trips a day ashore for his needs including one after dinner.
6. Find a vet close to the boat for the necessary vet checks before you head back. Book in early.
7. Enjoy taking the dog everywhere! Love taking George to restaurants etc and the French love a friendly dog.
 
All good points, a few more from experience:
  • The pet passport scheme is no more. However, the rules are pretty much the same I think. The time critical bit is to get the rabies vaccine (for the dog, not you). Check the new system carefully for the requirements for going and coming back.
  • If you have time, get the dog used to astroturf in the garden. Put some soil on it to get them used to the smell. Ours had no trouble using it, but we met dog owners whose dog refused point blank to do so. You'll need to be prepared for this.
  • Astroturf is not waterproof. You'll need to either put it on a bit of deck or a tray for use in the cockpit (we used a dog cage lining tray).
  • A lifejacket is fine if your dog doesn't float. However, most do and the key thing is to be able to lift them out of the water. For this reason, we used a harness designed for picking a dog up. Ruffwear do good ones.
  • Keeping a dog cool can be a challenge. We used a cooling coat. Keep it wet and as the water evaporates off if stays frosty.
 
The big question is has your dog got a rabies vaccine and microchip? If not, there must be a 21 day gap between vaccination and travel to the EU.

As for getting the dog out the water? Similar to what you'd do for a MOB - but you could use a parbuckle or a handy-billy on to a harness.
 
Next door berth had it right
Sloping plank with rope wrapped around for grip so said pooch could walk on and off
Square (1000x1000) tray with astroturf
Vertical log (tree geddit) in middle of astroturf
 
I feed him outside if at all possible. But I do not have any teak! Perhaps a mat would be good, some dogs are messy eaters some are very neat.
 
I use a mix of guilt and fake tiredness to make the dog 100% my wife’s responsibility. Well worth trying.
Incidentally, the wife can row the dog ashore or take him on her paddle board.
 
Bouba said:
I use a mix of guilt and fake tiredness to make the dog 100% my wife’s responsibility. Well worth trying.
Incidentally, the wife can row the dog ashore or take him on her paddle board.
Click to expand...

Well I should get this straight. I like our dog but I dont want her on my boat. It is the SWMBO that is insisting that she's too precious to go to kennels and has to accompany us on our holiday. So I've left it upto the SWMBO to sort out all the vaccine/microchip shit and if the damn thing gets arrested by Les Flics at Calais and ends up in a casserole in a local restaurant then its only going to be the SWMBO who's to blame. My aim with this thread is damage limitation to my boat

If however wondering around with a big brown fluffy poodle in tow in SoF is going to attract the attention of the local mademoiselles, that might soften my attitude a bit:)
 
Deleted User said:
Any recommendation?
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This turned out to be very difficult. We bought ours so long ago that I can’t find any supplier. But even then we did get them from the States. The inflatable dock (used to be called Doggy Dock) is a bit of a hassle to set up and store (but I think you have a big lazaret in your swim platform that would be perfect). Once set up, and it needs experimenting because without little fenders it can scratch the boat, you have to teach the dog how to use it. But they learn quickly and enjoy using it, I found I had to put some non skid tape on it so the dog gets a good grip.
The folding step is by far the easiest, but it needs to go about a foot under water, so you have to judge if the dog can leap from that level to the top of the swim platform. Also, they have to be taken off so you can use the swim ladder, but that is not hard as they are tied on by straps and will just unhook and hang in the water until you put it back on. Fits so easy into a car boot, very compact
I’m not sure if you could get any of these by the time you leave.
There are lots of dog ladders and dog ramps on the market, but I’ve never used one so can’t give a recommendation.
Hugo does not swim, even if his life depended on it, so we haven’t used one in years
 
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