dogs on boats

[gwennols]

have noticed lots of dogs on boats over the season
interested to know if they can be trained to use a cat litter tray when unable to come ashore or what do others use

 

[Kilter]

Short answer is yes, they can also be trained to use a suitable spot of deck; i.e. where it can easily be sluiced.

 

[Dyflin]

I saw a big MOBO with a labrador pup onboard during the summer. Lets just say you wouldn't want to wander up onto the foredeck in your bare feet. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pessimist]

How please? W've sailed with our dogs (various) for twenty years now, and we've never managed to persuade one of them to so much as pee on the foredeck.

We've tried everything we could think of (many of them you don't want to know about) with abolutely no success, nothing, nada.

Seriously, I'd love to know how its done.

Cheers

Colin

 

[copterdoctor]

The vast majority of the time our dog waits to go ashore. One very wet and windy morning he watched me climb into the dinghy, refused to come close enough to be picked up looked around, peed on the quarter and whent back to bed. Leaving me wet, cold and gobsmacked

 

[Plan_B]

We seem to have gained a cat on the vessel by us - never seen that before on a yacht.

It seems to follow people and jump on any vessel it wants to. This has been met with mixed reactions from bertholders close by. Shoo it off and others encourage it. I did actally see it propelled off one yacht like the firing of an exocet missile!!

No evidence of bad toilet manners on pontoon etc. tho.

DD

 

[Blackfeather]

This Summer I saw a 45 ft Dutch sailing boat arrive in Poole with 2 dogs. On the foredeck they had a large metal box with a lid. when opened it revealed a 3ft x 3ft piece of turf in it.

It took me a while to cotton on to what it was for.

 

[Erre]

I used to sail with two Springadors. I tried to pursuade them to pee on a big flemish coil of green mooring warp on the foredeck thereby aloowing a bucket-and-chuckit solution. Unfortunatly they never really took to thereby enforcing a run ashore a couple of times a day which was very retrictive at times.

I think that it was natural for them to use "rough" grass as they didn't even like to pee or poo on a mowed lawn.

I know of one sailing barge whose resident canine uses a grass box on the aft' deck.

I am envious of those whose dogs use the shower tray! (I never had a shower tray on that ol' vessel)

 

[Kilter]

get a piece of astro turf, second hand is fine, possibly preferrable, and put that where you want them to pee. Once they get used to it you can dispense with the astro turf but in the meantime it cleans reasonably well; towing behind while sailing does a good job of cleaning! I'm told that the astro turf can be 'primed' by leaving it where other dogs pee so it aquires the right doggy smell!

 

[ccscott49]

Doggies like to have a sniff about before doing there stuff, astro turf does work as described, but most dogs will go all day without either a pee or poop, so it isnt such a big problem for coasting type sailors, cross northsea etc, bit more difficult, but peeing on a large piece of wet newspaper your self, encourages them, I kid you not! My labarador got the message very quickly and she always went for the paper when needed to over longer passages. If your pet pees on the deck, whats the big problem anyway, just sluice it off. Poop a little more difficult, but a dog trained to be clean at home would do anything rather than poop on the floor or deck.

 

[Toryboy1]

So have you tried crapping on a large piece of wet newspaper then?

 

[Brian_B]

I think that's the issue. A dog that's house trained automatically transfers that talent to the boat.
We usually take a run ashore and as a consequence get to explore parts of the coastline that others only view from the comfort of their cockpit.
You've got to admit that having a dig aboard adds to the adventure!

 

[pessimist]

Thanks for that. Sadly we've tried it to no effect.

 

[pessimist]

[ QUOTE ]
but peeing on a large piece of wet newspaper your self, encourages them, I kid you not!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm, thats one of the things I wasn't going to talk about. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Didn't work but I got some satisfaction from peeing on the foredeck!

 

[sarabande]

[ QUOTE ]
You've got to admit that having a dig aboard adds to the adventure!


[/ QUOTE ]

I always thought that an umbrella was a pretty unusual item to find aboard a boat, but a spade ?

 

[stephenmartin]

I live onboard with my two year old cat....she dumps in her litter tray and on other boats if she gets out which has caused frayed tempers...

Mostly they report you rather than have the guts to say anything to your face....however...if i forget to empty the litter tray she does her busines on the toilet floor...she's obviously seen me do it in there so thinks its normal...

Everybody loves the furball....even the dogs pass by and sniff her

 

[Clive_Rigden]

[ QUOTE ]
but peeing on a large piece of wet newspaper your self, encourages them, I kid you not! My labarador got the message very quickly and she always went for the paper when needed to over longer passages.

[/ QUOTE ]
What if one's doing the cross-word at the time?
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[suse]

On the toilet FLOOR? You? Hmmm ... what an example to set a cat.

 

[ccscott49]

Depends which paper it is, would never poop on the times!