Dogs on Boats

Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit

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Does anyone have any advice on taking dogs on boats?

Is it suitable to introduce a small 3 month old puppy on a small 27 ft boat?

Are boxer dogs good sailors?

Is it likely to be traumatic for the dog in heavy weather (assuming they are safe down below)?

Is their any general advice anyone has?

Thanks in advance for any comments.
 
We have several friends who successfully take their dogs sailing with them - and we successfully take our cat with us...

No animal is going to be particularly fond of heavy weather, but they do seem to cope OK - they tend to curl up and sleep till things stop rocking. There are travel sickness medications made for animals and they do seem to work - on our cat, at least - talk to your vet.

Our dog owning friends generally report that the biggest problem in the toilet - cats take readily to a litter box, but dogs are less happy with one - most sea going dogs seem to arrive in port desperate for a tree to pee against! Probably OK if you are just coast hopping, but could be a serious problem if you are planning a longer passage.

As far as general advice goes, start them gently - just an hour or two and don't move the boat at all the first day - then work your way up. Take familiar things from the house with you to make it feel like home. When you arrive at your destination, be prepared to give them plenty of time for a long walk!
 
I have seen alot of dogs on boats. I cannot think of a worse, less natural place for a dog to be confined in, than on a boat. Had a chat in my local a few months ago about this very subject and agreed with my pub quiz team colleagues, even a pub is no place for a dog... and we have quite a walk to get there.
That said the alternative is a K9 hotel (kennel) for the duration, which I wouldn't wish on any dog.
My patterdale stays at home with the wife, they both seem to enjoy each others company enormously when I am out roughing it!
 
We introduced our now sadly departed dog to yachting when she was 7, on board a 26' yacht. She took to it reasonably well, but tended to settle down in the cockpit well whilst sailing - gently sliding from one side to the other when we tacked. Under motor she was happy to get out of the cockpit and parade round on the foredeck in her lifejacket. We never sailed for more than about 6 hours in deference to her bladder. She (and SWMBO) were happier when we moved up to a 40' yacht! The previous advice is good - ease the dog into the sailing gently, with treats and encouragement and provided you are sensible it shouldn't be too much of a problem - the earlier the better.

Neil
 
Okeydokey said:
I have seen alot of dogs on boats. I cannot think of a worse, less natural place for a dog to be confined in, than on a boat. Had a chat in my local a few months ago about this very subject and agreed with my pub quiz team colleagues, even a pub is no place for a dog... and we have quite a walk to get there.
That said the alternative is a K9 hotel (kennel) for the duration, which I wouldn't wish on any dog.
My patterdale stays at home with the wife, they both seem to enjoy each others company enormously when I am out roughing it!
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It really does depend on your style of boat usage. I will agree that it is unfair to keep a dog cooped up in a small boat for days on end, but the seagoing dogs I know seem to be perfectly happy with a few hours in reasonably light seas. Certainly, don't try to take a Great Dane across the Atlantic in a 27 foot yacht, but don't be afraid of introducing a relaxed, well behaved dog to coastal cruising.

We've just got back with our cat from a couple of weeks in Woolverstone and I think he really enjoyed his holiday - ok, he didn't enjoy the passage up across the Thames Estuary which was six or seven hours in relatively heavy weather, but once we got there he seemed to enjoy the chance to walk in the woods and along the (muddy) beach and he was fascinated by the swans and the resident Woolverstone seal. We trained him from an early age to accept a leash and harness, and he will walk for miles with us. He spends half his life on the boat and has no problem provided we take him for a long walk every day.

Dogs are easier than cats - they have no problem with a leash and harness and are happy going for walks with their masters... As I said above, the main problem with dogs is the toilet - if you cannot get them used to the idea of a litter tray, you are going to have to keep the daily voyages quite short.
 
neil1967 said:
We introduced our now sadly departed dog to yachting when she was 7, on board a 26' yacht. She took to it reasonably well, but tended to settle down in the cockpit well whilst sailing - gently sliding from one side to the other when we tacked. Under motor she was happy to get out of the cockpit and parade round on the foredeck in her lifejacket. We never sailed for more than about 6 hours in deference to her bladder. She (and SWMBO) were happier when we moved up to a 40' yacht! The previous advice is good - ease the dog into the sailing gently, with treats and encouragement and provided you are sensible it shouldn't be too much of a problem - the earlier the better.

Neil
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Dogs are very good at learning - I read an article some time ago written be a woman who regularly sailed quite long distances single-handed with her dog - even though she was single handing, she would still sing out "Ready About?" before tacking and the dog had learned to get up and prepare to move to the other side of the cabin or cockpit.
 
paella said:
Does anyone have any advice on taking dogs on boats?
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We regularly sail with our two boxers.

paella said:
Is it suitable to introduce a small 3 month old puppy on a small 27 ft boat?
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Yes, the sooner the better.. All the impressions you give the dog at an early age make the more robust when they get older.
A gradual introduction to sailing - as you would do with children is smart.

paella said:
Are boxer dogs good sailors?
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Yes :)

paella said:
Is it likely to be traumatic for the dog in heavy weather (assuming they are safe down below)?
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Dogs are invidulas also, it's important that that that the have a comfortable place to lie down. Our dogs often prefer to be in the cockpit with us even if the weather is a bit roug.
we secure the dogs in the cockpit if necessary.
But the can also lie down in one the aft cabins where motion is comfortable also in lumpy seas. It's important that they can lie down without beeing thrown around.

paella said:
Is their any general advice anyone has?
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If you plan to be on the boat for longer time without getting ashore for walks, train the dog to do it's business on deck.
Some use a pice of green mat (astro turf?) as a toilet, tow i behind the boat to clean.

Have a plan on how to get the dog on shore for walks, we can use the swim platform to board the dinghy.

Find a good life jacket with handle and lift point - alway use it when the boat is moving.

some pictures:

One of the favorit spots
IMG_1173-1.jpg


Another, the pilot berth with "fence"
IMG_1168-1.jpg


The can smell land
DSC00790.jpg


The navigator
DSC01248.jpg
 
I would add that, if you normally moor on a trot buoy, it may be worth splashing out the cash for a couple of weeks in a nearby marina to start with - get your canine companion used to the boat without having to subject them to a dinghy voyage out to it first! Play around in the dinghy for a while before you risk going far off shore and make sure you have someone else with you to control the dog if he/she gets distressed in it.
 
Fishing boat I used to work on had a resident lurcher/border collie x. Loved every minute afloat. Pretty gross when she s??t on deck but we had a deck wash. Only trouble was she loved swimming and fetching-we had to be very strict that nothing went overboard (bar the fishing gear!!)
 
Our boxers are found of swimming, but we have never trained them to jump into the water from the boat.
We have to take them ashore to have them go swimming.
One of the boxers is mad about tennis balls, if we throw one into the water from the shore she will always go into the water to get it.

On the boat she expects us to pick up the ball if it's lost into the water (nice way to activate us :)
It s a good thing as we don't want her to jump into the water at a bad moment.
 
We sail with 3 dogs - 2 Yorkies and a Black Lab - all introduced to the boat by 20 weeks, they love it. If you like dogs and they like you it is perfectly natural for them to enjoy being on the boat with you and anyone who says otherwise doesn't know dogs. The Lab is also a regular in our local, along with at least 2 other dogs of sailing acquaintances and is probably more socially adept and well behaved than a lot of the locals. A bit like kids, they need to be included and to learn how to behave...
 
I'd say take them as young as you can - that way they will be accustomed to sailing as part of their "normal" existence. We had two miniature dachshunds - hardly the most agile of dogs - and we took them sailing the day after they came to us at 6 weeks (or thereabouts) old. They lived to a ripe old age, and adapted very well to sailing. Needless to say, they soon found the best place to be under way (in a quarter-berth on my Dad's boat), and slept most of the time!
 
Bear in mind, as the dog gets older and not too good on legs, you will have to lift them up and down the companionway and on and off the boat- not too mention pier walls. So, in my humble opinion a smaller dog will make life infinitely easier. Equally, dogs seem to have a remarkable (compared to humans that is) ability to "hold on" and not go to the toilet; this ability also will diminish with age.
Dogs, above all, like to be with their master/mistress so I don't see taking them to sea as being cruel; but if you find that they really don't like the boat, then it would be best to find someone to mind them on land
 
I've sailed with a dog on board for 6 years now, and she's a large animal, a Leonberger, weighing in at about 45kg. I took her on board 5 days after buying her at 10 weeks old for a 3 week cruise, so, as noted above, it's part of her normal life.

I sail the West Coast of Scotland and take short hops, never more than 6 hours and she manages alright, and often isn't in a desperate hurry to pee when she gets ashore.

She learn't very quickly the meaning of, ready about, lee hoo, and changes sides in the cockpit, but I can't persuade she to sit on the windward rail where her weight would be an advantage, she sleeps most of the time when we are sailing to windward on the leeward cockpit seat.

She is very adept at getting in and out of the inflatable dinghy, sits still whilst the dinghy is on the move and waits to be asked to get out when we get ashore.

Leonbergers love the water and swimming, so wet dog can be a problem, but a bag of old towels works well.

She doesn't like walking on smooth GRP or the varnished floor boards, so I use Turtle Mats below, which provide grip and are easily washed and my current boat has teak decks.

When we go through the Caledonian Canal she sits on the foredeck and watches the world go around.

I think she likes being on boards, she gets taken long walks in new places, is close to the people she is bonded to and wags her tail a lot.

If I though she was thoroughly miserable, I wouldn't take her, but I can't keep her out of the car when I'm loading up the sailing gear.
 
maby said:
That's a lot of dog!
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Yes, This is Lilly the 10 stone Rottweiler that loved to sail with us; she was the friendliest dog to the point where she had more friends than me. My son and Lilly grew up together and they were inseparable; unfortunately, Lilly died last year; the trouble is that we were so used to having Lilly with us on board, this year sailing without her was no the same.

Her favourite trick was to lie down across the pontoons so people could stroke her as they were passing, but a lot of people would not dare cross over, she could not understand why people were so frighten of her.
 
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