Dogs onboard

[Mudisox]

My avatar says it all.
It is the owner that normally needs training.
Ben is quite happy jumping in and swimming to the shore to do his business between HW and low water and then swimming back[now not muddy], to climb the rear steps back aboard. He "knows" where he can go on the boat, [saloon floor only] and can last without relief for the 10 hrs needed to cross most channels/ or passages.
Always happy to be with me. Mind you, he has only access at home to the utility room or one particular mat in the kitchen. Even my wife is no2 boss.

 

[dgadee]

Mind you, he has only access at home to the utility room or one particular mat in the kitchen. Even my wife is no2 boss.

My father and uncle both ran working sheepdogs. They would never have let them into the house. Even when the minister visited my uncle late in his life she had to keep her dog outside - something she remarked on at his funeral.

Edit: But they would both put a ewe into the boot of their car.

 

[Mudisox]

My father and uncle both ran working sheepdogs. They would never have let them into the house. Even when the minister visited my uncle late in his life she had to keep her dog outside - something she remarked on at his funeral.

Edit: But they would both put a ewe into the boot of their car.

I have had over 40 working dogs during my working life, both sheep and gun dogs, nearly all living in kennels/runs outside but now Ben is my only working springer and I am retired. - My best mate, I like having him around me, but he has to behave as I want and my wife allows,and is trained to do so.

 

[LittleSister]

We had the ideal on board pet for a small cruising boat - an imaginary stick insect!

It enlivened conversations while taking up no space, and needing neither feeding nor toileting.

 

[Wansworth]

We had the ideal on board pet for a small cruising boat - an imaginary stick insect!

It enlivened conversations while taking up no space, and needing neither feeding nor toileting.

Was it easier to train than a pet rock?

 

[LittleSister]

Was it easier to train than a pet rock?

No, it was rather wilful, and we would have to discuss how to respond to its latest naughtiness.

Unlike the pet rock, it couldn't be used as trim ballast, either.

 

[Wansworth]

Certainly scope for an article in Yachting Monthly

 

[Koeketiene]

Was it easier to train than a pet rock?

I had a rock garden once.
Within a week, three of them died.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Would you recommend a Dachshund in preference for this particular application, then?

Well, my senior dog is a quarter dachshund and built like a dachshund and he seems to cope better with motion than the junior dog (half poodle and built like one). But when dogs don't think there's anything interesting happening, they generally curl up in a comfy spot and go to sleep!

We had two miniature dachshunds when I was a teenager, and I always remember when my mum was taking driving lessons. At that time we had a land-rover, with the spare wheel in the back. When my mum took over the wheel, both dogs quite deliberately curled up in the spare wheel ! I think that contributed to my mother deciding she wasn't going to bother with driving...

 

[Frogmogman]

I can say with, for once, complete authority on the subject, that Whippets and their ilk are the worst dogs for a boat. Without exception. They are crap at swimming (very low body fat = not very floaty), they have spindly legs and paws so not much propulsion when swimming, and they HATE water. Mine looks at me with contempt if I try to make him go out in the garden when the grass is wet.

Thank you, that’s rather what I suspected. ‘Er indoors being from Yorkshire, she obviously would like a whippet, but we really need something that would be boat friendly.

Other thoughts include a poodle (which we’ve had before) or maybe a cockapoo.

 

[michael_w]

My father's welsh terrorist (terrier) hated being on board so my mother bought a soft toy one to keep my dad company. The dog has long since gone to the great rabbit hole in the sky, but her stuffed substitute is perfectly happy on my boat.

 

[KeithMD]

I wish there was a better place to rest my head.

#1 Son and one of our Golden Retrievers having a snooze together. Somewhere between Dartmouth and Plymouth, June 2010.

 

[Salt'n'shaken]

Some dog breeds were bred for boating. The Schipperke or "little skipper" is made for it Schipperke | Breeds A to Z | The Kennel Club

 

[freespiritdavid]

If people truly care about dogs, why would they take them on a boat? Sorry folks I just don't get that.

Absolutely agree with you. One criteria on buying different boats over the years was absolutely no sign of any pets on board. Its not just the cr@p and p155 but the claw scratches to the gel and woodwork.

 

[freespiritdavid]

Some dog breeds were bred for boating. The Schipperke or "little skipper" is made for it Schipperke | Breeds A to Z | The Kennel Club

Never seen any at the helm underway

 

[KeithMD]

Some dog breeds were bred for boating.

Ready for another splash?



Guarding the freshly-caught crabs.



Time for another snooze - somewhere between Fowey and Falmouth

 

[KeithMD]

Mum! Dad!
There's a dog show, can we enter our puppy? It's only a £1.
And the award for Best Puppy In Show goes to ...

 

[Salt'n'shaken]

Never seen any at the helm underway

Too busy dozing by the chart table to be bothered with helming

 

[smert]

Absolutely agree with you. One criteria on buying different boats over the years was absolutely no sign of any pets on board. Its not just the cr@p and p155 but the claw scratches to the gel and woodwork.

As opposed to our current boat that had more criteria to be dog friendly than it had to be human friendly!

If you have a dog as a pet, then it is part of your family, so you take it anywhere you would take the other (human) members of your family if you can, and you put up with the hassle of taking your dog in the same way as you would put up with the hassle of taking the other family members, because it's not hassle, it's just what you do for your family.

 

[Frogmogman]

As opposed to our current boat that had more criteria to be dog friendly than it had to be human friendly!

If you have a dog as a pet, then it is part of your family, so you take it anywhere you would take the other (human) members of your family if you can, and you put up with the hassle of taking your dog in the same way as you would put up with the hassle of taking the other family members, because it's not hassle, it's just what you do for your family.

Quite so. Separation anxiety is one of the most stressful things for dogs. They may not particularly like what you are doing, but will rather go along with it than be separated from you.