New to living aboard What about Buster

[handcrafted]

Please offer up your means and ways of dealing with the family pet
Buster is a brindle mastiff dane mix with a touch of pit. He's 13 months old and about 110 right now and grwoing what seems like every day. I am by the summer time going to being living on board my 30' cabin cruiser and plan on island hopping. What do you all do about the doo. He's pretty darn smart, wondering if he's smart enuff to potty trane

 

[SHUG]

I have come across lots of people with small, obedient , potty trained, liveaboard dogs.
A popular trick seems to be to train the dog to a piece of Astroturf which can then be towed behind the boat.
Good luck with Buster..but ...you may have to get a bigger boat!!

 

[mandlmaunder]

Please offer up your means and ways of dealing with the family pet
Buster is a brindle mastiff dane mix with a touch of pit. He's 13 months old and about 110 right now and grwoing what seems like every day. I am by the summer time going to being living on board my 30' cabin cruiser and plan on island hopping. What do you all do about the doo. He's pretty darn smart, wondering if he's smart enuff to potty trane

First off Hi and welcome.

Is Buster living in a small cramped flat or apartment? if the answer is no then you may have a few issues with a huge dog and a smallish boat.
Is he fully house trained, does he have access to a garden immediately, or do you have to walk walk him to his potty area??? What do you feed him , wet or dry?
Does he get motion sick in the car?? has he been on the boat yet? if yes how did he fare?
Is your boat going to be marina based or out at anchor?

Every dog we've seen that lives on a boat full time is happiest when heading to shore , even the ones that love living on a boat.

You are going to have to train you first! every morning you will have to take your huge and still growing Buster to shore for a walk, it can be done ,but three or four times a day. He will need to get on land if you don't want you boat to smell, even a boat cleaned every day will start to smell after a few hours, so you and Buster have to get into the routine of getting ashore morning, noon and night.

We took on a Pitbull and she took 3 days to get in the swing of things but it was all down to routine, First thing and I mean first thing into the dinghy and off to shore so she could do what a dog must do, then at lunch time and again at night for a long walk and exercise, maybe two and half to 4 hours a day and we all loved the excuse to get some exercise every day.

We also delivered a 55ft motor boat with the owner on board and he got himself a little (12lb when fully grown) dog, arrived on the boat at three months old and took about three weeks to potty patch train, but the owner had to get 2 potty patch mats for the dog, Skipper, to use as he would not use the same patch twice but would use 1 then walk to the other and use that for what ever was left.

Good luck with your adventure.

Mark

 

[ukmctc]

Its simple, don't have a dog onboard, its not fair to the dog on any occassion.

 

[Sandyman]

Its simple, don't have a dog onboard, its not fair to the dog on any occassion.

Totally disagree . Our two Jacks love it.

 

[Eurydice]

Totally disagree that dogs should not be on board would question if you are an animal lover - dogs are always much happier with their owners - what would you have them do with their dog when they are sailing?

We have a rescue dog who has been on board since 8 weeks old and has loved every day of it, albeit she is somewhat smaller than yours!!! You are going to have a lot of fun dancing around each other on the yacht.

We trained Chip to go on the side deck which worked well but this was only needed in really bad weather when we were at anchor and couldn't get ashore. I would warn though, your's is a male and once you encourage them to do jobbies on board his big leg will cock up everything. Our battle was stopping Chip trying to pee over the lines running along the topdeck!!!

Enjoy the adventure

 

[charles_reed]

Please offer up your means and ways of dealing with the family pet
Buster is a brindle mastiff dane mix with a touch of pit. He's 13 months old and about 110 right now and grwoing what seems like every day. I am by the summer time going to being living on board my 30' cabin cruiser and plan on island hopping. What do you all do about the doo. He's pretty darn smart, wondering if he's smart enuff to potty trane

I had a house-trained dog called Buster - a labrador cross - who was introduced to boats when he was about 18 months and went on one until he died (of age) at 18.

Truth be told he never LIKED the boat, gratings and sloped decks produced a rigor not-far-short of mortis and he NEVER learnt to pee or pooh aboard.
As there were long periods aboard this was a triumph of hydroseal and sphincter control.

There was one occasion when peeing under the lee of a sand-dune he, so effectively undercut it, that he was completely buried in the resulting sandslip.

As already said, some small dogs will (Jack Russells, if you can term them a breed, spring to mind) easily adapt to life aboard - I have yet to find a large dog that does so.

 

[chinita]

I had a house-trained dog called Buster - a labrador cross - who was introduced to boats when he was about 18 months and went on one until he died (of age) at 18.

Truth be told he never LIKED the boat, gratings and sloped decks produced a rigor not-far-short of mortis and he NEVER learnt to pee or pooh aboard.
As there were long periods aboard this was a triumph of hydroseal and sphincter control.

There was one occasion when peeing under the lee of a sand-dune he, so effectively undercut it, that he was completely buried in the resulting sandslip.

As already said, some small dogs will (Jack Russells, if you can term them a breed, spring to mind) easily adapt to life aboard - I have yet to find a large dog that does so.

I have to agree with this although I have no personal experience in keeping a dog afloat.

I have friends who took their lab across biscay. Poor thing 'held it in' until reaching terra firma four days later. Yould I (or you) like to do that? NO!!

I, too, have seen JR terriers springing up an down companionways and around decks apparently happy as Larry but, on balance, I do not believe that it is the right environment for any dog. Cats seem different, but we are not cat people so it does not matter.

We LOVE dogs; have always had at least one when ashore but we have made a deliberate decision to wait until we can afford our dog(s) the best quality of life.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

My 2 pence worth......

Our dog is great on the boat. She'll pee 'n' poo up front on the deck. No worries, we just flick it overboard and wash down with a bucket. She'll go when at sea no problems. As for quality of life I reckon she's got it made. We're with her 24/7 and she gets a good long walk or two everyday.

Bad points, you can't take dogs on public transport anywhere in the Med. And, as most of the rest of the world either hate dogs or love them when cooked, I can't see it getting any better. All beaches in the Balearics have no dogs signs (even remote calas) and there's a 500 euro fine if you get caught.

Sadly ours is looking for a new home.

 

[SeamanStaines]

I, too, have seen JR terriers springing up an down companionways and around decks apparently happy

We have a very happy Parsons Jack Russell on board who has lived on the boat with us since a puppy. We have a Catamaran so he uses a mat on the trampolines when at sea or at anchor.

We would not be without him, he daily adds to our enjoyment of living aboard. The only difference I guess to us that it does 'motivate' us to go ashore when sometimes we would lazily waste the day

I would only consider having a small dog though, big dog, big doodoos!

 

[Victoria Sponge]

Its simple, don't have a dog onboard, its not fair to the dog on any occassion.

I don't agree our dog loves the boat.

 

[handcrafted]

Buster

Been away fron the computer for a bit, thanks for all the great replies. Yeah, buster n I go together whereever he goes. And he takes to the water like a duck. Which concerns me in trying to get his big A(& back on board after he decides its a nice time to go swimming (which he does when he wants) but I already have a design in mind for ladder for him. And as far as it may work out he might get his own mini-barge of tow behind land. We'll see. Great group and thanks for all the responses. And as far the one about not liking dogs on board, Grandma always said "if Ya aint got nothing nice to say then dont say nothing at all" I will refrain from saying what I what I feel, because I love Grandma

 

[ukmctc]

We had a cross collie/lertcher and she loved getting off the boat, always went on when asked but she NEVER liked it at all. NO to dogs on boats, as to being an animal lover, thats the reason I'd never put a dog through that again.
" I love my dog so I'm an animal lover" BS.

 

[ukmctc]

Been away fron the computer for a bit, thanks for all the great replies. Yeah, buster n I go together whereever he goes. And he takes to the water like a duck. Which concerns me in trying to get his big A(& back on board after he decides its a nice time to go swimming (which he does when he wants) but I already have a design in mind for ladder for him. And as far as it may work out he might get his own mini-barge of tow behind land. We'll see. Great group and thanks for all the responses. And as far the one about not liking dogs on board, Grandma always said "if Ya aint got nothing nice to say then dont say nothing at all" I will refrain from saying what I what I feel, because I love Grandma

Grand ma was a nice lady who lived in the past, don't ask the question if you don't want an opinion that isn't like your own!

 

[louandkim]

we are about to embark as livaboards, with our dog, and so can contribute to the debate following alot of consideration.

as we love our dog we would find it dififcult to leave her behind / donate her to relatives / etc, and yet we were not prepared to curtail all our dreams and plans, which we solidified after she became part of our family, to ensure she could walk the same park and eat the same brand of food till her dying day.

you will need to evaluate the charcter and needs of your own pet to evaluate the requirements and compromises you will need to embrace to 'make it work' for you and your dog.

and be prepaired to modify if you find your pet unhappy or indeed embracing the ship board life more than you expected.

UKMCTC was obviously faced with a painfull decision having taken the dog onboard.. and would never put another dog through the experience, may I suggest also not wanting to put themselves through the painful situation again either. I would be mildly interested to hear if they immediately sold up and moved on land when it became apparent that their dog was unhappy, that would be a truly selfless pet lovers act.

we're lucky that our very small lapdog will have plenty of space on our catamaran and we truly hope she thrives on the life, always seeing new places, stimulations, experiences, yet always with the 'pack' protection of being with us 24 /7..

whilst I respect the opinions of people, that is why we ask the questions on this forum, you need to get used to ballancing the replies as a whole rather than focusing on a reply you do or dont like.

once you decide, in principle that your dog will adapt / you can adapt to her or him... have a look at the importation red tape in the countries you may wish to visit now that could be a problem as well.

 

[Sandyman]

Guess it's your call then. When we moved onboard we took our two Jacks & never considered that there would be an major problems, and there wasn't. As with many things with dogs it is the human owners that are the problem. Ours absolutely love it and are part of the crew. I could not imagine life aboard now without them. Probably those who disagree are the type who can't handle picking up dawg poos. Which then makes me wonder are these the same people who do not clean up after their dogs ashore !!!! These people disgust me and IMO should not be allowed to keep dogs.
Having said that I am probably somewhat bias because even as a baby I slept with the dog in his bed, and apart from during my Naval Service, have never been without a dog, and never will be. They are without doubt mans best friend.

 

[Gull]

We are also taking our dogs on boat this time so we can stay longer. Always done short trips before as we left dogs in kennels or with friends. They are on route at the moment. Am hoping all goes smoothly but if they really hate it won't force them. We have a crew cabin which was previously our 'shed' so are lucky that they will have their own space when they want it. Be good for when we go out for meal etc and won't have to take them with us, providing they dont chew the door down and bark for couple hours we are away

 

[Victoria Sponge]

We had a cross collie/lertcher and she loved getting off the boat, always went on when asked but she NEVER liked it at all. NO to dogs on boats, as to being an animal lover, thats the reason I'd never put a dog through that again.
" I love my dog so I'm an animal lover" BS.

Dogs are all different, but I believe they are fundamentally very adaptable and like being with their owners. Our dog loves the boat, see link to photos, but she's been on it, on and off, since she was a small puppy.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264446

 

[Liz_I]

We are also taking our dogs on boat this time so we can stay longer. Always done short trips before as we left dogs in kennels or with friends. They are on route at the moment. Am hoping all goes smoothly but if they really hate it won't force them. We have a crew cabin which was previously our 'shed' so are lucky that they will have their own space when they want it. Be good for when we go out for meal etc and won't have to take them with us, providing they dont chew the door down and bark for couple hours we are away

So, having deliberately not got involved in this thread I am now forced to join in. The reason, WHY????
""We have a crew cabin which was previously our 'shed' so are lucky that they will have their own space when they want it."" So explain. You are leaving the boat but shutting your dogs in the 'crew cabin'? You think this is normal? Are your dogs so untrustworthy that they cannot be left the run of the boat? Do they jump up on the furniture (shock/horror). A boat is a small intimate space, you obviously love your dogs so why are they not allowed to roam freely. Keeping them confined to a very small space, unless of course you have a super yacht, is not imo very fair. - discuss-

 

[Liz_I]

We had a cross collie/lertcher and she loved getting off the boat, always went on when asked but she NEVER liked it at all. NO to dogs on boats, as to being an animal lover, thats the reason I'd never put a dog through that again.
" I love my dog so I'm an animal lover" BS.

Please do not expect everyone to agree with your comments.

ZigmundoVanDog is now approaching 13yrs old & has spent 11+ of those on a boat I think everyone that has met him would agree that he is happy on board and moreover happy because he is with us 24/7, 365/11yrs. We have met other canines in similar situations. Please don't make sweeping statements