How to Contain My Pups ?

[stpetesailor]

I'm living on my 35 ft Hunter. I have 2 Weinber dogs. I put nylon netting all the way around the lifelines to keep them in. But they've chewed through while I'm at work. Not sure what to do. Don't want to leavde them in the cabin all day. Any opinions on chicken wire for a sailboat? Has anyone else dealt with this?

[zeehag]

obedience classes.

[stpetesailor]

True....true

[Tori]

Crate them while you are gone the risk of chewing/eating somethings dangerous or falling overboard is too great. And obedience classes once they are mature and know their boundaries you can leave them loose more.
Crating is not mean it is kind and saves lives dogs sleep aprox twenty hours a day so long as they get adequate exercise when you are home they will be fine.
You will have to train them to be crated and it will take time

My 2 cents
I am a veterinary technician of twenty years and an obedience instructor for fifteen

Tori

[sarafina]

no... obedience class won't help this issue...

more (A LOT MORE!) exercise would help. and hire someone to come in the middle of the day and take them out for a brisk RUN... not walk...

That's the best cure for behavior like this. You could do electric fence but I wouldn't, not by the water.

[stpetesailor]

I appreciate the input, Tori. The dogs are 3 and 3.5 yrs old. They do well in their cage as it is. My main concern is here in FL the heat can turn a boat into an oven. It rains every day in the summer. I have AC...but I'm constantly stressing about what happens if the shore power fails. Would rather have them up on deck.

[sarafina]

yep, crating but I understand worrying about the heat

any chance of taking them to doggy day care?

[Tori]

Put them on deck in the shade with a fan if they fall over just one time you will regret it for life. Or crate them in the cabin and have someone check them during the day. My cat is in the cabin and I too am in florida and stress over the AC going out she would due.

And yes obedience classes with a good trainer always help because they teach the owner how communicate with the dogs and increase the dogs deference to their owners

[stpetesailor]

Perhaps a Sunbrella cover for their crate and leave them in the cockpit under the Bimini?

[sarafina]

Please don't get me wrong Tori. I am also a firm believer in obedience training.

I just feel that in this situation it isn't an obedience issue. Because it is so much easier to teach how to do it right, but so very difficult to teach what not to do, especially in circumstances where the dogs are left for a long length of time with out supervision. I think it would be more successful to address what in motivating the behavior.

Over all behavior will (of course) always be improved with training. But in my experience bored young dogs in small spaces are not good candidates for miracle cures thru learning to sit and stay...

[stpetesailor]

In my case there have been 2 escapes. Both by the female who is hyper. 1st time was before I had netting and I was gone 30 minutes. She went looking for daddy. Second time was post-netting while I was at work when it poured rain. So its no so much of an obediene problem. She obeys just fine when I am there to command her. But I agree.....if anything were to happen I would regret it forever.

[Cheechako]

I have 3 wiener mixes. They dont chew but they bark like heck at any stranger or unusual noise etc. Thank God they aren't the type to bark incessantly! It's tough and I doubt there is any good answer. Dog whisperers claim they can solve these issues, that they are underlying. I'm not confident they can, but hopeful! Have you tried a squirt bottle every time they chew? You must be able to catch them at it on a 35 foot boat! My dogs hate water. Good luck! PS: I would definitely leave them inside while you are gone. People steal dogs, they could fall over etc etc...
Sounds like you need a doggy door in the companionway. Let's see...... (engineer brain at work....) Yeah! a 120 v normally closed solenoid and a spring loaded doggy door. If the power fails, the solenoid moves and the spring loaded door opens!
Oh... and that's what wieners do to get even when you leave them alone instead of taking them with you! They have to find a way to tell you they dont like that!

[Tori]

I agree obedience doesn't solve all issues but it can never hurt and sometimes just the fact that the owner dedicates the time to training on a daily basis helps overall behavior immensely. We tend to take for granted when dogs are good and get angry or frustrated when they are bad but in a given day they usually get to do whatever they want all day long.

Management of environment,structure and training always help.

You are correct obedience does not solve every problem

[sarafina]

How about this?


The cockpit on a 35 must be pretty good sized. How about instead of netting they can (easily) chew; a puppy playpen.

Something like this could be sized to fit around what ever area makes sense. The wire panels could be bent to the irregular shapes on a boat or even trimmed for up and down spots. And it's high enough to prevent small dogs from getting over the top. A boom tarp for shade if there isn't a bimini in the right place.

But training AND exercise will address the root problem which could be a mix of boredom, anxiety and abundant energy natural to youthful dogs.

[Tori]

Yes exercise pen panels can be disassembled as well to fit certain areas