When delivering a vessel down the
west coast, I met a couple on a Nordhaven 60 returning from
Alaska who had a golden retriever aboard with them. They related a tale of the dog jumping
overboard to join some
dolphins on the
cruise up from Southern CA. After about 1/2 hour of frolicking with the mammals, the dog was clearly tiring and the
skipper tried to back the Nordhaven down to allow the dog access to the swim grid but there is very limited visibility from the wheelhouse and his wife ended up jumping in the
water to guide the dog over to the vessel. After much scratching on the swimgrid and the woman, the dog managed to gain access to the boat but was exhausted. They couple stopped in Eurika and purchased lifeline netting and a piece of carpet for the swimgrid and installed them on the way up the Inside
Passage. Both worked well for the dog. They could let him roam free on the foredeck and when it was time for another dolphin swim the
skipper just kept the stern aimed at the dolphin pod where their dog was and when he got tired, the
dolphins escorted him over to the stern and the dog used the carpet attached to the swimgrid to gain access to the boat without a problem... don’t know if any of this helps in your design but this dog was part of the family(sounds like yours is too) so it was a real load off their minds to develop a system that worked for them and their dog.
Phil