Dog Boats

[Normanby]

Can't speak for NZ, but in Australian quarantine, which is also 30 days for dogs, the pooch is caged at a facility, and you can visit then for an hour only, two days a week.
Couldn't put my best friend (or me!) through that, myself. When the kelpie and I depart Oz, we won't be coming back, not in her lifetime anyway.

[zeehag]

vino--welcome--and welcome to world of ct ownership...
i have a boat that has been labelled a dog, but no doggie,
have a boatkat, not a catboat....
formosa my life i will be repairing my formosa and sailing with a gato--
i noticed that when it hits fan, critters will hunker down and find a safe place to hide....
have fun with your new adventures!!! what about a lift for goggie?? like a goggie davit or some such??

check with noonsite for where they make a big deal over critters....

[Vino the Dog]

Hi Zee,
You are over here too! Aleutia has been trained to be lifted during his search & rescue classes so he can be hoisted into a helicopter. Never did that, but he has loaded on a running chopper on the ground and has been lifted in training sessions. He is already getting used to the boat and has found several favorite spots. I think he is going to be a good dog boat. Just this morning started barking when stranger walked down the dock and stopped when I told him it is OK. thanks.

[Vino the Dog]

that was supposed to be boat dog.

[Freddy_Vagner]

Hey everyone,

Loved reading these posts and yes dog(s) on board are great for company and security; I sleep easy knowing nobody is sizing up my boat cos the dogs aren't barking.
Just would like to mention a German Shephard that used to love sailing on a Hobie Cat 16. He was kinda heavy so when the boat started heeling I would pat my hand on the trampoline and say HERE so he knew where to lie down. Well after a while I did not even have to tell him, he just knew when it was time to get up and help. Never could get him to use the trapeze though...

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

While you caution is appreciated, I am more interested in hearing from folks who have experienced serious offshore heavy weather with a dog on board. How do you take care of the dog in such conditions... strap him to a bunk... use a padded kennel????

We have been cruising (although just weekend stuff, really) with dogs for about ten years now. The dogs don't seem to give a toss about heavy weather, they have their sea legs, and bound around the boat to wherever they think is safe. When they see us preparing to tack or gybe, they move to where they know there are no lines and no sails gonna hit them!

Pet PFDs are a fairly recent addition. The dogs don't particularly like them, and when they're wearing them, they seem to seriously restrict their own movements to the cockpit. Not sure why that is. We never put them on unless the weather is SERIOUSLY ****, or if it's quite heavy at night.

Since everyone seems to be discussing their doggies' poop habits I just gotta say - mine have NEVER had any qualms about going on the foredeck. Usually on the spinnaker sheets.

[Jane.Joy]

Originally Posted by Freddy_Vagner

Just would like to mention a German Shephard that used to love sailing on a Hobie Cat 16. He was kinda heavy so when the boat started heeling I would pat my hand on the trampoline and say HERE so he knew where to lie down. Well after a while I did not even have to tell him, he just knew when it was time to get up and help. Never could get him to use the trapeze though...

What a great story. Dogs want to be more than just our companions, they want to be "working" dogs - they want to be part of the team!

[Vino the Dog]

@Jane,
You got that one right, particularly herding dogs. They have to have a job or they go nuts, obsessive ball freaks and the like. I have found the more tasks they are given from puppyhood, the more easily they learn far into old age. Just like people and sometimes a lot smarter.

[Jane.Joy]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Just like people and sometimes a lot smarter.

Yep, and usually more fun to hang out with too.

[ElGatoGordo]

This is a fun thread. Thanks everyone for a good read.

On PFDs, we always put them on the dogs unless it's really smooth. They have both jumped out of our 23' open sailboat, and the walk the decks right to the bow on our cat. If not a PFd , I'd have to make them stay on the bridge deck. I'd rather let them roam.

On herding dogs, my border collie lives to "herd" the birds off the wall as we move in and out of the marina. I just love to see how proud she is when they fly off!!

[Hudson Force]

Our Schipperke, Zorro, has been cruising with us for eleven years. He was missing overboard in 2003 for a couple hours and was rescued by another sailboat's crew. We were lucky to get him back. We now keep him on a halter and tether when at risk. He leaves all his product at the transom for easy rinsing and he will bark at other vessels in the fog that we only see as targets on our radar screen.

[Vino the Dog]

Zorro, the dog with cat lives. Glad you got him back. A dog I sailed with several years ago also used life jacket and tether in rough weather.

Does anyone know if there are dog life vests available that snap over the top of the dog's back and are equipped with lifting rings so you can hoist them in and out of a dingy?

[MNLandLoc]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

.... Does anyone know if there are dog life vests available that snap over the top of the dog's back and are equipped with lifting rings so you can hoist them in and out of a dingy?

We started using a dog PFD for our Belgian Tervuren when she turned 9 and became a bit less agile and strong. I think we us e a "Ruffwear" pfd and it works well. It wraps around her chest and has velco and clips. It has a handle on top that you can use to lift the dog out of the water/boat. She prefers not to wear it, but doesn't really mind it.

[Mark Johnson]

I truly love dogs, and have been incredibly close to mine in the past.

Having said that, I would never take one "seriously" cruising. Dogs need to run & play outside, all day, imo. When making a long passage, dogs suffer terribly, both from seasickness, fear, and their lifelong training to "hold it". Many get bladder infections...

Their is also the moral imperative that the dogs owner has to keep them from barking at all of the dinghies buzzing about, many, by necessity, from just 50' or so away. The dog may see the dinghy as "in their space", where as the dinghy occupants are simply heading home the only way they have to do so. Sound is magnified and travels X10 over water...

Nothing ruins an anchorage more than ANY form of unnecessary noise. Most cruisers go cruising for the bucolic, quiet, natural experience of nature and the sea, not to re-create urban sprawl.

From a health point of view, the W.H.O. has concluded in a long, extensive study, that the #2 killer among all forms of pollution, (following air pollution), is NOISE! Hard to believe I know, but true.

Anyone who does decide to take their dog with them, is opening themselves up to a huge bureaucratic nightmare, but if the decision is firm, and the owners are responsible folks, the dog should be trained that only those "actually boarding the boat" are intruders to be barked at, not everyone that they see. Otherwise, the dog owner gets no security, as the dog barks at "everything", and their false "sense of security" is at the expense of others, who kindly went cruising, without taking ANY form of noise with them.

Barking dogs, JetSkis, LOUD late night deck parties, excessively loud rap music, Air-X wind generators, screaming fights onboard, etc. are all antisocial behaviors in a tight anchorage.

It is much more fun to make friends, at least for us...

We use cockpit alarms, btw. They have never been needed (yet), but we have them, and they never go off at passing dinghies, with its smiling occupants waving as they go by...

Please, dog owners, don't be offended by my comments, none was intended... I'm sure that their are exceptions, like small, quiet, totally content dogs, that are trained to "go" on a grass doormat on the bow. Then if you are willing to only go to certain countries where dogs are allowed, by all means, take them. I was referring to the other 90%.

These observations of what it is like living in an anchorage with noise, is from 15 years of doing so with a sound transparent boat. I'm only trying to describe being on the receiving end.

Regards to all,
M.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

............ I would never take one "seriously" cruising. Dogs need to run & play outside, all day, imo. When making a long passage, dogs suffer terribly, both from seasickness, fear, and their lifelong training to "hold it". Many get bladder infections...

Stealth peeing at a quiet anchorage,- no mat, no net, no risk.



I leave the harsh weather to the crew and usually peacefully nap,
...no offense taken, Zorro