Cruising with (or without) a dog

[singlespeed]

Dogs are very adaptive. We sailed 11 years with our Australian Shepard. Dogs can be stubborn, but collect some of their poop and put it on the trampoline. The dog won't pop, despite holding it for along time. Eventually the dog will take the hint and things will settle in. If the boat doesn't have a wash down pump for the anchor and chain, install one. It will make life easier than using a bucket to wash down the poop.

In the Eastern Caribbean, planning for each island is not that hard. Keep up your vaccinations and while the various Agriculture inspectors can be tiresome, remember it's their island and smile a lot and say please and thank; simple courtesy goes a long way. We always spent hurricane season in Grenada. Their Veterinary School is outstanding and their inexpensive rates will astound you. We never experienced any troubles with the locals. they really are afraid if larger dogs. In e!even years cruising with a larger dog, we never felt the need to lock our boat, truthfully we lost the keys during our first six months and never got around to changing the locks.

[CATJAVA]

My 8yr old dog has lived aboard my 48ft cat for her whole life. “Micro” came from Micronesia as a puppy “island dog.”. She’s about 25 kilos now. Never tried to potty train her. If she needs to go she always does it (P&poo) on fwd. port bow. During our longer passages she will hold it for 3or4 days, depending on sea state, but it’s her choice. When at anchor I usually take her ashore by kayak once a day for a walk & her grass eating. I have never had a problem taking her into another country, but I have only cruised with her in 3rd World counties in Pacific & SE Asia. Only country that had problems was PNG & that required refundable Bond. She’s chipped but nobody I met has a chip reader.

She is a great watch person. Barks at all fishing pangas & watches for FADs & buoys. She kept me from being robbed twice in PNG & the Solomons. They robbed the boat anchored next to Java both times after she barked at them. I didn’t evan half to get out of bed! She’s just one of the Java crew.

Also a good swimmer. She usually likes to jump off & swim ashore to the beach when she hears the anchor going down. She knows how to climb up our stern ladder using paws & head. Only problem with her rushing to beach was in Komodo Islands when two Komodo Dragons came to fight over her, but she swam back & they just fought over her poop, ha ha! Evan on JAVA

[rslifkin]

Some of the concerns definitely vary between dogs. Our poodle has better sea legs and a stronger stomach than most humans, myself included. And he doesn't shed and is happy to sleep in the salon for a few hours if we're off the boat. Growing up boating, the golden we had was similar except for the shedding. She was happy on the boat all day alone if needed.

[Sheriffdep]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Some take their dogs, but it's not an easy go. Potty training can be tough, many trips to shore so they can relieve them selves, some animals are never ok with the sea motion, dogs are slippery on fiberglass decks.
It probably depends on how the dog does with it, otherwise it's not fair to the dog.
Will you travel outside the US? That's another issue to keep up with.

This covers alot of the issues you may have. Your cat would be plenty large for the dog and give areas to pody. However, treaveling worldwide WILL be a huge issue. I am in that spot now. My buddy and I will have a 50 Border Collie and a 100lb European Doberman on a 57' monohull. Not worried about any issues but traveling. Not even all the hassle of vets and entry fee money. But i am worried about countries that wont allow a pet at all.

Something to think about

[hamburking]

The solution is simple.

Leave the dog at home...with the wife and kids.

Not only does this solve your problem, but sailing alone you could get a much smaller boat and save lots of $$$.

They will have a wonderful time at home, picking up dog poop, and you will have a great time sailing.

[tthouses]

I travel with my two Schipperkes, bred to be on boats...I sail with them off of Port Aransas Texas. Day sailing. They travel in my Sprinter van a lot. You should invest in the Marcell monitor. It will monitor temp and humidity and if it goes past a limit you set, you get a text, email or phone call. I use it in my van, so that I can split for couple of hours to ride, run or just get away w/o my dogs. For a short period of time. here i the link:https://www.meetmarcell.com/?gclid=E...SAAEgKhBfD_BwE

You buy the unit, and pay a subscription fee. There are choices...Its totally worth the money for the comfort of knowing the power is on, my AC is on and keeping the dogs cool.

Read the book:https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Dogs-Tale...11425048&psc=1

Othwise known A Sea Dogs Tale. But the owner did NOT put a safety harness on the dog...It survived 3 overboards...

Good luck..There are pluses and minuses for sure...I for one would always travel with my hounds. They are built for a boat...smallish and sure footed. You need to experiment...Take another dog out sailing see how it reacts. See how you react. Everything is fine until it is not.

[Linesledaft]

I cruised with a 4 pound chihuahua for a bit. She passed away due to old age though. I now have a 13 pound Chi/Eskie mix. The smaller the dog, the better IMO. Even 13 pounds is a lot. Train them to go in the cockpit or on the deck somewhere easy to clean. I also have a cat too, but he tends to himself for the most part. Cats are definitely easier than dogs onboard. Keep all doc regarding pets handy.

I should add that I live on my boat full time as well.

[canman]

Perhaps look at compromising snd cruise from the US Coast so you don’t need to fly. That way the family and Dog all get to stay together. If you make it to the islands great and if not you still got some great sailing and exploring in.

[ausnp84]

Just make it work basically... there’s always a way to make it work!

We’ve got two dogs (big lab and a smaller crossbreed) and face similar challenges with moving aboard a cat, international borders, vaccinations and the utter madness that are Australian Q requirements (thankfully we don’t need to deal with that for a year or three) - at the end of the day tho, travel is very possible with a dog; it just takes a lot more planning and some compromises on your part.

Good luck with it all, and happy sailing.

N

[theDangerz]

Are you planning on leaving the kids at home, dropping them off with a neighbor before you head out for a couple months??
This isn't a pet rock... its a living thing you just willingly invited into your family.

Cruising with a dog is awesome.
They are more adaptable than the rest of us and will be fine on the boat. We've seen people whose dogs have learned to climb the ladder back onto the boat, fetch from the back deck, you name it.

There is a bit more trouble/paperwork checking the dog in/out of each island, but you'll have extra paperwork for each of the kids too... again - I can't imagine you'd leave one of them home because of it.

[JordanH]

You've got lots of advice above so I'll not give you any, but will share my limited experience.


I have a Contessa 26 which is a small boat by most standards. My wife, myself and dog sailed on it for 6 weeks. We made it work, my dog loved it, and so did we... for a vacation.


Here are some considerations and challenges we faced (or didn't)
1. We didn't cross any borders so that was not a concern.
2. We couldn't leave the boat for extended periods without bringing her with us. In Canada, that means, not being able to go into many shops and no restaurants. (side note: When we visited Italy, we noticed many dogs in and around restaurants, shops etc. In North America, pets are not generally welcome around food and retail shops) So consider your location and activity.
3. Containing your dog on board... We went to bed one night at dock, dog onboard. We woke up the next morning, dog onboard. As we walked to the showers to clean-up, someone asked us, "Is that your dog?" Since i was holding the leash, I was a bit confused as it was kind of obvious... She then explained that in the middle of the night, our dog had climbed onto their boat, kicked at the companion way door waking them up. She rolled over for a tummy rub before being sent back home. We had no idea of her extracurricular activities. We've also heard and seen dogs escape through open hatches etc. At one particular port, our dog knew of the beach that was nearby. She would wait until we weren't looking then BOLT for the beach to play with the kids in the sand.
4. Vet and medical care. Our dog jumped off the dock into a mass of seaweed and oily / polluted water at a marina. She couldn't swim because it was so thick and ended up biting/chomping her way back to shore. She nearly died from all that she ingested and we needed a vet ASAP... since we were on an island, we were a full day's sale to the closest mainland port, and there was no vet nearby. Finding critical care was difficult, costly and we nearly lost her.
5. Elimination... many dogs can eliminate on board. Ours would hold it until she exploded. That limited our sailing days to 10 hours or less, and even at that she was 4 legs crossed trying to get to shore. This can be super awkward if you pull up to a nice new marina / yacht club, your dog jumps onto their nice dogs and immediately lets go of a 10-hour stream of urine or defecates right as you're talking to the harbour master.
6. Companion way stairs. Our little boat has literally two steps into the boat, it's not steep or deep. Our dogs still have an issue because it's awkward for dogs to climb even short ladders... they often tumbled down or tripped coming up. We often resort to lifting them in or out of the boat... I'm sure that will get more difficult on a larger boat, heavier dog, older people...
7. Seasickness. Not something we considered with our older dog. She was a water dog to the core and had no problems with the water. Our younger dog turns green and pukes. We found out that, just like people, dogs can get seasick. In our case, the younger puked on the elder and my jib sheet coil, causing her to do a doggy-shake and spray the cockpit... while we were on a screaming beam reach in 4' chop and short handed. Ever try to pin down two puke covered dogs to give them bucket-baths in the cockpit while beam-to choppy waves? Our youngest does not sail with us any more.
8. Food. Our dogs were on the "raw" diet. Keeping enough chicken frozen and edible for them was a challenge. For those that don't know, raw fed dogs produce WAY easier to manage stools (hard, chalky, no mess). Kibble fed dogs will be less trouble on the feeding side, but the stool side is messy.. I wouldn't want to get that into my nonskid deck. *yeck*

I can't imagine going on that 6 week trip without my dog. It was truly amazing to be in the wilderness and she brought me a tremendous amount of joy throughout. Having said that, there's no way in hell I'd live aboard with a dog. Vacation, yes. Reside, no.

There's also no way I could crate my dog for a flight. Depending on where you live, it can be incredibly difficult to find flights that will transport pets. In North America, there are certain seasons where they won't transport pets at all. Careful making the assumption you can just get on a flight in winter and fly some place...


J.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by tthouses

I travel with my two Schipperkes, bred to be on boats...
.......................

"choosing the right dog" as others have said. Domesticated dogs have been bred for specific behaviors for hundreds of years.

Our Schipperke, that cruised with us did the following:

1. With no need for trips ashore, he deposited all his wastes in a designated
spot.
2. With the dinghy painter tied to his harness, he would pull; keeping us in
place while tying to or wading in.
3. He would bark in the direction of other boats in the fog that we could only
see on our radar.
4. He would bark at strangers approaching our boat until we "introduced"
them as acceptable.
5. He was comfortable and stable aboard in most conditions.
6. As we would raise anchor in the mornings, he would howl with us in
celebration of the adventure.

Who would accept a random crew member, 'choose a salty dog!

[Spirit450]

Hi, We sailed with our dog a mini schaunzer and it was fine, you need to research where you are travelling to and what their entry rules are but it isn't difficult. Make sure your dogs inoculations are up to date and he/she has a pet passport.
We sailed from UK to and around the Caribbean with our dog, he loved it as did we. The main issues are if you have to return home at short notice that happened to us a few times so one of us would fly back home the other would stay on the boat with the dog. Eating out is usually outside and our dog has been welcomed everywhere.
Yes there are additional hurdles to get over but the positives outweigh the negative.

[Mickeyrouse]

Dogs have personalities- it is unwise to generalize.
Our first beagle never saw our boat. “ he’d be too hard on the varnished cabin sole and upholstery.”
Couldn’t possibly be worse than I am.
We limited our cruises for years because we felt like two weeks in a kennel was too long for him, which it was.
After Dexter left us two years ago, we pledged that his replacement Jasmine would be part of our sailing life. We have not been away from the dock without her since. We are thrilled with the experience of having her on the boat. She minds her manners, sleeps when we sleep, and has her lookout spot in the cockpit. She barks at dolphins and seabirds and any boat that gets too close. We have a doggy life jacket for her that we keep on a comfortable tether, but I think it’s more for our peace of mind than her safety. But she doesn’t seem to mind it, so it will probably remain part of her sailing kit.
We just got back back from a three week cruise with her aboard. No, she’s not in to doing her business on a green welcome mat yet, but since this particular adventure involved a lot of dock time things worked out. She was a real ice-breaker with new acquaintances.
The real benefit was freedom of the urge to return to see about our dog. Truly she added a new dimension of satisfaction to an already lifelong avocation.

[thataway41]

we have spent 8 years cruising with dogs, including crossing The Atlantic and other long offshore passages. We had labs. They were fairly easy to deck train. But don't expect a dog to do its "business" in the cockpit where you and the dog live. We used AstroTurf, with grommets in the corners, Several lines on it, to secure to deck, and to. hold the mat when we dunk it overboard even when underway. We cruised the Med, Baltic and Caribbean. There were a few places we could not take the dog, such as the UK.

We had a very good harness, and clipped the dogs on jack lines when rough (some rough enough that we had waves sweeping the deck at times. Then I would crack off, hand steer, and keep the deck free of serous water.)