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PuttingDoctor · 29-10-2016, 09:27

Sturdy sheet of canvas with four leg holes and some stitching might do the job. If I had a wire crate I'd think about it as a secure method of up and down. Sixty pounds will get old fast but a workout 4-6 times a day grinding on a winch is just what most of us need. Please post your solution when you've got it worked out.

Olddave · 29-10-2016, 10:33

I would buy/rent a pet cage designed for air travel etc. There is sturdy metal cages that would be suitable if carefully rigged with a lifting sling made from an old spectra halyard or similar.
Should be easier to convince pup to ride in that than a bag type sling.
Good luck, I hope you can work out something safe and easy.
Dave

Cadence · 29-10-2016, 11:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Our boat will be out of the water for a few more weeks until we finish some work. We are hoping to stay aboard to save money. However, we will have our dog with us.
Anyone have ideas about how to lift 60lbs of happy fur 12 feet up? We were thinking of a basket and pulley but how do we keep him in the basket?
It could be a nutty idea and we might have to find a short term rental. But if we can figure it out the boat woukd be best.

Find a good kennel or teach the dog to climb a ladder. Probably cheaper than a short term rental. Maybe a harness and an sling to hoist it aboard. I had one that could climb a round wrong ladder. Down was a little brutal.

Sea Dreaming · 29-10-2016, 11:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

In days of yore horses were hoisted aboard by a canvas sling that went UNDER them, between fore and hind legs. The sling had bolt-ropes all around with earrings and nettles in each corner. The nettles were taken to a spreader bar running fore'n'aft and this was in turn bridled to the hoist. When the strain was taken, the canvas folded UP around the animal's flanks but its legs dangled free.

There is no way an animal can slip out of such a sling, and it seems to me that that is the very best, a tried and true, solution to this problem, because walking the animal over the canvas lying on the ground and then attaching the nettles to the spreader doesn't spook the animal. When (or if) the animal spooks as the canvas closes around it, there is no way for it to get a grip with its feet on the sling and therefore it cannot wiggle out. Spooked or not, the animal is perfectly secure.

Ideal for bigger dogs, I should think. Small ones like cats can go in the kinda carry bag that is a dime a dozen at all pet stores.

TrentePieds

yes! This is what I was thinking but didn't have a good model to follow. Now I do. Thank you!

foufou · 29-10-2016, 18:53

As Sy Gilana told with picture, dogs do climb. My yellow lab Eli climbed ladders just like Sy's did. And learned to back down them. Eventually though, he was annoyed at the feat he had achieved and no longer wished to do that. A sling seems the next best option. but coaxing a dog to climb is not difficult. f

Sea Dreaming · 29-10-2016, 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by foufou

As Sy Gilana told with picture, dogs do climb. My yellow lab Eli climbed ladders just like Sy's did. And learned to back down them. Eventually though, he was annoyed at the feat he had achieved and no longer wished to do that. A sling seems the next best option. but coaxing a dog to climb is not difficult. f

Climbing up a 12 foot ladder is not really a good bet for our guy.a couple of years ago he took a hard fall jumping off the bow of our last boat. We didn't realize anything was wrong at the time because he acted normal afterwards but over the next few weeks he started going into decline and was refusing to walk. Long story short he took almost a year to recover. He is 8 now and we aren't willing to risk whatever life he has left.

I did find a really cool climbing harness though. It's designed for rock climbers to hoist their dog when climbing. It's designed to do just the kind of thing we need it for. I am still researching though.

skipper53 · 29-10-2016, 19:57

One of those hard plastic transport crates with the wire door would work well if were tied into a four point sling $60 to $75 bocks,and very secure. Don't think I'd trust the collapsible/folding, all wire types...... Good luck!

thruska · 30-10-2016, 20:36

While in ct boatyard we were allowed to use a friends stairway with a landing at the top . They were used all over the yard , some unused just sitting there going to heaven. Our dogs 50 pounders simply run upthe steps. Are these not available or not used in your boatyard ?
Is a sling required? We built a boarding /swimming platform on the transome of the columbia , hoping to be used as the 'poopdeck', but they preferred the bow. But when the dogs went for dingy rides, the preserver handles were not needed to use as they scampered onto/off of platform to boat or dingy.
Obviously the freeboard is the height issue, but a staircase solves the issue on the hard.

liveaboard60 · 31-10-2016, 09:02

I guess you have posed the question to the list because you are unable to carry the dog up the ladder.. I lived in a cabin for 5 years in which we had to carry our dogs up 10' ladder to the bedroom.. It is amazing how quickly they get used to the idea of being carried up.. At first they may struggle a bit, but soon settle down and just are dead weight.. And yes, it was a large dog.. flk k

KiminAK · 31-10-2016, 09:27

What about making him a ramp? He's going to need to go up and down several times a day to go pee. So it would get good use.

I was just in the boatyard, looking at a PDQ catamaran. I hope it's cooled down by the time you guys get back down there. It was HOT, HOT, HOT.

rwidman · 31-10-2016, 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cadence

Find a good kennel or teach the dog to climb a ladder. Probably cheaper than a short term rental. Maybe a harness and an sling to hoist it aboard. I had one that could climb a round wrong ladder. Down was a little brutal.

You might teach a dog to climb up a ladder but how will he get down?

If he can find a crate big enough and strong enough for the dog and has some sort of crane to lift it, that would work, but staying in a motel (the owner and the dog) would be simpler.

KiminAK · 31-10-2016, 09:32

Just another thought, if the heat down there doesn't break, you might want a motel anyway, but it is unseasonably warm right now, should cool down any day.

**TrentePieds** · 31-10-2016, 09:45

Aren't we getting a tad complicated? I thot this problem is a temporary one while the boat is on the hard?

I admit that I'm locked into a certain mindset since my last doggie weighed 220 lbs :-)

I think also, and Lord knows I wish I didn't have a mast furling main on a 30 footer, that the sling I proposed will be a valuable addition to the safety equipment of the boat. Normally, with a decent jiffy reefing main, I would use it as a means of parbuckling a MOB up and over the lifelines. But since I can't do that, with a sling such as the one I proposed for the OP's doggie, and with the boom rigged as a cargo boom, I also have a means of getting a MOB back inboard.

I don't see any other way, if MyBeloved were to go over the side, that I could possibly get her back aboard, or for her to get ME back aboard

TrentePieds

Cadence · 31-10-2016, 10:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwidman

You might teach a dog to climb up a ladder but how will he get down?

If he can find a crate big enough and strong enough for the dog and has some sort of crane to lift it, that would work, but staying in a motel (the owner and the dog) would be simpler.

I said down was somewhat brutal although she would do it. It was somewhat of a controlled crash.