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Old 12-08-2020, 14:06   #1
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How to boat break a beagle

I’ve been sailing for 45 years and cruising with my wife off and on for 25. Assuming preventive measures (vaccines) are possible next spring, we’re planning to go out for three months or so .
You’re never too old for a new experience: we plan to take our dog. We’ve been getting her acclimatized- she knows our boat by scent now- and seems to be relaxed when we take her sailing, but we’re at a loss on the next steps of making a real sea dog out of her. Obviously the next step is overnighting, but the goal is to get accustomed to doing her business on an astroturf mat on the deck. She can hold it overnight, but I don’t want to make her painfully uncomfortable by extending a first mini-cruise until she just can’t wait thus forcing her. So how does one break through on this?
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Old 12-08-2020, 14:19   #2
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

Step one is to break the careful training you have done that has succeeded in training your dog NOT to pee in the house (and by extension, your boat). Take a rag and safety pin and locate a cooperative canine of the opposite gender. Capture some pee (and poo if you are going “advanced”) and pin the foreigner's pee soaked rag to your astro-turf mat. Your dog will be affronted and and will need to re-assert its authority by peeing on that spot. May take an hour or so but we have never seen it fail.

If you study dog excretion carefully, you will notice that they don’t pee and poo on the same spot. It’s a good idea to have two astroturf mats; locate one on the bow and another near the stern. You can rinse them easily by dragging them over the side for a while on a line (referred to as a “tea-bag” job). Some astro-turf mats have a black substrate on the back which is really good at sticking to white gel-coat on a hot day. You can defeat this by using two pieces of matting, back-to-back and zip-tied together.
Good luck and fair winds!
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Old 13-08-2020, 00:25   #3
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

If only you had a catamaran - we foster rescue puppies (generally between 6-8 weeks and until 12-14 weeks when they get adopted) and take them with us when coastal cruising. The puppies take no time at all to figure out that they can pee and poo on the trampolines. There are many fewer accidents on the boat compared to at home.

I agree with the previous poster about training with a mat. You can start this at home. Make sure the mat position on the boat can be used when underway as well as when berthed or anchored. Put a tray with non-skid underneath so you don’t get pee everywhere.
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Old 13-08-2020, 04:08   #4
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

My sea dog, Harry the Sailor Prince, was a few years old when he first went sailing...

Without any fancy mats or any of that he just took to doing his business up in the eyes.... where I believe the 'seats of ease' were on old sailing ships.
I put it down to the vestigal smells of rotting seaweed etc between the capstan and the bow... easy to clean up after the event.... far enough away from the cockpit not to need immediate attention.

I used to worry a bit that he would go overboard but he died... aged some 15 years or so... some 180 miles from the sea...
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Old 13-08-2020, 06:15   #5
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

Which brings up another question: Anybody know the real danger of a dog going overboard? Obviously in high weather anything or anybody is at risk, but her doggie life jacket sure seems hot here in Texas in the summer. And on a typical 15-20 knot day her four legs seem more stable than our two.
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Old 13-08-2020, 08:22   #6
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

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Originally Posted by Mickeyrouse View Post
Which brings up another question: Anybody know the real danger of a dog going overboard? Obviously in high weather anything or anybody is at risk, but her doggie life jacket sure seems hot here in Texas in the summer. And on a typical 15-20 knot day her four legs seem more stable than our two.
Ours slipped and went overboard on calm water 2 year ago. Is very agile so it was a misjudgment, not clumsiness. (weighs 60lbs). Fortunately had jacket on that has a grab handle on the top and in a feat of panic-induced strength I reached and pulled her up. Without handle I don't know how we would have gotten her aboard.
If we do this again I'm running safety netting on the lifelines. Leash would not be practical.
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Old 13-08-2020, 08:45   #7
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

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Ours slipped and went overboard on calm water 2 year ago. Is very agile so it was a misjudgment, not clumsiness. (weighs 60lbs). Fortunately had jacket on that has a grab handle on the top and in a feat of panic-induced strength I reached and pulled her up. Without handle I don't know how we would have gotten her aboard.
If we do this again I'm running safety netting on the lifelines. Leash would not be practical.

+1 for handle on back of jacket that you can use to fully lift the dog. Try different jackets as they are not all equal for stap comfort or handle position. Just like people, the dog needs to wear the jacket/safety gear when on deck for it to be useful.
Nets are are also useful.
In bad weather, we limited our dog from going on deck w/his own tether (to jacket clip) so he stayed in the cockpit if we had to go forward.
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Old 13-08-2020, 08:54   #8
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

I have had to fish them out before. They will fall in. Dog vest with lifeline attachment and handle, plus really good safety netting. Sailrite, the sewing machine people sell good netting supplies and have a mindblowing and thorough video on rigging it.

I went ahead and looked up the video. I watched the damn thing out of sheer fascination.

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Old 13-08-2020, 09:08   #9
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

We thought a doggie life-jacket was too hot in the tropics so we went with a harness plus tether, to a line run mid-ships between the masts (We had a ketch).

Rescuing a 65 pound dog that has fallen off the dock gives you a keen appreciation of what it would take to rescue an overboard 180 pound human who was injured and couldn't assist. You're talking serious lifting tackle.
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Old 13-08-2020, 09:21   #10
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

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Originally Posted by edmundsteele View Post
We thought a doggie life-jacket was too hot in the tropics so we went with a harness plus tether, to a line run mid-ships between the masts (We had a ketch).

Rescuing a 65 pound dog that has fallen off the dock gives you a keen appreciation of what it would take to rescue an overboard 180 pound human who was injured and couldn't assist. You're talking serious lifting tackle.
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Old 13-08-2020, 09:36   #11
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

We had dogs on a short cruise with lifejackets. Good thing because those handles on the jackets are great for getting them back in the boat. All of our issues were at the dock when a dog mis judged getting off the boat trying to follow one of us instead of staying put ... At least have a harness if the jacket is too hot, they can swim well if you have to get to them, but you need to be able to pick them out of the water.
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Old 13-08-2020, 09:51   #12
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

You know it doesn’t have to be Astrotruf outside, there are pans made especially for this. They have a grate that you put absorbent pads under that absorb liquids and turn to gel exactly like a baby diaper, just thinner.
Our dog goes in one and it stays inside in the second head, but it can go anywhere of course.
That way he gets up in the middle of the night and goes or whenever he feels the need.
He is only allowed in the cockpit and then he is on a leash that’s attached to the binnacle, if he ever went overboard in any kind of sea, you would never find him. It’s hard enough to find a person, but a little dog would be impossible.
I have read that a beagle is tough to housebreak.

Oh and get a harness that has a handle on the back, there will be times like getting in and out the dinghy or those tall Bahamian dinghy docks, that being able to pick them up like they were a piece of luggage is way easier and safer for the dog as your way less likely to drop them
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Old 13-08-2020, 10:00   #13
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

It was hard to train ours. very hard. They just wouldn't go. Had to take them ashore. If I were doing it again I would take some astro turf home and put it outside where they go. Let them pee and poop on it. Then take it to the boat and see if they would link the smell and use it. Once they got used to that you could clean it good.
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Old 13-08-2020, 10:00   #14
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

If you want an animal to break in, you DO NOT take a BEAGLE.


They are very hard dogs. Very stubborn. Plenty of character.


Try a yorkshire terrier or similar. These are sharp but intelligent too. Easy to work with and cooperative.


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Old 13-08-2020, 10:07   #15
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Re: How to boat break a beagle

I haven't tried it yet, but I was instructed that you can also "prime" the astroturf mat by relieving yourself on it as well, and letting it season up a bit. The prior post about using another dog to prime it is obviously a better idea-

Anyone else had success with training a dog for the mat?
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