Introducing a young dog to sailing

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by pwmullins

Don't know how a standard doodle can be loaded off a boat unless you have low freeboard and they can jump in a dingy.

Walk through transom. See picture. Easy entry to dinghy and docks, for dogs and people too. Highly recommended.

My dog was 70 pounds dry, which was rare on the boat as she had long fur and loved to swim. After a swim, she would go below and have a good shake. She never did her business aboard ever. She sometimes wore a regular "keyhole" style lifejacket, put on backwards...fit very well and she liked swimming with that when there were waves. A doggy lifejacket would be nice, especially the lifting handle to give them a little help in the right direction.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Not much to training a pup....
...And give him a smooch from me ;-)!

TrentePieds

Excellent post!

[JPA Cate]

GILow's boat has a canoe stern. Maybe the dog in the dinghy method will work for him!

Otherwise, I would imagine a little creative sewing of wide webbing and a couple of snap buckles would make an easy off and on lifting harness. Or, I once taught a dog to climb a ladder, so maybe a passerelle with crosswise cleats and Awlgrip non-skid could make a dog safe passerelle from dinghy to lifeline gate.

Ann

Ann

[JPA Cate]

Matt, another issue.

There may be times (like when you sail to Tassie) when you'll want her to "go to bed" or, if you use a crate for her "cave", "in the crate", so that she will be safe and out of your way in strong weather. She needs to learn the words, whatever you make them be, or if you prefer, hand signals.

Ann

[ramblinrod]

Our current dog "Tiller" is a Shitzu / Bijon Freise cross.

He was born in September 2006. We got him in November. At the time we had a trailerable sailboat that we took on long distance adventures.

A few days after we brought Tiller home, we gathered up a heater, our sleeping bags, his crate, his bed, bowls, and all his toys, and had a sleep over on the boat in the back yard.

We did that again in December, and then again in March.

In April, we trailered the boat down to North Carolina to sail in Pamlico Sound. Tiller did great, and has been a great sailing dog ever since. Slip neighbours invite Tiller to their boat, and are OK if we tag along. ;-)

Recommendations:

1. Familiarize with the boat as soon as possible.
2. Socialize with other dogs as soon as possible.
3. Socialize with strangers as soon as possible.
4. Train, train, train.

Nobody wants a dog in a marina (let alone on their boat) if they are misbehaved or a nuisance.

Instant response to commands:
"Sit"
"Down" (lay)
"On" (get up onto level touched)
"Off" (get down)
"Come"
"Still" (don't move)
"Ick" (whatever is in your mouth, spit it out).
"Paw", "Other Paw", "Back Paw", "Other Back Paw" (let you play with feet trim hair from between pads, and clip nails as long as your desire)
"Do Your Business" (pee and poop).

In our training, we never repeat a command. Say the command once, if he doesn't do it, help him. We used Zukes treats as rewards.

I hate it when I hear someone beg their dog to do something. As soon as you repeat a command, you teach the dog they don't have to do it when you ask, they can wait until they feel like it, maybe after you have begged for the umpteenth time.

We have visual commands for every verbal command (Bijon's tends to loose hearing).

Then Tricks:
"Hi Five"
"Spin" (turn in tight circles) and "Other Way (change direction).
"Twirl" (spin but on hind legs).
"Figure 8's" (between legs)
"Bang" (play dead)
"Touch" (put nose on anything I point at).

(We stopped anything tricks on hind legs when he developed knee problems, common of Shitzu.

Tiller doesn't really care for any motion. Not in a car, not in a boat, not in anything that moves. He tends to just lay down.

Around the marina, he always has his harness on. This way, if he falls in the water he can be easily pulled out. He has fallen off a dock 3 times, and off the inflatable dinghy twice.

When he is aboard the big boat under way, He is tethered to the Binnacle, so that he cannot leave the cockpit. (Nothing worse than trying a fancy maneuver or to dock and the dog be getting in the way.)

If someone goes on deck and wants to take him, he gets tethered to the for/aft jackline.

Tiller has been an absolute pleasure to have aboard our and friends boats.

His photo is in the article I just had published (A Tale of Two WIndlasses) for GAM on Yachting Magazine, sitting at the bow (wow). ;-)

Ramblin Rod
About Sheen Marine

[TrentePieds]

Thanx Hamburking :-)

I do the came with cats, tho less successfully, cos cats, not being "pack" animals, aren't programmed to please in the way dogs are, and their language skills are of a different order. Not higher, not lower, just different, and much more difficult for me to fall in step with.

Nevertheless our Kitticat was eight years old when he was introduced to the seafaring life and he's adapted just fine. First time in sea state 4 he gave me a pretty hairy eyeball, but now he takes it with total equanimity.

He has an enclosed litter box - fitted with an air filter no less! Never makes a mess. He sleeps in his shore-side transport bag under a settee, and just like ashore he wakes me promptly and precisely at 0700, which is perfect for "colours" at 0800 :-)!

TrentePieds

[TrentePieds]

I see there are other "dog-people" aboard, so with the indulgence of the Moderator, lemme tell you about Kara - the Magic Mastiff - and Tika, the rescue shi-tzu (known as "Ruggie"), who was with me still when I first moved to this little burgh.

They were trained to walk at heel, off leash, in all circumstances. Even so, you take a risk if you rely on a dog to do that unfailingly, so perhaps best not to emulate this :-). But these two were VERY good. We'd come out from our building and proceed abreast along the sidewalk, 220 lbs on one side of me and 20 lbs on the other, to a nearby crosswalk leading across a provincial highway to a little park on the other side. Approaching the X-walk, I'd give myself enuff room, then order: "Canine Division — leeeeeft WHEEL— HALT"! On the "halt" I'd do the standard "201" stomp and the dogs would immediately sit. They were trained to do that, of course, the stomp being the command. We'd stand/sit "at attention" at the kerb until the traffic had stopped. Then: "Canine Division — By the centre....." and off we'd go, line abreast across the highway.

The locals got such a kick out of that, that it came to be a standard performance. Cars would stop and roll their windows down and yell "Great dogs!!"

Dogs are really the best people in the world :-)!

TrentePieds

[GILow]

I think there a few people here who could write manuals on dog raising. Or they've read the same books we've read.


Trentepieds your words are very reassuringly similar to those we have read in the various books, thank you. The only place we draw the line is that the pup does not get to go into the bit of the house with the bedrooms. She seems quite clear and comfortable with the fact that she remains in the back of the house (which is tiled.) and came from the breeder with some form of conditioning that made her stay in her allocated room. I wish I knew how they did that!


We also have gone the crate training method, though as a dog novice family it looks totally inhumane, we are reassured by the fact that she voluntarily goes to her crate in the evening and settles in with the one permitted toy and often pops in there during the day to tidy her bed up. (no I am not kidding, she goes in, and rearranges the bedding before coming out again five minutes later)


Ann, we have a standard phrase for going to her crate (in your crate) which I confess we are totally uncomfortable with, but it works, so we have to accept it. You make me think maybe we should just take the crate on the boat for overnighters, since she is secure and comfortable there.


Still trying to work out the best place for her when under way. The cockpit would be lovely for her, but it is too crowded for that to be safe and would be an accident waiting to happen with a sheet or a winch trapping a paw or tail. Some kind of setup on the "poop deck" (pun unintended) is what I'd like to find.


The canoe stern make doggy loading difficult but we do have an outboard lifting crane arm in the right spot to haul her up, we just need to find a life jacket with a good safe and comfortable lifting point included and that will work. Unfortunately Sally wanted the larger dog (I would have been happy with a Spoodle) so I am faced with hauling aboard a 30kg (65lb) dog eventually. That's more than the outboard.


The OEM sounds like it might have been too much for our outboard crane arm! Loved the remark about the hotdog treats.

[FSMike]

One thing I highly recommend --
Our dogs were trained to never go swimming unless they were in the dinghy first.
This greatly reduces the odds of them going for a swim from the big boat.

[TrentePieds]

@GILow #43

You can make a dog do anything he is physically capable of doing through a nice blend of Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Just go easy on the "negative reinforcement" ("punishment") side of the Skinner stuff :-)

I acknowledge and respect that there are those who do not like pooches in bedrooms. Nevertheless, we - who are their warders through no fault of theirs - need to respect that dogs in a pack build and maintain their sense of belonging and pack cohesion through close physical contact including mutual grooming and "sleeping in a pile". Their perception and cognitive processes are dominated by smell, and as far as Fido is concerned, we are dogs, though mighty queer and funny-smelling ones, but dogs nevertheless.

It goes without saying, of course, that after handling a pooch you see to you own hygiene before you start making dinner :-)

It might amuse you to know that Ruggie gave me a case of sarcoptic mange out of sheer affection. Not difficult to deal with, but I mention it because your point is well taken: Dogs cannot maintain themselves in the state of cleanliness we prefer and require. We must do that for them. Not difficult. It just becomes part of the daily household (or shipboard) routine.

Woof :-)!

TrentePieds

[wesevans]

Younger is better.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

I acknowledge and respect that there are those who do not like pooches in bedrooms. Nevertheless, we - who are their warders through no fault of theirs - need to respect that dogs in a pack build and maintain their sense of belonging and pack cohesion through close physical contact including mutual grooming and "sleeping in a pile".

Yes, I do feel sorry for her about this, and in a perfect dog world we would allow her in the bedrooms. But I am hopeful that the rest of her life is so dog-gone perfect that this little omission will be more than adequately balanced. Right now the little bundle of exhaustion is sleeping on the floor, wrapped around my son who is sitting on the floor playing video games. She certainly likes close proximity of her people-pack.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Capt Phil]

Even though cats are not 'pack' animals, they have always slept with us aboard or on the hard. Too late to break us of the habit. We are both thoroughly trained!
Our old kitty, long past, Hobie Cat, hated being ashore! Best boat cat we ever had and would lie in wait for any poor bastard who venture past the forward hause pipe and let out a blood curdling yowl that scared the pants off of any one around! Still miss him! Phil

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Even though cats are not 'pack' animals, they have always slept with us aboard or on the hard. Too late to break us of the habit. We are both thoroughly trained!
Our old kitty, long past, Hobie Cat, hated being ashore! Best boat cat we ever had and would lie in wait for any poor bastard who venture past the forward hause pipe and let out a blood curdling yowl that scared the pants off of any one around! Still miss him! Phil

Must be something about boat cats. Because every boat cat I have ever met has been a real character, and had a wicked sense of humour to boot. There was a terrific moggie down at our club for a couple of years who would sneak up behind me when I was working on the boat and yowl in my ear. Quite a few bruises on my head from those little surprises.

And yes, one of the reasons the dog can't come into our bedroom is that the cats have that as their bastion of sanity. They've lost the pride of place they used to have in the living room, all they have left now is the foot of the bed.

[JPA Cate]

Time for a little story....

When we brought our Malemute home, he was 7-1/2 wks old, and I could hold him in the palm of my hand, albeit he was a big handful. Golly, he was a cute baby!

At that time, we also had two alley cats, both grey tabbies. Eight pound Momma Kitty ruled the roost. She regulated cat visitors, brought in many kills. Picked on and dominated most of the local dog population.

Suddenly, in HER space, was this bumbling idiot puppy. She tolerated him. He kept growing, and soon outweighed her. What was she to do?

What she did was this. She would sit on the chair by the telephone [remember when phones were fixed, or on long cords?], waiting for him to come by. If he stuck his cute, black, tender nose "too close" to her, he'd get it smacked. Once, I saw 4 little drops of blood. Didn't feel real good about that, but I did understand that he would weigh in at over 100 lbs. as an adult, and stayed out of it. They worked it out.

As he grew older and more settled, they became friends, and would lie together in front of the fireplace in winter, his belly toward the fire, and herself curled there next to it.

Ann