Pitbull aboard in the carribean

[bailout00]

Hey all, first off I will say that this place is awesome... Thanks in advance for your assurance/time. I have seriously considering the cruising lifestyle, and this place has made it seem more possible than ever. However, I have lots of questions, the first being about my pup. I have a 2 year old pitbull mix. I want to cruise/live in the carribean, probably in usvi, but I'd like to be able to cruise around to bvi, and others down that way. I know there are lots of threads on the topic, but I'm looking for a bit more specific, first hand experience. Curious to see if it's possible, how much of a hassle if I wanted to bounce between usvi/bvi. Also, specifics about pitbull/mixes would be good too, I know pitbulls are restricted all over. It would break my heart to have to leave her here with my family or something...

Thanks!

[MarkSF]

How much like a pitbull does it look? You could tell people it's a mutt.

Cute puppy : we need pics.

[bailout00]

Picccc

[atoll]

that is definitly a heinz 57,it doesnt look any thing like a pitbull!

[osirissail]

Having an animal (pet) onboard is not prohibitive but does add an extra dimension of bureaucratic paperwork to the endeavor. You need to have available the complete medical history of the animal and all its shots, rabies certificates, etc. Some islands require that the animal be "chipped" - that is, it has an RFID chip injected into its body for identification purposes.

The British Virgins are not the most cruiser pet friendly islands so there are procedures and forms that need to be filled out and filled with associated fees. See: Noonsite: British Virgin Islands

[belizesailor]

Been a while since I've been there, but at least in the past, bouncing between the USVI and BVI is no big deal (except for the sometimes surly USVI officials).

Traveling to most destinations with common household pets (like dogs and cats) is not bad either (minor paperwork in most place, recent health certificate). Check the regulations of specific countries before you go. If you can play down the breed issue a bit then I don't think you will have much trouble.

With all the security issues that have been popping up these days -- a pit bull in the cockpit sounds like a fine idea!

[larryj41]

Hi Bailout,
There is a couple cruising the Caribbean rightnow with a pit bull. They have a pretty good blog. You, Me, and the D It might give you some answers or you can leave questions on their website.

[roverhi]

Pets are a major headache wherever there is no rabies, Hawaii, SoPac, Oz and NZ. If you are going in that direction be very very certain you have complied with the regulations before you leave for there. Hawaii no longer requires a quarantine for pets that have proper certification from a veterinarian. Unfortunately, don't think you can meet the letter of the law arriving in a boat but can if you fly the pet in. Still, many months of preperation to get the rabies free certificate and close to a thousand dollars in cost. Just the proper shots doesn't do. NZ and Oz used to be way crazy, basically they didn't want any animal imported. Not sure if things have changed with the recognized effectiveness of anti rabies innoculations.

On the Atlantic side, things should be way easier as long as you have taken the usual precautions. England and possibly Ireland would be the exception as they don't have rabies there.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Pets are a major headache wherever there is no rabies, Hawaii, SoPac, Oz and NZ....

Similar for some destinations in the Western Carib too. Caymans in particular have crazy published requirements -- we decided not to stop there. Turks & Caicos have (had) strong published requirements. Jamaica did not want animals to leave the boat (but compromised on not leaving the marina), but otherwise no problem.

Most other destinations here in the Western Carib could care less.

[Wavewacker]

Originally Posted by bailout00

Picccc

Looks like a Sharpee-German Shepard mix, I'd go with that and change its name from Goliath to Gucci in front of officials.

[rubberfish]

Title caught my attention right away.
Great dogs. We have two. Not on a boat.
I would refer to mine as mutts from the pound.
What folks don't know won't hurt them.

[Mexdon]

It is what I would call a Bitza (bits of this bits of that)

[19 and counting]

Originally Posted by rubberfish

Title caught my attention right away.
Great dogs. We have two. Not on a boat.
I would refer to mine as mutts from the pound.
What folks don't know won't hurt them.

they are great dogs and we love our little floor snorer so much, but boating with her was a nightmare. She didn't get it. She peed on the teak floor in a rough anchorage one night and my husband just about killed himself slipping on it when we got up in the morning. One dog we had just loved to poop on any coiled rope, loved it when she did the dock lines or the electrical cord. I just don't think either dog really loved boating. Although the pit was really good at barking off the sea lions that love to park on swim steps and low steps. We were sea lion free and that was about all the exercise she got, taking her ashore to the little park was awful, lots of poodle owners let their dogs run off leash and how are you going to do that with everyone's prejudice over pits? She's much much better off in the backyard chasing squirrels. So are we...chasing squirrels that it but we just bought another boat so it's sea squirrels for us. However we have often thought she would be a great security helper. We like the keep it simple philosophy and adding pets just makes it more complicated. I suppose if you are alone you need the companionship. I have seen more people trying to row in the dog for the evening duty and in really adverse almost dangerous conditions, is that smart to have a dog if you have to do that on a regular basis...mostly weekend sailors doing that. All issues to ponder regarding dogs on boats.

[tdominic_97]

http://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-sta...ities-2014.php

[19 and counting]

Originally Posted by tdominic_97

2014 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities - Dog Bite Statistics - DogsBite.org

Well dogs are like people, and lots of people have guns, can you show us some statistics for deaths and injuries from guns in the last 5 years? The worst problem is that they are large and strong sort of like cow/dogs. So they need to be kept in check constantly cause they have cow brains ha ha once you get that you can safely keep a pit. My mailman says he worries more about being bitten from loose chihuahuas, has been bitten 5 times by the little devils.