Want to cruise with our dog and cat.

[Normanskier]

We are planning to live aboard for six months ar a time with our dog and cat. Cat is easy. And I thing our dog would be as well. She’s a Lagotto Romagnolo, an Italian water dog. Loves to swim and be on kayaks with us. 32 pounds and sweet as could be, hence her name is Dolce.

Never cruised with our animals. Need advice as to getting them house trained. Not worried about her adapting to boat life; she is happy as long as she is with us.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Norman

[JPA Cate]

Do a CF Google Custom Search on boat training dogs. There should be heaps! The general idea is praise for going where and when you want. You can also just use Google.
The information is out there. It is mostly about rewarding the dog for doing what you want, but it has to have its own reason to do it, so best to listen to the pro's.

Ann

[Paul L]

You might mention where you plan to cruise. Some countries are far easier with pets than others.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Paul L

You might mention where you plan to cruise. Some countries are far easier with pets than others.

Yes, it varies dramatically, from places like the Caymans with extensive requirements for bringing a pet in, to places like Guatemala who could really care less.

OP should research each planned ports of call so as to know requirements well ahead of time. In 2004-2005, while cruising with a mangerie aboard (3 cats & 1 parrot) we skipped the Caymans and Turks & Caicos because of their pet requirements.

Most cruisers with dogs train them to use a bit if artificial turf on the bow which can then be dunked over board. This and/or frequent trips ashore. Ive watched many dog owners make the morning run ashore in the dink with their dog.

Dogs are more hassle to have aboard, but they do make for good security systems.

I also suggest doing some short cruises with your dog in moderate weather to see how it responds to being underway. Like humans, some animals get sea sick.

There are also a number of existing threads on the subject of cruising with pets which the OP should peruse.

[tarian]

Hi and good for you , have my 2 dogs on my boat , no real issues but for toilet training try and get some astroturf and lead the dog to it always in the same place (up to you) and wait until they go and reward them , once they go a few times they understand this is were they go, dogs are generally clean animals and will keep their toilet duties to a set place
here is a website that will help you decide on countries and the requirements
most french and Dutch Caribbean islands are no problems the main one are the British colonies who are very strict but some allow with the Passport scheme
https://www.pettravel.com/passports_...bies_rules.cfm

Oh pet life jackets as you can haul them up if they fall in.
safe place on passage as they might get spooked

[MIRELOS]

Cruised with my Spanish Water Dog for 14 years and now with my second SWD, they adapt very quickly and if they are already house broken they go outside, when at anchor or a marina it's just like home except you row to shore. Not a problem, there are many cruisers with pets.

[CAPAZ]

reconsider any pets if headed to NZ, we had a cat and had to place her in quarantine (twice for 2 months) to enter the country. pretty $$ and no fun for the little guy

most of the rest of the South Pacific countries are not an issue though, just keep the pets aboard so they don't end up in the pot! (our Tico certainly agrees!)

Rocco

[tarian]

Originally Posted by CAPAZ

reconsider any pets if headed to NZ, we had a cat and had to place her in quarantine (twice for 2 months) to enter the country. pretty $$ and no fun for the little guy

most of the rest of the South Pacific countries are not an issue though, just keep the pets aboard so they don't end up in the pot! (our Tico certainly agrees!)

Rocco

For Dogs in NZ you can be as little as 8 days quarantine , if the Dogs are pass ported ,chipped, vacanations in check and coming from a list of countries allowed by NZ you can get the info for NZ on their Gov, Website very helpful , we are planning NZ with our dogs and have researched fully ,also if checked into NZ and staying for more than 90 days then full access to Aus is allowed without quaratine

[boom23]

We cruised for 3 seasons in the S. Pacific with our two dogs. While we love our dogs and they loved being on the water with us, I am not sure I would do it again.

Entering our dogs into island countries was time consuming, expensive, required a minimum of 8 days quarrantine, additional doctor exams/papers, etc. In some countries, we would keep the dogs on board just to make things easier.

Then you have to think about flying them back and forth from your home country at the end of the season. This is another expensive and complicated procedure that requires more doctor papers/exams, crates, etc. If your dogs are small enough to bring with you in the airplane cabin, it is somewhat easier and less stressful for the dogs & owners.

We are now preparing for Med cruising with our one dog, which is easier coming from USA, but still presents problems.

I recommend that you examine carefuly, with your vet, the animal import/export requirements of each country you plan to visit, long before you leave and make a schedule for all the required papers and vaccinations.

[fatherchronica]

Our cats and dogs loved cruising. I built a two part plywood, enclosed cat box that fit under our companionway stairs that worked well for us. And trained the dogs to use a vee shaped piece of astroturf on the bow. I had to pee on it after the first 3 days offshore to break the ice, as it were, but after that it was used by them without reservation except in heavy weather. When it was rough we had to heave-to for a little bit and because the dogs always felt safer on a leash we would leash them up and take a few walks around the perimeter of the boat singing the pee pee poo poo song until they couldn't resist.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Normanskier

We are planning to live aboard for six months ar a time with our dog and cat. Cat is easy. And I thing our dog would be as well. She’s a Lagotto Romagnolo, an Italian water dog. Loves to swim and be on kayaks with us. 32 pounds and sweet as could be, hence her name is Dolce.

Never cruised with our animals. Need advice as to getting them house trained. Not worried about her adapting to boat life; she is happy as long as she is with us.

Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Norman

We also cruise with a Lagotto, a cat and a pug. Rosie, the Lagotto, is trained to do much of her business in a small kiddie wading pool or a faux grass mat. An anti bark collar is a nice addition, as Lagottos are protective and you don't need them yapping on the fore deck at dock passers by.

If your boat has a turbo diesel, the high pitched whine of the turbo that may be beyond our hearing range can cause anxiety.

You say the cat is "easy", and ours is as well, at least until it gets really rough. Then the cat gets sea sick and when cats get seasick, every bodily orifice is fully activated. Please don't ask how I know.

Regarding house/boat breaking, as you know, Lagottos are a very smart breed. We've found that the small size of the boat makes it relatively easy to train them, since dogs generally don't mess in their nests. Lay down a puppy pad next to the door and respond immediately to any verbalization or anxious looks when near the door or hatchway and you should be good. Always reward with a treat or copious praise success.

Sorry for the inverted picture.... Can't figure how to attach one in the correct orientation....

[redhead]

Our rescue dog was very resistant to going on the bow. Liquids OK - but solids, no way. Finally, instead of just carrying her to the astroturf on the bow and plopping her down on telling her to "go" I tried putting her on her leash/lead and now we take a couple of turns around the boat, always pausing at the mat and giving her the chance. This makes it more like a walk and she's used to that.

She still is not very enthusiastic about this, but it's working much better than before. I think a lot of it has to do with how old they are when you start the deck training. Good luck!

[Capt. Hack]

I liveaboard with 2 cats.The older one is 6 and the girl is 3. We moved on 6 months ago. The older cat had sialed off and on since he was young ,the little 3 year is and was skitish. It took her a week or so to mellow down. I walk the older one on a line ( harrness with lights ), when he goes out in port I put a line on him He has a lifejacket. Worlds greatest cat litter seems to work very well. It comes vacume sealed. A litter box last 3 to 5 five wks. and no oder. Oh and Delfin is right about the seasick part ,and is not pretty. The girl has not got sick but the boy does, He has a little cave in te bow center padded with towles and is happy.

[Checkswrecks]

I have a cat with bad motion sickness that pills help a little but those really just make her less nervous. I used to put a handful of paper towels in her box and then used an old towel. She still came out a mess.

Puppy pads are the best thing going! They are fairly inexpensive, come in various sizes to cover the bottom of the box (diapers don't reach the sides), and instantly soak up the moisture from yak & pee. She generally avoids the solids.

[Hillbilly]

In her book "You Can Teach Your Dog To Eliminate On Command", Dr. Marjorie Smith describes a technique which worked wonderfully for us. Our two medium-sized females were both adults and thoroughly housebroken. Consequently, confinement on the boat was a problem they simply could not manage no matter what we had tried, including artificial turf and even a piece of living sod.

The process is quite intuitive. First you choose a word or phrase you intend to repeat. Then for a period of days you take the dog out into the yard on a leash and just as the process begins you repeat the chosen word over and over until finished. Then you praise the dog generously.

Once on the boat when the dog's urgency becomes evident, you take the dog on the leash to the designated location and repeat the magic word or phrase until the dog finishes, just as it was done in the yard. A single word is probably best. Think of it not as a command but rather as a granting of permission. After only a few sessions on the deck, both of our dogs understood what to do without command.