Dog on Board

In Two Deep

In Two Deep

Member
Aug 23, 2007
237
Long Island Sound
Boat Info
2001 340 Sundancer
Engines
8.1 Mercruiser
I just rescued a golden retreiver form our local shelter and am looking forward to bringing him on board come spring. Anyone have any suggestions or tips to help him get aclimated and comfortable on board? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
Use a crate, at least at first, especially if you need to leave him on the boat by himself.

Also, brings lot of toys/chew things and leave them on the boat.

We have 2 dogs, one has been boating with us for quite a while, the 2nd is new to us and new to boating. We got her in September as a pup. We brought her on the boat 2-3 times for a couple of hours at a time before we took her for a cruise. We did a 5 hour cruise for her first cruise, kept her in the crate the entire time and she did fantastic. Big waves and bumps startled her, though she is skiddish to begin with, but we tried not to react to the waves and bumps. If you act normal they will too for the most part.

We leave her in the crate at night and leave her in the crate while we are away from the boat. The 7 year old one does not have to stay in the crate as she is pretty good in the cabin by herself. She likes to throw the pillows around, but that's it, no chewing, no peeing/pooping, overall very good on the boat by herself.

We have life jackets for both of them too, just in case. We also have one of those portable doggy water bowl things, the ones that fold up. It comes in handy.

We introduced both of them slowly to the water. Beach first, feet wet first, swim with us helping them, then swim on their own, always with the life jackets on though.

The 7 year old one always loved the boat until this past summer. We were doggy sitting for some friends and brought their dog with us to the boat. He was a nervous wreck, shook the whole time. Guess what, now our 7 year old shakes when the engines are on. We give her 1/2 a benadryl and she does better.

For us, while under power, the dogs stay in one spot and do not wander the boat. We have a friend who lets his dog go everywhere, all over the bow, the decks, the cabin, etc while under power. Too much of a distraction and and not safe IMHO.
 
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My experience is that a new dog quickly aclimates to the boat as long as you don't push or rush him/her. A good dog just wants to be with you or whomever in the family he bonds with and most will quickly get over any apprehension to the boat. My dogs....(3 & 8 years) realize fun is on the way when they hear the engines. As soon as I crank up, they sit and are soon asleep. Both dogs are just as happy on th e boat as at home, and we regularly leave them unattended with no issues.

Be careful forcing him into the water. We start by carrying our new pups to the beach and placing them on dry sand and let them play. The first time or 2 you need to carry them back to the boat, but before you know it, they are swimming back to the boat with you.

Have fun with the new pup............
 
That's the key I think as has been said is acclimation.. we took our pups down around the boats during the offseason to just get them comfortable with the area, getting on and off and the surroundings. We now just mention 'boat' and they head for their leashes. It's funny how they are different tho. The female jumps right on and off board with no qualms. The male is so hesitant that we have to nudge him on. But once we start the motors it is just the reverse. The male gets comfy and snoozes most of the time. The female has to be in one of our laps for the most part, that is until we get to idle.. on the 240 she's at the bow announcing our arrival and on the 370 she bounds down to the cabin or starts trying to play with the male.

You didn't say how old the lab was, but I'm sure he'll do great. You may have a hard time keeping him on the boat if he loves the water.. heh
 
Something else to keep in mind, and I worry about this when the female 7 year old wants to stay in the cabin while under power, is carbon monoxide. Make sure you can hear the alarms and make sure they are in working order if you plan to leave him in the cabin alone while under power.
 
We rescued two golden retrievers. Great dogs. The first one was well-acclimated to the water. We could not keep him out once he discovered that he could jump into the water from the dock. Then he learned to dive in so that he could get more distance when retrieving. Second golden is defective. He won't go in the water at all. Both were ok on the boat. Neither liked when we're running.

Bring the dog to a beach. You'll find out pretty quickly if he like water. If he does, you should get a couple floating plastic retrieving toys.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Get a good brush and hand held vacuum........Keep nails as short as you can.......Just make sure you know how you are going to get dogs on board from the water......Once they adjust, it will be their boat......Have fun with them....
 
It also might help after she's been on board a few times at the dock to fire up the engines and let them run a bit at the dock with out leaving. This lets her feel the "vibrating" floor and hear the sounds of the engines for the first time without the added variables of a vessel in motion.
 
fc3 said:
We rescued two golden retrievers. Great dogs. The first one was well-acclimated to the water. We could not keep him out once he discovered that he could jump into the water from the dock. Then he learned to dive in so that he could get more distance when retrieving. Second golden is defective. He won't go in the water at all. Both were ok on the boat. Neither liked when we're running.

Bring the dog to a beach. You'll find out pretty quickly if he like water. If he does, you should get a couple floating plastic retrieving toys.

Best regards,
Frank
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My sister had a Golden, she passed away last year to cancer. But that dog did not like the water one bit. She would bring her on the boat and try to force the dog into the water. Not my idea at all, and I told her the dog is not going to be forced into being a swimmer.

Last summer she got a Golden Lab. As a pub we got her into the water early, and now we can’t keep her out. I don’t mind bringing the new pub on the boat now. I won’t be arguing with my sister about the dog going into the water.:thumbsup:

Good Idea about the "retrieving tools"
 
On the hair comment, +1, and get use to hair on the boat, lots of it, especially if he is stressed. Do whatever it takes to keep him from getting stressed...lots of great suggestions here on that.

Oh, and I found out how water repellent our canvas carpet runners are when we brought the new pup on the boat for the first time. She took a squat in front of the V Berth and it ran down to the back of the boat!
 
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Here are two of ours. Abby (brown lab) took to the boat and the water from day one. She can't get enough of either of them. Katie (black nut job) also loves both the boat and the water but took much longer than Abby to acclimate to all of it.
As Frank said let the dog learn at it's own pace. Get it a life jacket. We have a doggy ladder both dogs use. We'll float in the middle of the lake & throw frisbees, tennis balls etc. off the boat & the dogs will race to see which one can get to it first.
Another thing we did was buy a couple inexpensive rubber mats to throw over the transom to protect the gelcoat.

We picked up a starving boxer pup last fall on the golf course & he'll get his intro to the boat this spring.

Fyi.....The guy in the picture looks a lot like me but my gut isn't that big :lol:
 
"Fyi.....The guy in the picture looks a lot like me but my gut isn't that big :lol:"

Is that a bag of chips or doggy treats? ;-)

Don't say the word 'treat" around our house unless you want two pups following you around staring at you.

Anyone keep a cat on their boat? I was looking at some online pics of a boat for sale the other day and there was a litter box in the floor of the stand up shower.
 
My dog likes to ride in autos and took to the boat immediately. For him it's like FrankW said, he just wants to be where we are. He likes the water but only when he knows he can touch bottom. He'll lay on the swimplatform and drink and look at the water, then stick a paw in reaching down. When he can see bottom but not touch it I think it confuses him so he then backs away into the cockpit. You can't make them like the water.
 
avguy said:
100_0997.jpg


Here are two of ours. Abby (brown lab) took to the boat and the water from day one. She can't get enough of either of them. Katie (black nut job) also loves both the boat and the water but took much longer than Abby to acclimate to all of it.
As Frank said let the dog learn at it's own pace. Get it a life jacket. We have a doggy ladder both dogs use. We'll float in the middle of the lake & throw frisbees, tennis balls etc. off the boat & the dogs will race to see which one can get to it first.
Another thing we did was buy a couple inexpensive rubber mats to throw over the transom to protect the gelcoat.

We picked up a starving boxer pup last fall on the golf course & he'll get his intro to the boat this spring.

Fyi.....The guy in the picture looks a lot like me but my gut isn't that big :lol:
Click to expand...


Where did you get the ladder? I need to get one of those:thumbsup:
 
I grew up with springer spaniels, and we have two presently. My last springer was a duck/upland hunter that loved the water. My present two are a brother/sister that aren't so sure! They love the boat, but he doesn't want to swim much. Either will bust a partridge covey, but she's my duck hunter! No problem on the boat, but we use a vacuum for the hair!
 
Mine love the boat - have spent the night out with us as well. The biggest thing is trying to keep them from taking all of the seats! My Boxer loves the boat - and is learning to like the water. He usually wants to sit at the helm seat with me which really annoys my wife who had the requirement of a double helm seat in the boat. :grin: My wife's mutt loves the water and the boat but not the engines. But both get right on since they are with us and the kids.

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We also have a golden retriever who just loves the boat.

We also have a 340 (2006 Sundancer) - getting your dog used to getting on and off the boat is HUGE. At dock, make sure your swim platform can get as close as possible to the dock if possible (hopefully your platform is almost even with the dock). We have seen other dogs on our dock slip and fall in between the dock and the boat into the water. If the dog doesn't get hurt, he/she could get paranoid to get back on or off the boat again.
 
tdappleman said:
Mine love the boat - have spent the night out with us as well. The biggest thing is trying to keep them from taking all of the seats! My Boxer loves the boat - and is learning to like the water. He usually wants to sit at the helm seat with me which really annoys my wife who had the requirement of a double helm seat in the boat. :grin: My wife's mutt loves the water and the boat but not the engines. But both get right on since they are with us and the kids.

CIMG5981.jpg
Click to expand...

What is your boxer mixed with?? Pretty boy..
 
We cruise with 2 85 lb Rhodesian Ridgebacks That fall asleep as soon as we are under way. My wife says they love the boat because we can't get any farther away from them than 35'. But they hate the water. They are really good swimmers but they just don't like being wet. The up side is I don't have sloppy wet dogs on board.

My only advise is to get them life jackets. I can't tell you how many people tell us they had dogs drown.

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They get used to the jackets very quickly.
 
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