Sea Dogs

[Janice Collins]

I'm pretty close to getting a dog. I don't want a little yipper, but am concerned about a larger dog on board this little boat.
Steve, you sail with your dog?
Can larger dogs get down that companionway on their own?
I know I don't want to have the dog dependent on me getting it up and down into the cabin.

:cool:

[Mike Goodwin]

I had a friend that lived aboard with a Basset Hound , the dog could climb an eight foot ladder up or down and did so when the boat was on the hill for repairs . I was on the hill next to them and the dog kept barking at me . I asked Tom what was his problem , he said Fred wanted to look at my boat . So I out an 8' ladder up to the rail and up Fred went , looked around for about 15 minutes and then climbed back down .
A word of caution , salt water and dog hair ( or any hair ) get real funky smelly .

[Janice Collins]

Where does Lance go during a rough sail? Down below?

No problem finding anchorages here to take the dog to shore. There are endless beaches, bays, cays...
The only problem taking the dog to shore might be in the National Park, but I avoid those because they are too crowded .

That had to have been a sight, that Basset Hound climbing uo and down the ladder. I don't think the smelly hair would bother me, maybe the shedding would though....I wonder if they make a dog that doesn't shed much?

:cool:

[Janice Collins]

Why did you sail a lot more before you got Lance? Does he seem to enjoy his sails or does it appear that he just puts up with it because he has to. I notice Lance is lounging on terra firma rather than in the boat.

Nice job on the weather cloth.

When I moved onboard Wayward Star, my 17 year old Siamese Cat did too. I know he would have rather been lounging back in Ct., resting on his well deserved laurels, instead of sailing the ocean blue.

I had visions of him lounging in the sun, eating the local fish, and talking walks with me ashore. Instead, he took on Draculan qualities, only coming out after the sun went down and prowled about until dawn. He wouldn't touch any fish, just longed for and cried for his name brand canned food you couldn't find anywhere here. And on his one and only trip to shore , he got fleas and worms and the waves scared him so.
And he was never the same after his first hurricane.
But, on a good day, sailing downwind, he would hold his head up high , and I swear he had a gleam in his eye!
The only thing that was a drag was the kitty litter scene. I won't do that again.

Seems like the majority of liveaboards here have cats and/ or dogs.

:cool:

[Mike Goodwin]

Most of the liveaboad pets I have known started living aboard as puppies or kittens and I think they needed that conditioning to the sea at the early age . My old dog (13) , wont even walk down the dock anymore . She never liked boats to start with and hates getting wet , but she was a rescue pup from the pound and just over a year old when I got her . The dog before her would go over the side after a duck or fish that got too close to the boat , try getting a 90 lb. dog back aboard a moving sailboat .
I know a dog that craps on a 2x3' piece of Astro turf laid out on deck , he was born on a boat. I have also heard tales of lots of cats that jumped ship the first chance they got , my neighborhood is full of them .
An African Gray parrot makes a good small boat pet , I know 3 that live aboard now .

[commanderpete]

Lance keeps a close watch over the BBQ grill and galley.

Good boy.

[Janice Collins]

That picture of Lance is too much! A couple more photos like that and Humane Society, here I come.

:cool:

[Janice Collins]

Look at that face, you could never part with him. Who you trying to kid?
You're lucky he doesn't like the heat or else I just might call your bluff.

These photos of Lance on the boat are precious. Thanks for making me smile.

[French]

Having a dog on aboard is great . The problem comes when they get old. I had a 90 lb Akita, her rear legs started going out. Try lifting a 90 lb dog on and off, up and down because they can not move themselves around or even get up well for that matter.. :-(

Not fun, the sad part of a dog in the family...

[dasein668]

We have a Triton, which is a little bigger, but we sail with our 50 pound Border Collie, Bailey. It's great. Attached are a few pictures from our Memorial Day Weekend cruise. He's a real trooper. He has dinghy anxiety--that is, he can't stand it if someone gets in the dinghy without him--but other than that he's pretty good.

He needs to go ashore first thing in the morning, and again by dinner time. But that's great, because it forces us to go explore when sometimes we might just hang out like lazy slugs on the boat. We haven't, yet, had a problem finding a place that he can go ashore, so that's been good.

He really hasn't stopped us from sailing at all. We've put in about 35 days on the water since May 16, which is basically every decent day we've had, with few exceptions.

Living aboard might be a bit different though, just because it becomes such a small amoutn of space (I'm thinking more about the mental and physical health of the dog than about us humans....) but if the dog can get to a place where he/she can really stretch out and RUN frequently, it might work out.

Start 'em as a puppy though. Bailey is four, and this is our first boat. He has been on sailboats several times prior however, and I think this has helped him adjust. The first few sails were tough, as he was anxious when the boat heeled, but he really seems to be getting the hang of it now. This past weekend, he and I were out for a sail and as we beat to weather, with the rail in the water, he went below and took a nap....

[Janice Collins]

Went to the Humane Society looking for my companion...there were too many pitt bulls and pitt bull mixes. So a friend gave me his dog.......Spike will have to do until next visit to the Humane Society....

[Mike Goodwin]

At least he is easy to clean up after .

[Tony G]

Janice
Spike is a fine looking dog. Even with that double coat you'll NEVER have to brush him. you can even was him with a rag! that's fantastic! Keep looking, comanions with that much loyalty are hard to find but it'll happen.

[Theis]

Back in the '70s we took our black, 125 lb Newfoundland dog, Daisy, with us. I can't tell you how we did it, but we did. The dog stayed in the cockpit day and night, except, of course when walking around in port.

Funny story we still laugh about. We were rafted out with several other boats with Daisy asleep in the cockpit late one evening. Along comes this guy, perhaps a bit under the weather, crossing from one boat to another to reach his boat at the end of the raft. He was jumping across our cockpit and, looking down, saw this big black mouth angled up towards him. Thinking it was a bear, he hastily jumped/fell overboard. We had a few laughs. I don't know if a wayward sailor would react the same way to a border collie.