Dogs on C-Dorys

S

seabrook

New member
Hello C-Brats, we have been the proud owners of a new 22' cruiser :teeth since May 05. My wife and I have been enjoying cruising our local waters in the northern Georgia Straits of beautiful British Columbia. We have throughly enjoyed this C-Brat site it is an invaluable source of information and entertainment!!!
We wish to sign on a furry K9 companion to our ships crew :dog
Does anyone have any tips or recommendations for cruising with dogs i.e.
Embarking / disembarking no pun intended!! also the Poop deck issue!
Look forward to your sage advice.
 
Note sig below - Oscar is a fixture on Daydream, we just have to be sure we have a dinghy and plan to anchor where there is a public shoreline! I'm sure DoD Dan will have more sage pointers!


seabrook":2m9hmgwv said:
Hello C-Brats, we have been the proud owners of a new 22' cruiser :teeth since May 05. My wife and I have been enjoying cruising our local waters in the northern Georgia Straits of beautiful British Columbia. We have throughly enjoyed this C-Brat site it is an invaluable source of information and entertainment!!!
We wish to sign on a furry K9 companion to our ships crew :dog
Does anyone have any tips or recommendations for cruising with dogs i.e.
Embarking / disembarking no pun intended!! also the Poop deck issue!
Look forward to your sage advice.
Click to expand...
 
seabrook-

Lots of great advice already!

I'll add that if your dog is a new pup or young dog, it's nice to get them started with short trips early on so they'll get acustomed to the boat and it's demands, but even an older dog can become adjusted to the boat rather quickly.

Small dogs are easier to find space for on a C-Dory, but I've had a 150 lb Great Dane on board for years and we both loved it!

Don't know why they are so interested in the fish that come aboard, but they seem to want to sniff and bark at the hapless fish out of water and can add a lot of confusion to your fishing routines if not taught to stay out of the way somewhat.

Getting a really big dog in and out of the boat can be a problem. you may need to use a step stool, cooler, or ramp help them on and off the boat.

A ramp with floats on the outboard end can be used to help the dog on and off the boat for a swim during the summer. They are commercially available.

If your dog can't swim well, they also make life vests for dogs that they seem to adjust to very well.

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Shadow, my Great Dane 1995-2005***Misty,another Dane, at 5 weeks, the heir apparent!



Joe.
 

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We have just started traveling with our 2 labs. One is 6 yrs and 135 lbs, the other is 7 mos. and 55 lbs. They love the boat, but neither of them have experience around water so we got them float coats, which, as it turns out, was the best thing we could do. The first night on our trip Troy, our big lab, walked off the end of the dock. We couldn't have pulled him back up on the deck without the handle on the back. Then the last day of our trip, Belle got in the transom well and fell out of the boat when we powered up. Neither one of us saw her until we were about 100 yards out and noticed she was gone. Thanks to her float coat, we were able to see her as she was paddling to shore. We got back to her and were able to get her back in the boat by grabbing the handle. (My crab pot maneuvering sure came in handy for that.) We were in Astoria at the time and the water was only 45 degrees.

As for living with dogs on boats, we did have to step over them, but they did great and it was better than leaving them at a kennel. We have also thought about getting a swim step as that is the only way I can see getting them in/out of a dinghy. Keep lots of towels and extra blankets on board for clean up.

Troy_Belle_on_Boat.jpg
 
A dingy to make the transfer to shore is obviously the normal option for moving a dog to a "clean out" environment. However necessary the dingy is, another option is really cool. Handle the dog to the shore. This would obviously be easier with a trained retriever that has already been taught to
do blind retrieves. You'd have to substitute the words "clean out" for "dead bird" and make sure he understands the subtle differences. Also, better have a pocket full of treats to reward him for a job well done......if he gets
the job done.

The above is recommended only for special circumstances, special dogs, and weird owners/handlers.
 
I was thinking that maybe during his spare time after things warmed up a little DoD Dan could experiment with growing some nice grass up on the bow deck. I can think of several advantages, portable putting green, dawg walking, growing night crawlers etc.
 
Years ago in the Keys, I met a cruising couple from Ohio who would trailer their 26 foot sailboat to Marathon evry winter for three months.

They had two small muuts on board who did their business in a four foot square of Ohio dirt and grass that was secured on the fore deck.

It sure saved on trips to shore. I'm sorry that we can't convince our Airedales to do the same.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Years ago in the Keys, I met a cruising couple from Ohio who would trailer their 26 foot sailboat to Marathon evry winter for three months.

They had two small dogs on board who did their business in a four foot square of Ohio dirt and grass that was secured on the fore deck.

It sure saved on trips to shore. I'm sorry that we can't convince our Airedales to do the same.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Thanks everyone for your excellent advice and suggestions. We will post a photo album when we adopt our new shipmate.
Ron & Linda Seabrook
 
If it is imperative that your 4 legged friend has to do pump-out and you can not go ashore he/she will resist going on the bow of the boat since they have been trained not to. Our family veterianian suggest mimicking the routine you usually use to take the dog out. For us it means getting the leash just like your going ashore but you walk him to the front of the boat and hopefully he goes for it. Worked for us anyway. Get ready with the paper towels as the yellow creek flows down the sides of the deck. Enjoy!
 
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