We rescued a Mexican puppy and took her aboard "just for one night honey, I promise " and had her for 12 years, most of those years aboard our 26 foot sloop. She definitely prevented troubles in Central America in 1990 as we were just about the only boat not to have items pilfered. Our latest dog was with us 12 years. We just lost her a few months ago. We miss her!
My former Golden loved getting underway. My current McNab only tolerates it. He doesn’t like getting wet so I named him Bos’n. (In my former career the Bos’n was usually mugging up in the pilot house—I was the one in the water).
Our 12# Havanese/Poodle goes with us most times when canoeing as well as sailing on our Hobie Tandem Island on the local lakes in the Minneapolis area, she enjoys being out on the tramps on the Hobie.
We used to bring our Cairn Terrier cruising with us, but she was so dumb about water. She would walk out on the bow sprit, snif the air, and leap into the water!
I have sailed with our prior Rat Terrier mix a number of time on our WWP 15, and we often cruised for a week or two on our Nimble 24 with her. Looking forward to taking our present Rat Terrier mix (looks and behaves as if he has a lot of Basenji in him!) Looking forward to sailing with him in the future. But I hold out no hope for him to leap into the water like a Lab or a Golden ~ Rat Terriers seem to like to drink water but don’t seem to enjoy a swim, even in hot weather.
We have sailed our Rozinante (Evangeline) with Portuguese water dogs for close to 40 years.
First one , then two, then three, then back down to our last one now. Never a problem, they all had their own favorite places when heeled and at anchor. What it did was determine our cruising path so we could anchor near BC Gulf islands where they could have a swim and a good hike/run. Terrific boat dogs ! Only limitation was to have to take a couple of trips in our pram rowing them to shore and back.
Reminds me of a story I heard from folks who spent the summer on their bigger cruising boat ~ in one sheltered harbor another big boat arrived, and after anchoring, they put down a stepped swim ladder. They then coaxed their Lab up onto the cockpit seat and said to the dog, “Go do your business!” The dog promptly leapt over the side, swam to shore, ‘did his business,’ swam back, and climbed the ladder back onto the boat. That’s what I call cruising with a good dog!
Skipper and I have never owned a dog together. This is a topic of much discussion for us. We cruise (in a not-so-small boat) short-handed, keen to avoid the distraction of extra crew. We mostly overnight at anchor, not keen on going ashore. We'd like to hear options. Training dogs to pee and poop on board? Washington State Parks now have roving pump-out boats. How about dog-walking businesses afloat? Cat stories would also be welcome. Thanks.
So easy to train them to use a piece of turf up forward on deck. Our latest dog learned it in a day. She was always happy to go to shore but never whined to go. She could tell by our preparations whether we were going to shore or not.
My cats are indoor only and getting up in years, not worth the risk. But if I ever choose to add a dog to the family, it’s going to be a sailing dog for sure!
Our Dachshund, Max the Mariner, used to accompany us on B.E.E.R. (Backwater Environmental Escape Rendezvous) cruises aboard our 18' Windrose and had no problems, sleeping through even small craft warning conditions.
Cruised 2 winters in the Bahamas with a Golden. Such sweet dogs! First year was on a COM-PAC 23. Biggest issue was size … far too hard to get off onto a dock at low tide. She was 76lbs and simply too heavy to safely lift up onto the docks off a dinghy at low tide. A small dog would be a breeze.
When we had our Paceship 20 we used it as our commuter boat to our Georgian Bay cottage. Our standard manifest included two girls, two cats and a dog. We did more motoring than sailing with that configuration, putting the girls to bed as we left the harbour because it would be well after their bedtime before we docked. Well after dark, too.
I sailed with 3 small dogs on my 34 footer and I will never sail with dogs again.
We rescued a Mexican puppy and took her aboard "just for one night honey, I promise " and had her for 12 years, most of those years aboard our 26 foot sloop. She definitely prevented troubles in Central America in 1990 as we were just about the only boat not to have items pilfered. Our latest dog was with us 12 years. We just lost her a few months ago. We miss her!
My former Golden loved getting underway. My current McNab only tolerates it. He doesn’t like getting wet so I named him Bos’n. (In my former career the Bos’n was usually mugging up in the pilot house—I was the one in the water).
Our 12# Havanese/Poodle goes with us most times when canoeing as well as sailing on our Hobie Tandem Island on the local lakes in the Minneapolis area, she enjoys being out on the tramps on the Hobie.
We used to bring our Cairn Terrier cruising with us, but she was so dumb about water. She would walk out on the bow sprit, snif the air, and leap into the water!
I have sailed with our prior Rat Terrier mix a number of time on our WWP 15, and we often cruised for a week or two on our Nimble 24 with her. Looking forward to taking our present Rat Terrier mix (looks and behaves as if he has a lot of Basenji in him!) Looking forward to sailing with him in the future. But I hold out no hope for him to leap into the water like a Lab or a Golden ~ Rat Terriers seem to like to drink water but don’t seem to enjoy a swim, even in hot weather.
Our dog crew members wereboth the same way, not interested in jumping in the water and we've always been extremely happy about that!
We have sailed our Rozinante (Evangeline) with Portuguese water dogs for close to 40 years.
First one , then two, then three, then back down to our last one now. Never a problem, they all had their own favorite places when heeled and at anchor. What it did was determine our cruising path so we could anchor near BC Gulf islands where they could have a swim and a good hike/run. Terrific boat dogs ! Only limitation was to have to take a couple of trips in our pram rowing them to shore and back.
Reminds me of a story I heard from folks who spent the summer on their bigger cruising boat ~ in one sheltered harbor another big boat arrived, and after anchoring, they put down a stepped swim ladder. They then coaxed their Lab up onto the cockpit seat and said to the dog, “Go do your business!” The dog promptly leapt over the side, swam to shore, ‘did his business,’ swam back, and climbed the ladder back onto the boat. That’s what I call cruising with a good dog!
Skipper and I have never owned a dog together. This is a topic of much discussion for us. We cruise (in a not-so-small boat) short-handed, keen to avoid the distraction of extra crew. We mostly overnight at anchor, not keen on going ashore. We'd like to hear options. Training dogs to pee and poop on board? Washington State Parks now have roving pump-out boats. How about dog-walking businesses afloat? Cat stories would also be welcome. Thanks.
So easy to train them to use a piece of turf up forward on deck. Our latest dog learned it in a day. She was always happy to go to shore but never whined to go. She could tell by our preparations whether we were going to shore or not.
I’ve heard of cruisers just tying a line to the carpet and towing it for a while for washing.
Every Lab I've owned (4) would rather be in the water and not on the water. Almost swamped my canoe on a short January day trip.
We always take our Airedale terrier sailing with us.
I had two cats living aboard with me.
My cats are indoor only and getting up in years, not worth the risk. But if I ever choose to add a dog to the family, it’s going to be a sailing dog for sure!
Our Dachshund, Max the Mariner, used to accompany us on B.E.E.R. (Backwater Environmental Escape Rendezvous) cruises aboard our 18' Windrose and had no problems, sleeping through even small craft warning conditions.
Cruised 2 winters in the Bahamas with a Golden. Such sweet dogs! First year was on a COM-PAC 23. Biggest issue was size … far too hard to get off onto a dock at low tide. She was 76lbs and simply too heavy to safely lift up onto the docks off a dinghy at low tide. A small dog would be a breeze.
When we had our Paceship 20 we used it as our commuter boat to our Georgian Bay cottage. Our standard manifest included two girls, two cats and a dog. We did more motoring than sailing with that configuration, putting the girls to bed as we left the harbour because it would be well after their bedtime before we docked. Well after dark, too.
Only Stuffed Animal Buddies (!)