Hi, We will be traveling by sailboat for the first time this summer with our new dog (older puppy, actually). Any suggestions on how to "boatbreak" her? We won't always be able to get her to land to relieve herself....any suggestions about how others solve this challenge?? Thanks to all!
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FUNNY STORY
Glen and Linda: While probably not applicable to your case, here is a funny story about sailing with a dog. A number of years ago we decided to do a cruise from Norfolk to Ocrocoke Isl in N.C. (outer banks) and back with an offshore sail northbound around Cape Hatteras. One of the three boats had a dog, boat trained. Unfortunately, that training was a bad thing while offshore since we all knew that "Scuppers" would be miserable during the 36 hour passage. The owners tried everything they (and the rest of us) could think of to get Scuppers to do his business aboard during the ICW portion of the week long trip. They even bought a small artificial palm tree (shades of Mr. Roberts!) and a plastic fire hydrant to induce the dog to "go" aboard in the cockpit (bucket of water nearby). All efforts were unsuccessful. Finally, after offshore for almost 24 hours we received an excited call from the couple. "She did it, she did it" they exclaimed. Of course, the rest of us were curious as to what finally got Scuppers to pee on board. Their reply was simple. After watching the dog sit in agony for hours on end, the (male) owner simply went to the palm tree and provided a practical demonstration on what the thing was there for! Within seconds Scuppers got the hint and was soon greatly "relieved." The rest of the sail was uneventful but we all had (have) a great story to tell! As for boat-breaking your dog, just remember that any house broken dog will not want to "soil" his home, wherever that may be and as long as you provide ample opportunity for shore liberty, you'll probably not have any problem....that is until you go offshore and forget to bring along a fake tree and some astroturf! Smooth sailing! Tim Leighton (S/V "Magic")
Glen and Linda: While probably not applicable to your case, here is a funny story about sailing with a dog. A number of years ago we decided to do a cruise from Norfolk to Ocrocoke Isl in N.C. (outer banks) and back with an offshore sail northbound around Cape Hatteras. One of the three boats had a dog, boat trained. Unfortunately, that training was a bad thing while offshore since we all knew that "Scuppers" would be miserable during the 36 hour passage. The owners tried everything they (and the rest of us) could think of to get Scuppers to do his business aboard during the ICW portion of the week long trip. They even bought a small artificial palm tree (shades of Mr. Roberts!) and a plastic fire hydrant to induce the dog to "go" aboard in the cockpit (bucket of water nearby). All efforts were unsuccessful. Finally, after offshore for almost 24 hours we received an excited call from the couple. "She did it, she did it" they exclaimed. Of course, the rest of us were curious as to what finally got Scuppers to pee on board. Their reply was simple. After watching the dog sit in agony for hours on end, the (male) owner simply went to the palm tree and provided a practical demonstration on what the thing was there for! Within seconds Scuppers got the hint and was soon greatly "relieved." The rest of the sail was uneventful but we all had (have) a great story to tell! As for boat-breaking your dog, just remember that any house broken dog will not want to "soil" his home, wherever that may be and as long as you provide ample opportunity for shore liberty, you'll probably not have any problem....that is until you go offshore and forget to bring along a fake tree and some astroturf! Smooth sailing! Tim Leighton (S/V "Magic")
Another Funny Story
We were anchored out for the first time with our border collie who was about 5 mo old at the time. She was whining and I assumed that she could hear the dogs that were barking on the beach so I encouraged her to jump into the v-berth so she could stick her head out the hatch. She immediately jumped into the v-berth, squatted and peed with a look on her face that said "thanks for letting me know where to pee". I guess timing is everything. I wish I could say that we later trained her to a piece of astroturf or something, but it's just been dinghy trips to shore since then.
We were anchored out for the first time with our border collie who was about 5 mo old at the time. She was whining and I assumed that she could hear the dogs that were barking on the beach so I encouraged her to jump into the v-berth so she could stick her head out the hatch. She immediately jumped into the v-berth, squatted and peed with a look on her face that said "thanks for letting me know where to pee". I guess timing is everything. I wish I could say that we later trained her to a piece of astroturf or something, but it's just been dinghy trips to shore since then.
It depends on the size
We originally house trained our poodle toy, Jimmy using the pet store disposable “underpaths” scented with dog pee smell. Later we found out that we could buy the same product (without the scent) in Walgreens for one tenth of the price. The first time we took Jimmy cruising in our Beneteau 361, we placed the underpath on the floor of the head and after a few ours he remembered its use for wet stuff. Using it with solid stuff was much harder and it took a couple of days to happen. I gess he finally lost space in his belly and Mother Nature intervened. One little detail became clear to us: even if he only uses a small corner and it gets dry, a completely new and dry underpath is required by Jimmy to poo as he has to make several circles around the selected spot and he hates to step on its own stuff. As you can imagine, this solution is only viable with a small dog. We met a couple in Miami that traveled with a full size puddle in their 45 cruising boat Lady Anne. They kept a pad of artificial turf in the boat’s bow which the dog used to relief himself. They told us that the residue was readily washed away using their anchor washing hose. Good luck
We originally house trained our poodle toy, Jimmy using the pet store disposable “underpaths” scented with dog pee smell. Later we found out that we could buy the same product (without the scent) in Walgreens for one tenth of the price. The first time we took Jimmy cruising in our Beneteau 361, we placed the underpath on the floor of the head and after a few ours he remembered its use for wet stuff. Using it with solid stuff was much harder and it took a couple of days to happen. I gess he finally lost space in his belly and Mother Nature intervened. One little detail became clear to us: even if he only uses a small corner and it gets dry, a completely new and dry underpath is required by Jimmy to poo as he has to make several circles around the selected spot and he hates to step on its own stuff. As you can imagine, this solution is only viable with a small dog. We met a couple in Miami that traveled with a full size puddle in their 45 cruising boat Lady Anne. They kept a pad of artificial turf in the boat’s bow which the dog used to relief himself. They told us that the residue was readily washed away using their anchor washing hose. Good luck
It depends on the size (edited)
We originally house trained our poodle toy, Jimmy using pet store disposable “underpaths”, sold scented with dog pee smell. Later we found out that we could buy the same product (without the scent) in Walgreens for one tenth of the price that worked equally well. The first time we took Jimmy cruising in our Beneteau 361, we placed the underpath on the head’s floor and after a few hours he remembered its use for wet stuff. Using it with solid stuff was much harder and it took a couple of days to happen. I guess he finally lost space in his belly and Mother Nature intervened. One little detail became clear to us: even if he only uses a small corner, a completely new and dry underpath is required by Jimmy to poop as he has to make several circles around the selected spot and he hates to step on its own stuff. As you can imagine, this solution is only viable with a small dog. We met a couple living aboard in Miami that traveled with a full size poodle in their 45 cruising boat Lady Anne. They kept a pad of artificial turf in the boat’s bow, which the dog used to relief himself. They told us that the residue was readily washed away using their anchor washing hose. Good luck
We originally house trained our poodle toy, Jimmy using pet store disposable “underpaths”, sold scented with dog pee smell. Later we found out that we could buy the same product (without the scent) in Walgreens for one tenth of the price that worked equally well. The first time we took Jimmy cruising in our Beneteau 361, we placed the underpath on the head’s floor and after a few hours he remembered its use for wet stuff. Using it with solid stuff was much harder and it took a couple of days to happen. I guess he finally lost space in his belly and Mother Nature intervened. One little detail became clear to us: even if he only uses a small corner, a completely new and dry underpath is required by Jimmy to poop as he has to make several circles around the selected spot and he hates to step on its own stuff. As you can imagine, this solution is only viable with a small dog. We met a couple living aboard in Miami that traveled with a full size poodle in their 45 cruising boat Lady Anne. They kept a pad of artificial turf in the boat’s bow, which the dog used to relief himself. They told us that the residue was readily washed away using their anchor washing hose. Good luck
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