Dogs onboard boats/yachts?

Hi Ben,

Short of Astro's dogwalk on the Jetsons, I'm not sure if "doggy-litter" is up to snuff yet. In the meantime, here's an Astro-Turf solution...

http://www.cosmopolitancanine.com/

We had a thread about cats on boats some time ago too...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/technical-discussion/3737-animals-yachts.html

I have seen something similar on a mega yacht. The owners were doing around the world and they had their dogs with them. I spoke to a crew member and he said it worked like a charm. It was a bit smaller.

Back in the late '90s, I had the mixed-pleasure of dealing with an American-owned 150ft yacht whilst she was in Cannes. On my way to the wheelhouse via the interior (one of the most ornate I've ever been aboard - there is no other word better to describe the "cacaphony of interior-design influences" that reigned aboard), I was greeted at the door into the wheelhouse by a "very friendly and eager to meet me" Scottish terrier, immediately followed by the over-whelming stench of dog-**** (visually confirmed by at least 2 piles of the stuff on the wheelhouse carpet), followed by the Scandinavian skipper welcoming me aboard. Apparently, this owner's pooch remained aboard 100% of the time, awaiting the periods when its owner used the yacht. Seemingly, the poor thing was not house-trained or even yacht-trained (or perhaps the correct facilities had never been envisaged...?) and was restricted to the wheelhouse only, at least in the absence of the owner. This must be one of the most saddening experiences I've had aboard any yacht - a lovely little dog, whose existence depended on "it" being available for the pleasure of the owner when they were aboard, otherwise confined to a limited space for long periods. The skipper later explained to me that it was upon the strict instructions of the owner that the dog was confined to the wheelhouse when they were away. Otherwise, the crew would have loved to take it out for walkies whenever possible. Over-protection, animal cruelty and/or just plain selfishness on the part of this owner?

PS. Most of the old crew left within a few months after departing Cannes. The yacht itself was "arrested" in the Canaries that winter as a result of important amounts left outstanding to various suppliers of equipment and services to the yacht whilst she was in the Med (not us). I don't know what happened to the dog and I although I did see the yacht once again in Cannes about 3 or 4 years ago, I could not persuade myself to stop and say hello...

I have had a number of owners that wanted their dogs onboard for extensive cruising. In the past they trained them to use a bit of Astro turf (not nearly as nice as the system posted)
On the new builds what I came up with was a doggy toilet on the boat deck.
It was a stainless steel insert in the deck with a stainless rim on it, there were two over sized drain holes in it and a hot and cold water tap by it.
You put the turf in and they did there thing. Depending on the out come (sorry about that) you could flip it over the side or just rinse it down the drains, they were direct over board drains, not sure how this is effected by zero discharge rules, I will have to look into that, might need to send it to the black tank in the future.

All the owners reported that the dogs were very easy to train to use it.
I am pro dogs on boats in general but you need to make is easy on them and you (crew) so all are happy.

Reviving this thread for a possible new addition to the YF staff. I'm on a short list for a Golden Retreiver. Pups are about 10 days old now and I'm wondering if I'm too old to do this. No need to ask my age, but I remember when Baskin-Robbins had three flavors!

It's been 30 years since I've had a roommate that wags. For those of you who have dogs, would you do it all over again?

Yes!
We would do it all over again, except that my wife felt the loss of our dog too much to replace this year. For 16 years our dog was a true member of our family. Every holiday on the boat (at least 2 long trips a year) involved taking her along. She moved on this year and we missed her terribly.
Go for it Carl!

When we were younger, land locked, we were brought up with dawgs. We loved them. Still enjoy playing with other owners puppies (grand folks plan, they take them home).

Dawg on our boat, Ugh.

Kats on the other hand, are more worthless.
But we are brain damaged and serve them anyway.
We had a pride of 4 thru our many trips thru the Bahamas. Never a problem.
They are entertaining and require no beach walks a few times a day. This year we were down to 2 (old age catches everything).
Josie found a yard kitten. Different from all others, she keeps falling in the river,,, dock side.

We may be back to two, Gators, turtles and sharks like light meat.

Oh, we ALL live on our boat.

For those that have followed, That big orange bait stealing thing is still with us. Still on patrol. Our security kat.

Go for it Carl - Absolutely. Which of course is easy for me to say because I won't be the full time personal assistant. You will. LOL.

I still miss my Black Lab but I haven't done it again. The loss was difficult for me also. But while I don't miss the dog hair, lifestyle adjustments, or vet bills, it's hard to beat hanging out with a furry best friend who's always happy and thinks you're the greatest thing ever.

That's why we spoil other folks dawgies. They see us coming down the dock. Tails a wagging.
They are great.

I grew up with dogs and cats, have not had a dog for many years but plan on getting two of them when I stop work so they can chase two unwanted visitors at a time.

A golden Retriever is one of the best large dog breeds for non-protection type dogs. They're loyal, good mannerisms, easy going, etc. I have a 85lb Rottweiler, who costs me a fortune with all of the kennel stays when I'm delivering yachts. It honestly is a lot of work and commitment between feeding and water (easy) but always coming home to let them out, etc. etc. Cleaning up the dog hair is the biggie......but I love my dog.

Outstanding plan.

No truer words ever posted! I once saw a bumper sticker... "I hope to be half the human my dog thinks I am".

As Mark Twain put it, " the more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."

Amen.

I loved my animal as if it were a child, and have been heartbroken to this day that she passed at the very elderly age of over 20 years old. I raised her from a pup, and she was part of my life from grammar school up through University and then some.

I never took her out on a yacht, but I did take her out on the fishing boat a few times, and obviously never took her sailing on any of the lasers, Hobies, or lanteen one-man boats.

I don't know if I'd do it again. An animal is like having a perpetual child, but one that doesn't total your car nor demand extravagant gifts and college tuition. I miss her sorely, and think about her a good deal. A very gentle and loving soul ... except for the mailman and the UPS guy.

If I had the money, then maybe. But taking a dog on large yacht? If it knew how and where to relieve itself, and it didn't put stress on the crew, then sure. But my gut tells me that unless I owned the boat, and paid the crew extra, that it would be a bit of a hassle.

I love dogs. But I'm not sure ow dogs and yachts of any size mix.

I did a 6 week charter on a large sailboat with a Siberian Husky as one of the guests, never again.

I am just about to embark on a trip that will take approx 24 hrs driving in each direction on the return I will be carrying a dog which may include two nights enroute in the cab of a large truck that does not have a sleeper cab but has two drivers then one night on a ferry .

He likes to be close to people at night so this is probably a whole new level for him and my assistant.

I am sure there will be some discussion over who has released the gas.

A couple who are friends of mine had a boat.
She wanted a dog.
He did not want the hassle of rowing the dog to shore for necessities.
She found a dog that was trainable to Astro-Turf.
He was skeptical.
She bought a Papillon puppy
Papillon did no read the training manual.
Papillon refused any idea that was not Earth or beach under foot.
He refused to walk her dog but bought her a nice, inflatable, canoe.
I wish I had videos of the late evening cruises to shore.
Could have been the alcohol, but it was really funny to watch, or listen to at night !
They sold the boat.

She won.

My 80 pound pup just turned 13 months when it was time to do the trip from NY to Fl at the end of October. Prior to the journey he was never asked to go more than four or five hours without relieving himself so we weren't sure how it would go with a couple of eight to ten hour days ahead of us, some of them inevitably less than smooth offshore. But he took to it like a champ, even when the stabilizers went out for about an hour in a decent sized beam sea off the coast of NJ. He even quickly became accustomed to the morning routine knowing that the sound of the generators starting meant it was time to go, even though it wasn't quite light out, and that he wouldn't have a lot of time to empty his system as completely as possible. It was quite cool to watch him adapt.

Unfortunately, as sweet as my guy is, Rudder at Coinjock made it clear that he was the boss there.