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Dogs on boats


malibanker

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I'm sure many of you are like my wife and I and treat your dogs like, or better than, actual family. We adopted Bower a year and a half ago and I finally understand the obsession people have with their pets. I'm starting this thread for members to post advise and tips on safety, funny stories, and lessons learned when bringing the dogs along for a day on the lake.

I assume a life jacket is a must for the dog, especially one with a handle on the back so you can get them out of the water easier. What solutions do u have for bathroom breaks, dogs overboard, scratching the vinly and having a good time?

iPhone browser won't let me search this site so I appologize in advance if this has been done before.

Our lesson learned/funny story: I was slowly towing the boat from the ramp to the boat stall maybe 100 yards away, Bower and the wife were in the bow of te boat when he decided it was time to be on the ground again. Luckily I was driving extremely slow and watching them in the mirror so I was able to stop in plenty of time. I guess he underestimated the height because he landed on his side and was a little stunned. Everything checked out fine and he was right back to his normal mood.

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We take our 3 dogs out on the boat occasionally. We make a point to keep their claws trimmed down. And I like to not allow them to swim & be on the boat. Obviously that doesn't happen everytime. It makes a royal mess of things.

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What breed is your dog??

Our dog is an Australian Sheppard with fine, long hair. This causes a lot of vacuuming to keep the carpet in decent shape.

Also keep the nails clipped. Easier on the vinyl that way. We don't use a life jacket, but many people do.

For the bathroom breaks, I would recommend getting your dog on a schedule at home, and then sticking to that schedule on the lake. We spend the night at the lake, so our dogs schedule is 7am, noon, 5-6 pm and 10pm. During the winter, we take normal walks around the marina. During the summer, she will often swim to shore and do her business there.

Just about the best thing in the world, as far as my dog is concerned, is to go for a ride on the boat. Here's a picture of her in the bow as we're cruising across the lake.

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Edited by vlxjeff
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What kind of dog is he? I've never met a dog that couldn't swim, and we've never had life jackets for them. Never underestimate their abilities as far as toughness and stamina. You have to remember, they're not people and will not ask for help, their natural survival instinct is very strong. You have less to worry about than you seem to be concerned with. Like Bill said, be more concerned about how they will affect the boat than vice versa. We've always had medium sized dogs (goldens) and they were always welcome on the boats.

I could tell stories about them for days, but here are some about toughness.

Scotch (on the Rocks)--7 year old golden at the time. Walked out on the ice 30 feet from shore with the middle of the lake open water. Broke through and couldn't get back up on the ice because it kept breaking. Luckily we saw it happen. But, it took us 10-15 minutes to make a plan, get the row boat unlocked from the tree, drag it out of the snow, tie a rope to a tree, the boat, and ourselves, and push it out on the thin ice to the open water. Poor guy was flopping and splashing around in the water the whole time trying to get out. My brother and I pushed the boat out there while my dad stayed on shore to pull anybody or everybody back to shore should we fall in or successfully rescue our friend. When we got there he was panicked and wide-eyed, but we both grabbed him and hauled him in. What do you suppose he did after we got to shore and hugged him like there was no tomorrow? He went back on the ice to get his stick that he dropped close to shore.

Buck(skin Brandy)--3 year old golden. Chasing a stick thrown off the deck 10 feet off the ground jumped through a section of railing that was missing for repair. Landed on the ground and all four feet flew straight outwards, resulting in his chest landing nearly full force on the patio blocks. We could hear the wind escape his body as it happened and expected the worst. He never missed a beat and jumped up to get his stick. Then promptly came back up on the deck and dropped it to be thrown again.

And our last guy Kuda (Kahlua) used to love riding the "surfboard" with us. It's basically a 3foot by 5foot piece of plywood with one end rounded and a rope attached. It has a rubber pad on the back for standing on and you tow it at about 5-7 miles per hour. He would always jump on that thing before we could even get the boat started.

BTW Bill and Jeff, beautiful dogs.

Edited by jk13
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Good stuff, jk13...... but I have to tell ya, we're gonna need a picture of Kuda the surfin dog! :rockon:

BTW, dog life preservers. Two of our dogs are part border collie & swim like fish. Jesse will jump off the dock over & over & over. Frankie loves to swim laps around the docks (about 100' long each way). In the summer he will do 5 or 6 laps every night before he's ready to go home. The problem with dogs like that is that they are very confident about their swimming.... and they will swim anywhere to chase a duck or whatever. I've had to scrounge up a canoe or row boat a couple of times to go get them. And these are dogs who are typically very good about minding when we call them. Something about the water or the moment that distracts them. Hopefully if they swim out too far & get tired, maybe they won't drown if their wearing a vest.

JesseFrankie-1.jpg

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jk13, your stories of your goldens reminded me of some friends at the lake, who had a golden. Our friends had a houseboat at the time and their golden was there every time they came to the lake. The funny (odd) thing that this dog did was when the dog had to go pee, they had to let this dog out on shore. The dog would then run into the water and squat in about two feet of water to pee. I guess at home she went like every other dog in the yard, but at the lake she would only pee in the water. Craziest thing!

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Ohh another thing to consider on the boat is to give your dog some shade. Keep the bimini up during the summer. They get pretty hot and you might not for whatever reason be able to let your dog swim to cool off.

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We got bower from the pound so this xmas Sarah bought me the dog DNA test kit. After a cotton shwab of the mouth we waited two weeks and couldn't beleive parts of the results:

50-75% German shepherd

10-20% chow

10-20% parson terrier

5-10% collie

5-10% russell terrier

def the the best dog we could ever ask for. We took him swimming in the pool a couple of times but he would freak out and scratched me so bad a few times that we gave up. We've progressively thrown sticks into ponds and he'll eventuly take the bait and swim out but he's still super timid. Hates bath/ shower time... But loves chasing birds and is great to hunt with so I figure it's only a matter of more exposure to water to get him over the fear.

I'll post a pic wednesday when I'm back in the office, it doest look like it's working from the cell

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I like the idea of not letting them swim and then get on the boat, bound to make even more of a mess. He already sheds enough to make a small kitten on a daily basis

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I'm sure many of you are like my wife and I and treat your dogs like, or better than, actual family. We adopted Bower a year and a half ago and I finally understand the obsession people have with their pets. I'm starting this thread for members to post advise and tips on safety, funny stories, and lessons learned when bringing the dogs along for a day on the lake.

I assume a life jacket is a must for the dog, especially one with a handle on the back so you can get them out of the water easier. What solutions do u have for bathroom breaks, dogs overboard, scratching the vinly and having a good time?

iPhone browser won't let me search this site so I appologize in advance if this has been done before.

Our lesson learned/funny story: I was slowly towing the boat from the ramp to the boat stall maybe 100 yards away, Bower and the wife were in the bow of te boat when he decided it was time to be on the ground again. Luckily I was driving extremely slow and watching them in the mirror so I was able to stop in plenty of time. I guess he underestimated the height because he landed on his side and was a little stunned. Everything checked out fine and he was right back to his normal mood.

We also treat our dogs as well as family...

I don't know if it's a funny story or not , but two seasons ago we had a 6 month Keeshonden named Gus and we took him out for the first time. The dog is athletic, curious and energetic. So we're riding up the Choptank River and he's pacing up and down the boat with pure enjoyment and excitement. At one point he decides he's going to stand on the bow and take in the wind.

My wife worries that he may slip off. I'm like, "no he's fine...let him be". After a couple of successful bow riding minutes, that eased my wife's fear, I look up to see only his rear paw pads as he's falling overboard and under the boat! Instant momentary panic and concern for Gus! As I turn back to look for him, his head simultaneously emerges from the deep looking terrified...yes dogs look terrified. Remember, we treat them like family...so they have thoughts and feeling too :whistle:

So I whip the boat around to get him back on board. My wife is freakin out and as we're approaching Gus I'm telling my wife "grab the boat". What, she says..."grab the boat", I said more clearly. Again, she says what?..I said "grab the boat" loudly as I did my best Forrest Gump "man over board" imitation, with the boat going about 15.

To this day I still laugh at the whole thing, but Gus never recovered and now fears the deep water.

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I took Fancy Pants out the first month we had her. The water must have been 50F. She was only 9 mos old and she was on the teak deck while we were getting in and out with our drysuits, etc.

She fell in the fridged water. I scooped her right out, but that's all it took. She's always been afraid of the water every since. Bummer. She likes the boat, but hates getting in.

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Kiwi always goes in the boat with us. No, she doesn't wear a life vest nor does she try to just out. She does love to get on the swim deck and bark at the kids when they are swimming.

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I agree with the shade. We go to the river alot and its hot so the Bu thought of it and made a perfect spot.

Vacation08179Medium.jpg

Or on the tube

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Edited by C28
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If our chocolate lab (Bear) is near water...he's in the water. :yes: You can't keep him out. His first time in the boat, when he was about 9 months old, we were just coming up on plane (doing about 16 mph) and he saw some ducks. Well, he had to have one. :Doh: He stood up, walked about to the middle of the engine cover, and jumped out. The splashdown was comical. I love taking him for rides but a 96 pound dog in a Sportster is a dicey situation putting in mildly. That and with the super low freeboard of the Sporty he feels free to jump out at will regardless of the speed at which we are traveling.

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We have a couple Yorkshire Terriers that come along sometimes. They aren't terribly fond of water they can't stand in but it doesn't stop them from getting in trouble on the boats. The first time out in the new boat last year one of them jumped up onto the locker then down onto the swim platform as the boat was ripping down the lake at 36 mph :Doh:, luckily the driver was able to stop so she could be grabbed and put back into the boat.

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I couldn't figure out how to post a picture and several of you asked for a shot so I went ahead and made the dog the profile pic. Hoping to get some good pics on the lake this weekend so this won't be up long... T.W.S.S.

Edited by malibanker
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I couldn't figure out how to post a picture and several of you asked for a shot so I went ahead and made the dog the profile pic. Hoping to get some good pics on the lake this weekend so this won't be up long... T.W.S.S.

To post pics you have to a paying member.

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