Crusing with Dogs

[Nudge]

Greetings! We're buying a Ranger 29 and wondered what accommodations owners have made for cruising with dogs. We have two 80 lb labs. We're eager for all recommendations. They are trained to a grass door mat, so the swim platform will become the poop deck, we think. We're especially interested in safety netting, protective carpeting, etc. Thanks!

 

[baz]

First I have no real soln to offer... but will simply convey my thoughts.

We have two lively Wire Hair Fox Terriers. We have to keep them in the cabin for fear they will simply jump overboard from the cockpit area. They seem to have no fear whatsoever.

When at the Bremerton meeting last September, our male WHFT named Jake simply jumped at a seagull sitting on the breakwater, missed the seagull and continued on to the waters beyond. He was on an extendable leash but it was a 25-foot one and that was enough to let Jake experience free flight. 😉 With the grateful help from another Tugnut who saw the whole flying trick I was able to retrieve Jake.

Lab should be fine in the water... but it will tug at your heart if they ever jump into the open waters.

Many Tugnuts cruise with their dogs and from what I've seen they all are well behaved. It's rascals like what we have that cause concern.

Good luck.

 

[Nudge]

Thanks for your note! What a breath-taking story - my heart stopped.....

 

[Crewdog]

We too were thinking of taking our dogs cruising, and started off on a quiet weekday afternoon, when there was no traffic. The Aussie boys got a little concerned when I went up on the bow to tend to the anchor, but otherwise were pretty good. While we had a small dinner, each dog found a place to rest, either on a seat, or under the table. They did try to hop off into the water at one point, but that's why we had the leashes on.

After we tied up and were headed back to the car, our Frenchie decided to go in the middle of the dock, and we were fortunate no one was around, but still cleaned up with some water.

I think a few more quiet day trips and we could work up to an overnight and see how that works.

I know somewhere in surfing boat stuff on the web, I came across a "doggie overboard" collar that may be useful, but for now we have to keep a constant eye on the pups.

Bill

 

[Nudge]

It seems clear that leashes on at all times will work! We have life jackets for the dogs, but only for use underway. We're wondering if people use netting of other barriers as on sailboats.

 

[Nudge]

I just found this article on line from the Newport International Boat Show Sept 13-16. Pretty interesting!

http://christinebukruian.com/wp-content ... nd-Fun.pdf

 

[baz]

I should add to my post that our male WHFT Jake is but 14 months old and has more energy than the Grand Coulee Dam.

We do have leashes and life jackets for our dogs.

One thought I've been toying with is to purchase the full cockpit enclosed canvas/plastic-window to protect and hinder our dogs from thinking they can simply jump overboard while in the cockpit. The issue for me is the cost of doing this and the inconvenience that the full enclosure presents.

Other Tugnuts have adopted the full cockpit enclosure and have hinted to me the inconvenience factor of having to remove some of it when docking to get fenders out etc. It also will interfere with mounting and accessing a dinghy installed on the swim step. No matter, I still am pursuing this option as the full cockpit enclosure does have other benefits such as expanding the onboard living area, keeping people a little warmer during cruising when temps drop and a safer environment when we have small little tikes grandchildren onboard who are just as inquisitive as small puppies.

 

[Nudge]

Thanks for your thoughts about the full cockpit enclosure. We're considering that and wondered about the downside.