Live aboard boat / Dog

[Lady Captin]

We have a small female Rottweiler, and may be heading off with a boat we purchased used in the next few years. We have a smaller budget ! We are struggling with the size of the boat . 32-37 , running costs being important on our smaller budget !

I don’t want a bunch of negative replies about the dog and sailing , have received a ton already . I just would like to hear constructive response from people about the size of their boats , mostly people who are happy living on a smaller boat , with a dog , pet ect.

Are there any Liveaboards that would go smaller due to maintenance costs if they where doing it again ! How many regret getting a boat to small ! How did you personally decide on the size you needed in the end, if your budget was on the lower end !

Thank you to all who take the time to rely !

[Shrew]

It will be more costly to upgrade. Buy the biggest boat you can reasonably afford now. A 32 is small to live on for a couple for an length of time. It will be smaller with a dog.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Will you be coastal cruising or long stretches offshore? Training your pooch to poop on the foredeck will be worth your time training it to do so. There should be existing threads on this topic to search out.
you say "small" Rottweiler, puppy or grown? A full-grown Rottweiler will consume a fair amount of food, so pick a boat that can accommodate enough storage, plus the extra water. Hopefully, you'll be coastal cruising which will allow stops to exercise the dog. We have a female lab and she's great on the boat but we still need to stop and run her. Luckily, she's a water dog and loves to swim after frisbees and balls.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Another huge consideration when picking a boat suitable for a dog, is ease of getting the dog into a dinghy. Our boat has a swim platform and it's extremely easy for the dog to load up into the dink. Our previous boat, a Tartan 37, had a low enough freeboard that I could tie the boat along the side and have the dog jump into the dink, or jump with an assist from the dink back onto the boat. I would stay away from boats with a very high freeboard and just a ladder to get the dog down, especially large breeds.
Modern boats that have a walk-through transom would be the easiest but it may be out of your budget since these are very new designs for the most part.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Lady Captin

I don’t want a bunch of negative replies about the dog and sailing , have received a ton already .

Please, no disrespect intended.
You've started a lot of threads and received scores of responses, but they all boil-down to the same thing:
"Trying to put 10lbs in a 5lb bag."
Are you sure you "need" a sailboat?
There are lots of smallish "Tiawan Trawlers" that will have the room/storage capacity that you want, will be MUCH more suitable for a dog, and will provide a measure of space/privacy/comfort that no sailboat of equal length could ever provide.

[Ivanvet]

Hi,
Liveaboard here with a 70# Golden Retriever on a 47' monohull. It gets a little crowded. In 'normal' conditions it is doable, but dogs get sick (don't ask how I know) and things get tricky.

A couple of examples: Our dog developed lameness and I had to carry him up and down the companionway, and on/off the transom during 2 weeks. I did it, and it was ok, but my wife, despite being pretty strong, would have had trouble if I hadn't been around. Another time, he had tummy issues and I had to carry him pretty much every 3-4 hours outside because with inside of the boat would have been a mess (it still was a mess).

My advice is to ask yourself if you are able to carry her on/off the boat (and up/down the companionway) for a few days. If the answer is yes, that's probably the worst case scenario. For us, I can't (don't want to!) imagine going cruising with him (and the cat). But the downsides are there, and for the sake of the pet, these downsides cannot be overlooked.

Good luck!

S/V Balu

[Stu Jackson]

I thought the answer to your question about the size of boat and the features it required were adequately presented in the helpful replies in the half dozen other threads you've started and since abandoned.


You could keep asking, but I don't know how or why the answers would change.


Good luck all the best.

[Jim Cate]

I know that you don't like negative responses (who does?) but sometimes there are few realistic answers that are supportive. Several of us have tried (fairly gently for the most part) to show that your demands and your budget may be mutually exclusive, barring some miracle find/buy.

And here's another thing to think about: you have blithely solved the dog/dinghy transfer problem with an open transom/sugar scoop design, and that will certainly help with that issue. But have you considered the size of the dinghy needed to support the large dog plus human(s) needed to deal with her?
An 8 foot roll up ain't gonna cut it, and bigger dinghies are very hard to support on your putative 32 foot yacht. A subject worth considerable thought IMO.

And FWIW, when we set out long term cruising in 1986 Ann had to find a new home for her beloved 125 lb Malamute. There was simply no possible way to include him in the cruising plan (long term, long range, many international landfalls with quarantine rules) and that was on a mid size 36 foot boat. The loss of her long term friend was possibly the most difficult part of cutting the dock lines... Still can bring tears to her eyes all these years later. But the desire to go outweighed that loss for us. YMMV.

Jim

[Lady Captin]

As I have said a ton already , we are taking this all in . We are now thinking of just say Florida to the Bahamas and just costal cruising with the dog on 34-36 foot boat and not committing to any serious ocean crossing with the dog , and see how that plays year by year at this point !

More time to get her off the boat and enjoying some exercise and running , when possible , learning our boat , what she needs and what we need by first hand knowledge. See how the dog and boats does an re evaluate our lives as we go and what should be next .

We will just buy a older boat that we can find a solution for the dog , many good ideas presented and found in other areas. Then when the time is right we can re- fit the boat for ocean crossing ! This has been based directly on some advice offered in my many posts to date . Get a boat that is somewhat ready to just sail and refit as needed for island hoping , till we plan to do more !

Let life just play out as intended, and roll with it . When we sell out house maybe a newer boat will be possible depending on what happens with house and boat prices when we are ready to go .

Plan always evolving as we learn and absorb more ! Thank you

[Muaddib1116]

How old is your dog? How big is she? You've said your budget is very strict, but what is your projected income stream as you cruise? Will you be able to max your budget on a boat that needs work and then save for fixes and upgrades later?

[roverhi]

Sailed to FP with a 60# Labrador and a slightly smaller cat in our Westsail 32. Boat had a steep long ladder at the companionway that the dog could handle at anchor but needed to be boosted/stabilized sailing. Had a 9' Avon Redcrest inflatable which was more than adequate for my wife, myself and menagerie. The dog would jump into the dinghy from the deck of the boat but had to be muscled to get her back on board. Harness/lifevest for the dog would have made boosting her onto the deck or dinghy way easier but hadn't been invented when we were out. Size of the boat and pets were no problem for my wife and I but we were way way younger then and undoubtedly a lot less set in our ways.

[Noisykate]

Sorry, not intending to sound so negative, but:

Expect to train your dog

A) not to piss or sh*t on the pontoons in marinas, especially not the fresh water hoses;

B) not to bark at passing dinghies when at anchor.

C) not to be territorial about pontoons around your boat. That's my space, too.

D) you might one day need help. I'm not going to risk being bitten to try and stop your boat getting scraped or bumped.

And please remember: Not all boaters are huge fans of dogs, even those on other people's boats. Especially big 'bitey' ones.

[Virginia Lee]

We sailed a Cape Dory 30 and Shannon 38 with a 50 pound mutt; now sailing the latter with a 45 pound potcake: No problems when the dogs are young. Boarding a low-freeboard boat from an inflatable isn't a challenge - they jump. (So I wouldn't choose a sugar scoop just for them, and after having sailed a friend's Catalina in a follow sea, that design is not for me!)

As others have pointed out, it's the stairs down the cockpit that eventually become the significant problem. A significant landing half way would be great, but that's not likely in the size boat you are seeking.

Also, there will be be times when you have to go up a dock ladder or go from dinghy to fixed dinghy dock that is sized for larger boats. Especially the prior dog - no problem! When young. Big problem when old. A Rottie is a heftier dog, perhaps not as nimble?

I guess my message is - you are going to have problems no matter what. We chose the boats we wanted; the dogs adapt and we adapted when she aged. But yah, those companionway steps and arthritic dog knees . . . To us, two things are not elective: sailing and having a dog. So what if she needs to put on the harness and have an assist from the hubby for the last couple years of her life...

I recommend a RuffWear climbing harness. During a crossing, for safety, the dog needs to be tethered in the cockpit. The harness has a great handle and robust ring. No matter how well trained, there are situations where you cannot risk the dog going forward with you.

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by Lady Captin

As I have said a ton already , we are taking this all in . We are now thinking of just say Florida to the Bahamas and just costal cruising with the dog on 34-36 foot boat and not committing to any serious ocean crossing with the dog , and see how that plays year by year at this point !

More time to get her off the boat and enjoying some exercise and running , when possible , learning our boat , what she needs and what we need by first hand knowledge. See how the dog and boats does an re evaluate our lives as we go and what should be next .

We will just buy a older boat that we can find a solution for the dog , many good ideas presented and found in other areas. Then when the time is right we can re- fit the boat for ocean crossing ! This has been based directly on some advice offered in my many posts to date . Get a boat that is somewhat ready to just sail and refit as needed for island hoping , till we plan to do more !

Let life just play out as intended, and roll with it . When we sell out house maybe a newer boat will be possible depending on what happens with house and boat prices when we are ready to go .

Plan always evolving as we learn and absorb more ! Thank you

This is probably a much more realistic plan, and one that will allow you to break into the cruising lifestyle without breaking your bank account or yourselves. Not to mention that you could spend the rest of your lives enjoying just those areas and never feel the need to go further.

If I can suggest one more thing - in addition to what you know from my other advice - have you tried taking your dog on the Tanzer ? Sure that's a small boat for the size of the hound but it will give you an idea of some of the obstacles you will face. It's likely to be easier getting him on and off the Tanzer, but not as much room down below or in the cockpit.

You could even get a dinghy now - or borrow one if possible - and see what the situation is like for some of those operations. Maybe just a nice weekend where you tow the dinghy and practice getting him on and off the boat for a trip to shore. Once again, until you actually try this - you simply will not know what's involved.

[Lady Captin]

Thank you to all ! First off the dog is extremely well trained ! All our dogs have been kennel trained as puppies ! We have never ! Never ! Had a dog pee, or poop in our house.... Ever ... Zero accidents ! we have had 5 dogs ! We know dogs and how to train them very , very well . We may not know squat about sailing and boats , but we know dogs , how to socialize them and train them to be polite , safe and well trained .

We have had two Doberman’s and all have been what are termed dangerous dogs, but we would have trusted ever single one of them with babies and small children and often did . I say this to let you know we have no illusions that there will be some serious challenges, but that we are up to them I assure you !

We plan to take the Rottweiler on the learning boat , once we feel we are proficient enough to have her safely on board . Then we can work on the challenges as they arise I assure you all . She will get he best life jacket money can buy for her !

I will install a swim platform if needed , or invent my own lift if needed ! We will find a workable solution I am sure in the end , always do ! Will it be a pain in the ass and hard , your dam rights , but as they always say “ where there is a will there will be a way “ .

Would we choose to have her if we had the boat no ! But she is part of the family and we will sail with her the best we can , even if she dictates the boat in the end! I don’t judge others , but we are not giving up early , or easy ! Thank you for those who responded that it is not impossible, we know it will be super difficult, but we are up for the challenge !

I am older 57 but super fit for my age , So that counts a lot ! That is why I stay fit , work out and do body weight exercises ,and weigh the same as I did when. I was 20 ! Because you need to be fit to sail as you age , it makes the journey better and easier ,

Happy sails !