Dog Aboard

[MIRELOS]

Originally Posted by Curtsal

Greetings All. New to the site so apologies if posting in the wrong spot. Just curious in your experience best dog for cruising. We're in Florida, will be cruising BVI. Wife needs some company besides me so we're looking.

look no further; Spanish Water Dog, they are great swimmers, non shedding, don't wonder off, good guard and not very big at about 31-40lb

[ausnp84]

We have a 43ft tri and three dogs aboard.

Life’s great! We have zero issues with security, a good vacuum takes care of the hair (Lab, Dobie, small sheep dog rescue), and there’s never food scraps left over. Yes, we go through a lot of dog food but you just go to any normal supermarket and buy more.. the whole thing about it being hard to find or super expensive is nonsense in most places. We have pet netting around the amas and then also have additional to enclose the cockpit, so when we’re sailing the dogs roam free. They’re at no more additional risk than a small child - think how you’d manage that and you’ll be fine. What else… most countries are dog-friendly (even if noonsite says otherwise).

On the cons side - having three dogs means we are a bit more restricted to the boat, so no multi-day trips away (I do miss that). The dogs have a limit of about five hours which also means we can go for dinner or drinks, but not out all day. Carrying 300lbs of dog food for a six month trip is a bit of a pain as well, but then we don’t run out. Oh, and I miss laying on the tramps as that’s become the dogs’ bathroom… but then that solved another problem with multi-day passages

That’s it really! We’ve met plenty of boats this season esp with dogs - Outremers with doodles, Lagoons with white fluff balls, other cats with terriers, monos with pugs. It’s very easy to make it work - don’t let the folks who’ve “heard from a friend” put you off.

N

[Susanjc]

We cruised for three years with a Portuguese water dog. Smart, non-shedding, great swimmer. When we couldn't get ashore, he relieved himself on an outdoor mat at the bow. Wonderful dogs.

[Nicholson58]

Traveling the US with a dog is easy. Going into foreign lands is difficult and can be hard on the animal.

We’ve been cruising & live aboard in the Caribbean for eight years. The BVI can be notoriously nasty and difficult regarding dogs. Your dog may be forced to be vaccinated each time you transit to another island and you will await the pleasure of a veterinarian’s visit. Former English colony islands are the worst and some are more difficult than others. It’s definitely easier to immigrate you than a dog. Some places officially prohibit dogs on the land, beach, off leash. This is particularly ludicrous since all islands have stray dogs, cats, goats, chickens wandering about. There are parasites, particularly heart worm that kill the island strays by about five years. The French islands are very accommodating and relatively easy. Trinidad is the most difficult to take a dog or cat. If you fail to execute ALL silly paperwork and permits, vaccinations your animal will be destroyed on entry. If you choose to go to Trinidad please contact the OCC port officer, Jessie James, at Members Only located in the yard at Power Boats. He will get you through the Trinidad bureaucracy.

This aside, it is possible and people who successfully navigate the difficulty enjoy their pets. They often do not island hop like the rest of us due to the time, complications, costs.

Some dogs have special needs as noted by the other cruisers. Fluffy, hairy dogs collect sand and salt at the beach. Water is a premium unless you have a large watermaker. It’s also no place for a thick fur coat. Island strays are nearly all short hairs with smooth coats and frequently, long erect ears, also without hair. These are the survivors. Our friends have a dog breed susceptible to cataracts. She wears UV goggles. I have been tempted twice by very nice island dogs who ‘picked me’. I would have dog napped at least two of them.

One of the first things we will do after we stop cruising is to get a standard poodle.

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Traveling the US with a dog is easy. Going into foreign lands is difficult and can be hard on the animal.

We’ve been cruising & live aboard in the Caribbean for eight years. The BVI can be notoriously nasty and difficult regarding dogs.

We thought similar as our friends paid $250 USD in Tortola to clear their dog in. Instead, we (and two other boats with dogs) cleared in at Virgin Gorda. No charge for the dogs - tbh they couldn’t have cared less. Antigua - our friends made landfall and told Customs they had a dog. “Come back in three hours” they were told. Duly did that, paid $50 USD, all cleared in no worries.

The Carib has been the easiest cruising we’ve done with dogs. We were paranoid and had the right jabs and certificates done for each island and not one has asked for the paperwork. A larger watermaker is on the list though as - as you noted - the dogs can get salty quickly and once that’s in your boat, it’s hard to get out.

N

[gazzabo]

Schipperke

A boat bred dog for the barges in Europe.
Watchdog
No shedding
Can swim but didn't like it so no salt below
Uses foredeck
Small and agile

[JMR1138]

Full disclosure: We set sail 3 years and +15000nms ago with our 50lb shepherd mix. He couldn’t swim at the time, refused to relieve himself onboard and seemed bored by his new (very limited) patch. But he was our boy and had been for nearly eight years. He quickly learned to swim after one very scary incident. He learned to “go” on deck when “walked” by one of us with tethers and life jackets ensuring no one became a casualty. He discovered fish and turtles which he protects us from when on the hook by letting us know they are lurking. I doubt he’d choose sailing over playing in a field, but he’s managed to adjust as well (sometimes better) than any other crew member through 16 countries and a pacific crossing.

All this notwithstanding and in spite of the strong pull I know I’d feel, I would not advise that someone get a dog for cruising unless the cruising grounds were confined to a few pet friendly countries and marinas were going to be a primary mode of living while aboard.

Why? Cost, Time, Quality of life for the dog, itinerary

I’d estimate that we’ve spent more than $20K to vet, revet, rererevet our dog due to the byzantine, often frivolous rules of each country we visit.

The Caribbean was (mostly) easy, but FP confined him to the boat (no exceptions) for literally months until we could reach a vet in the Societies.

NZ was the easiest to deal with bc their rules were consistent and made sense, but still required a quarantine stay of nearly 6 weeks bc tests that would normally be done prior to arrival had to be performed and results waited for before the actual quarantine time could begin. This bc Tonga (previous country) had no vets.

Fiji has been the worst for this as their rules are both gratuitously conservative and ever-changing. As of this moment, dogs must spend six solid months in a rabies free country before arriving. BUT dogs that arrive by boat are bonded to that boat until they leave Fijian waters (they make it clear that any cruiser found with a dog ashore will be challenged to ensure paperwork is valid. If not, the dog could be confiscated and your bond forfeit. So, bringing a dog to Fiji means flying him there and boarding him while you wait for a weather window (in our case one month) before you can spring your pooch from the kennel.

And those are the places we have visited. Many we’ve simply skipped bc it was too hard or simply not allowed. Galapagos won’t have dogs at all. Australia is easy from NZ, but from Fiji the clock resets and he goes back into quarantine.

We are “dog people” and have rarely considered not having our boy along, but this is bc he was already “our boy” and bc we knew that rehoming him for the duration of our multi year trip was tantamount to never seeing him again. In youre case, your adding a dog to your crew without any existing relation or responsibility to them.

Were I you, I wouldn’t undertake this challenge lightly. If you must, you should plan to spend most of your time in North American Coastal or Caribbean waters. You should plan to spend at least half of your time in marinas where frequent, quality walks are easy for you and your pup. If your sailing dream has you cruising further, living more frequently on the hook, or with a very tight budget, I would not do it.

I’m so certain of this that we have (and this kills me) decided that our next sail will wait until our boy has passed.