Dog down companionway

[Talbot]

lots of options on a google of "dog swim ladder"

[gonesail]

i agree on the jumping risk. they can hurt their back easily and this can be serious. i know because my lhasa apso injured his back by falling off a chair and needed 4 weeks bed rest which means you have to carry the dog everywhere and you end up with a back back . the removable dog steps sound like a good idea.

[Ole]

One of the reasons we chose the Islander Freeport 36 for our cruising boat is the headroom for me, 6'7" in the main salon, 6'5" everywhere else, and the steps. I hate having to go down backwards. The Freeport has three very deep steps from cockpit to cabin sole which you can go down forward with ease. Our 12 year old Husky takes them without a problem--up and down.

From your original post it sounds like you are still searching for a boat. You might consider the Freeport, or look at a lot of boats to see what the "ladder" situation is like.

Good luck,

Ole

[JB]

Our Samoyed, Chili, had no trouble coming down the companionway on Dulcinea, our Caliber 47LRC, which has pretty steep steps. Just make sure you have a carpet on the cabin sole and enough "runway" for the runout!

[ldrumond]

Jack, my arthritic old buddy has been a good sport and not complained during the past year while we've lived-aboard on the hard refitting our new home (50' aluminum m/s). I've done as much as I can to accomodate his getting on and off the boat. I have a 20' container parked beside the boat which I use as a shop, so I built a staircase. At first he needed a ramp, fabbed up from an extension ladder, but eventually he got used to using a more permanent long term solution of pull out step extenders on the companionway steps. Once we launch, I'll be using his dedicated davit and harness for getting him in and out of the dink. At a 100 lbs, he's quite an armfull to muscle around but he's my best friend, so whatever it takes.

[marlborosounds]

We also have the family mascott (chester) a beagle. He is also a survior of being ran over by a suv as well as loosing a fight with Godzilla the local
pitbull. So the slide in steps are great.

Cheers

[jdoe71]

We have an 8 year old female German Shepherd, European so she is lighter weight than the North America variety (64 lbs) though she is a very long and tall dog. She first went on the boat at age 7 and she has no problems with the companionway stairs either direction even though they are very steep. We have teak stairs and at first we wrapped pieces of carpet around them to give her a better footing and save the teak, now we rarely do that. She goes up the stairs first thing in the morning and back down at night and stays on deck or in the cockpit all day unless it's rough sailing in which case she goes down into the cabin on her own. Biggest problem with a dog on a boat is the hair and finding a shore stop (that's two but they're equal).