need help getting pooch to do her duty on deck!

[DWJ]

A guy on the boat next to me put two peices of real sod laid on the deck and trained his older golden retriver to go on that. The dog was comfortable because it was real grass and the dog could maintain his footing. He slowly replaced the sod with a phoney grass like rug which he would simply rinse off overboard when the business was concluded. It took time and he replaced the sod several times but it worked.

[Kasidah]

Charlie, your idea of peeing so that your dogs will go in that spot is really funny because my husand keeps telling me that he can train our dogs by doing that and I have told him that there is no way they will go just because he does, and that the training could'nt be that simply(I have tried almost everything). So I will tell him to try it. He is going to have a ball with this "I am sure". Thanks and I will let you know how it comes out..... ha ha

[acesatsea]

Folks, you need to get a cat, they have no trouble using the litter box on board. Now, when you quit groaning about another cat-lover, I have a different suggestion that I'm sure will enliven everybody's day. I hope nobody is eating while they read this.
Mama cats, and I suspect wolves, don't like for their babies to pee and poop in the den. As soon as they can, they carrie them outside. To stimulate urination, they apply a wet tickle to the kittens anus. It causes the bladder spinchter to relax.I once found an abandoned litter of three-day old kittens, and I used a wet Q-tip for the task, since unlike mama cat I had that alternative to my tongue. I suspect that there is a mama or too out there who has used the same approach to potty training a baby. The 'sweet spot' actually seems to be above the anus, an inch or two below the start of the butt crack.
I can't promise that this will work on a mature dog but I know it works with adult humans (fuggit it, I'm not telling how I know).
Anyway, I really hope something works, cause almost as much as cats I love dogs, too, especially Samoyeds (bear face or fox?).
Regards, Bligh

[rebel heart]

I trained my schipperke to do her business on a piece of astroturf. It worked out really well. I'd keep it on the foredeck with a grommet, and the whole thing was attached to a stanchion.

When she pees, I dump a bucket of sea water on the astroturf, and that rinses the urine away (she's a 16lb dog; lot a lot of stuff comes out of her).

When she poops, you just dump the whole thing in the water. That part might raise offence in some places, because that's kinda-sorta dumping fecal matter, although the seals are crapping all day long, so you could argue that I suppose.

Just keep a piece of astroturf in the area she normally does her thing in the yard or whatever, and get her to learn it's okay to use that. It might take a while, but she'll be a lot less stressed.

Then have a different piece of astroturf for the boat. It works well for me, but I did train her that way as a puppy. Also, she pees on every piece of astroturf she sees, and you'd be suprised how much their is in the civilized world.