Cruising with a dog: Our top tips
One of the biggest changes we made to our sailing lives over the past few years has been the addition of a third member to our crew. While many YouTube sailing couples have been having kids, we decided to get a 4-legged furry kid of our own: Barnacle.
Having had her on board for a few months now, we’re starting to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t for a dog on a boat, especially when it comes to safely operating Polar Seal offshore or in harbor.
Overall, life on Polar Seal with our little fluff is amazing, but it has not been without hiccups. If you’re thinking of adding a 4-legged member to your crew, here are our tips for sailing with a dog.
Start the grass pad training ASAP
Barnacle’s grass pad training was a bit of an accident. Sophie took Barnacle to Paris when she was just six months old and soon discovered Barns would not pee on concrete. The only plot of dirt and grass available at her brother’s apartment was the small flower pot on the balcony. Sophie would pop her in there multiple times every day, so she could go potty (Thomas si tu lis ca… désolée ;))
The system worked, but it wasn’t exactly safe, so Sophie purchased a small grass pad at a local hardware store, and smeared some of the dirt in whichshe had peed on the pad. Barnacle took to the artificial turf right away, which made the trip a lot less stressful. It also helped Barnacle to easily adjust to life on board a sailboat later on. We now have a little grass patch which sits atop a plastic tray.
Many people put these pads on the foredeck of their boat. This forces the dog to climb up onto the deck to pee, which I find a bit dangerous, even if you’re just on anchor.
We like to keep the grass pad in the cockpit, where Barns is safe. It has the added benefit of forcing us to clean the pad before it's too late, as we can smell it down from the cabin. We clean the pad with hot fresh water from our deck shower, and then spray it with some pet urine odor remover. It also keeps the potty spot consistent, whether we are on anchor or underway (some people move the grass pad to the cockpit while sailing).
Invest in a good dog life vest
Most of you know that Sophie and I strongly believe in life jackets and tethering in while sailing. This doesn’t apply to people only.
We have two life jackets for Barnacle, both from Bay Dog. The first is an everyday waterproof jacket, which protects her from the elements and spray. The second is a more serious offshore dog life jacket, which has little floats to help her stay upright and keep her head above water.
We also tether her using her leash. Tethering can get a bit annoying if Barnie wants to move around a bit, but it's always good to know that she is safely tied in while we’re running on the foredeck to deal with something.
Remember: your pet has no idea how to evaluate the dangers of the seas, so you need to protect them.
Plan your pet into the crew watch rotation
No no, I’m not talking about giving your pup a night watch (though that would be nice!). Plan who is going to feed, take care of, and play with your pet while on passage.
One thing I think we did well was bring an extra crew member on our first long passages with Barns. This offered us a third set of hands, which we could put on crew duty, or dog duty, depending on what needs arose. It made things a lot less stressful.
While on those passages, we came up with a rule that works great: the on-watch person is not in charge of Barnacle. Of course, there are times when the on-watch person can take care of her, but it’s up to the off-watch crew to take over if needed. We highly recommend following this rule, especially if you’re sailing with a puppy or young dog.
Increase exposure to sailing slowly
While Barnacle has adjusted to boat life way better than we could have hoped for, there have been times when she has been nervous or anxious and the comfort of having a human companion by her side was all she needed.
On one of our first overnight sails, she could not sleep, so she would get up at any sound. She was up a lot, which means we were up a lot! We didn’t plan for this situation at all, so we felt a little more tired than we normally do on a passage.
Exposure is the best medicine, but take things slow and easy.
We started out by motoring around on a calm day, then we went sailing in light winds, then we introduced heeling, and finally we went out in big seas. Had we skipped these steps, Barnacle would have probably felt a lot different about sailing.
If Barnacle is feeling a little anxious, we sit with her and give her a small spoonful of peanut butter or some treats to show her she’s having a positive experience. This tactic has worked very well for us and made her transition to boat life a lot easier.
What about dog nets?
A lot of people sailing with dogs install nets along the lifelines to keep their furry friend from going overboard when an unexpected wave or wake hits.
This set-up doesn’t work for us, because we would need to run some of the jib sheets through the middle of the life lines. So putting up netting all around the boat is impractical for us.
We decided to teach Barnacle to stay in the cockpit at all times. She won’t go out on deck unless we are there and tell her it’s okay. When we’re on deck, she just sits in the cockpit with her head sticking out, watching us.
Our thoughts on cruising with a dog
Overall, living with a dog on board Polar Seal has been way more rewarding than we ever thought, but it is a ton of work.
Plan ahead; do some research, read some books, and watch some dog training videos. If you prepare well, the experience will be delightful! There’s nothing like waking up in your berth and getting sloppy dog kisses all over your face.
Take a look at Barnacle's Bay Dog life jackets on the West Marine website:
You’ll also find some cute but tough doggy foul weather gear on there.
Check out the grass pee pad we use on Amazon.
