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Dogs and boating?

Yellowboat

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For those that take larger dogs on boats, what do you do to protect the boat and the dog.
 

mjc

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To start with I have about 40 lb dogs. We put our dogs in the same harness that we use in the car to seat belt them in and attach them to a leash that is long enough to move around the boat but not long enough to bounce out of the boat. We also have a bath mat(with the rubber backing) that we put on the back seat to keep claws out of the seats.
 

spectra3279

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They make rubber soled booties for them. They get traction on the gel, no scratches and it helps to keep their feet from burning.

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Chico&Zeus

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Towels, Towels and more Towels... Sun Pad (Engine Hatch) and Rear Bench vinyl are my biggest fear. I also keep their nails trimmed and rounded off which helps.

Boat is carpet so no issues there and my cabin upholstery is all micro-fiber and not vinyl.

Our dogs wear life vests with handles to help control them when needed and we have the doggy ladder for them to get out of the water.
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Run_em_Hard

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We take our great danes boating. All I do is put a towl on the back seat and make sure that the wife has trimmed thier nails recently. Never had a problem. They also wear life vests, just incase.
 

Flyinbowtie

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That doggie ladder is slick...amazing what people can come up with to help their four-legged friends.
When we had big dogs (two yellow Labs) I used the bath mat trick too. Now, with a shit-zoo, we just keep an eye on him, he likes to ride up in the open bow with his head out, poised like a hood ornament.
Breed ain't even supposed to like water but man this one does.
 

skiracr

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They make rubber soled booties for them. They get traction on the gel, no scratches and it helps to keep their feet from burning.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

:thumbsup definately the way to go....if your dog will go for it. We put them on our Choc Lab when we had her and they worked very well. She didnt like them at first, but once she got use to them it was perfect.
 

Groper

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:thumbsup definately the way to go....if your dog will go for it. We put them on our Choc Lab when we had her and they worked very well. She didnt like them at first, but once she got use to them it was perfect.

Where do you getum ?
 

J.T.

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Rei sales the booties. Make sure you get the good ones that actually look like a shoe. Not the ones that look like a sock
 

DaytonaBabe

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We have an 85 pound golden retriever, so I think it is important to have lots of rules and training to keep her and our boat safe. She knows her spot on the boat (in the middle, between our seats) and that is all she knows. She knows that she is only allowed to be laying down while she is in the boat unless we are loading her/ unloading her. She has never been in the bow of the boat and knows her route in/out is from the back. We have friend's who have a lab that broke her leg after catching a back foot on the bow rail trying to jump out, so we do not allow her up there (plus, there is no reason why she would need to be there anyway) We protect the upholstery and side of the boat with a thick towel when she loads/unloads. Fortunately for us, she doesn't want to be in the boat when we get to the sandbar, so we don't have to worry about her hanging out in there. When the carpet is wet, her fur balls right up when you rub it with your fingers, so it makes for easy cleanup. Now if I could only train her to not shake water on the freshly wiped down boat when we are at the sandbar :rolleyes:
 

stephenkatsea

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We have a VERY large breed dog, 120lb. Newfoundland. She has been on our boats and in the water since she was a pup. We've tried the swim step ramps. But, we've found it best to just place our bow on the shore. She can get in and out as she wishes. We do place towels on the bench and engine hatch. She has never damaged anything on our boats or those of our friends. Can't say that about some of our 2 legged guests !
 

ROZ

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Our pooches are big, too. We've recently decided to add doggy daycare to our budget for short trips, but we will have them for trips that are longer than the weekend. 70 per day for dogs isn't bad , but it adds up...

For the most part they get in and out of the boat okay. We place towels on the bow.

When under way they sit betwen the driver and passenger seats, but when beached, they can be found here:

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2Driver

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We always took our Chesapeakes.

I would never humiliate my retriever with a life vest. :rolleyes:

As for boarding in deep water they knew to swim to the step and put their paws up then I would pull them the rest of the way up . They would shake on the swim step, then hop in and off we go.
 

WTMFA

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Our Lab jumps off the sun pad of the Toon and then climbs back up the ladder to get on the boat :cool:
 

WTRR

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I've got a 70 lb golden doodle that has free reign of the pontoon boat. He doesn't like to ride in the fast boat. I guess it's too loud for him. He doesn't get on the boat seats 'cause I trained him not to. Just loves to ride and play with the other dogs on the beach. Wish I could train him to drive the boat back to the house when I'm toe down. :D :D
 

arch stanton

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