Dogs on Board

Dyna and Dylan keep tabs on marina comings and goings (TakingPaws)

Call me Ishmael. Or, Fido, or even Spot. No matter, a dog by any other name is a sailor's soulmate upon the sea. Brave, loyal, trustworthy and enthusiastic--always. You couldn't ask for a better crewmate. Still, there are times when finding our best friend a safer harbor is the most loving--and hardest--thing to do.

In this topic, our bloggers talk about the dog days of cruising.

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Topic Coordinator: Jane, more JOY everywhere!


Karen and Jeff, Active Captain founders, have a series of "Dogs Onboard" articles on their website, and they also keep a blog on behalf of their two labs, Dyna and Dylan.

• Active Captain, Dogs Onboard
• TakingPaws

"Dogs and boating don't mix," says Stormy (Art of Hookie), yet Chloe the Springer Spaniel "has more sea hours than most licensed captains."

• Hair Of The Dog

With a great sense of humor and finely-honed priorities, Golden Retriever Wylie describes what his life is like on Controlled Jibe. (Some great Wylie stories on the blog; e.g. Wylie and the Bobcat!)

• Wylie's Life

On Living the Cruising Dream, Suzanne has a section devoted to Rudy: Rudy FAQs, Rudy clearing customs, and Rudy photo albums, etc.

• Meet Rudy the Sailing Wiener Dog!

SailCharbonneau.com hasn't been updated for several years, but it has great information and resources about safety, customs, and other practical concerns regarding dogs on board.

• Sailing With Pets

S/v Smitty sails with an Aussie mix, Summer, on board: and Jesse has tons of good advice about how to do it.

• Sailing/Cruising with a Dog

Also, thanks to Jesse for sharing some resources on clearing customs with a pet:

For summaries of most common cruising ports with links to the government sites for each country discussed:http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel/info/customs/travelcustoms.shtmlhttp://www.caribbeancompass.com/dogs_cruising.html Look under the "customs" link of any country at http://www.noonsite.com/Countries

After sailing without a dog for two years, Deana started dreaming about adding canine crew - now Storyville has a Border Terrier, Luna, on board.

• Cruising with a Dog

Carolyn (The Boat Galley) has written several posts about her experiences cruising with Paz. Start with this post; it links to the other posts, and also has links to helpful products.

• Cruising With a Dog

As they prepared to go cruising, Andy and Monica (Savannah) made the heart-breaking decision to find a new home for their dog.

• The process continues...

Jet provides his shipmates (Chris and Melody on Vacilando) with morning and evening workouts, in the form of five foot lifts in to and out of the cabin. This post includes a short video, showing how Jet has learned to sit "sideways" so he can be easily lifted.

• Dog On Board

On the MoFi Guest Writers' Blog, Dave (You Me and the D) details some "pros and cons" of having a dog on board and has advice about handling customs.

• Living with a dog is interesting

In the first post, Laurie (So Many Beaches) deals "with the specifics of having a dog aboard a sailboat in one country (Guatemala) and trying to move with him (legally) to another country (Belize)."  The second link goes to an awesome collection of links, info and FAQs about having a dog on board (in general) and about Kemah on board (in particular).

• Kemah, the other white meat
• Kemah's Korner: a dog's life aboard

Provisioning plans need to include ALL members of the crew, says Sally (S.V. Cambria):

• Provisioning For Your Pup

What is it like to have "200 pounds of Chesapeake Bay Retriever" on board? Not much different from on land, according to S/V Octopussy:

• Dogs Aboard!

Fred (Gimme Shelter) notices that dog owners out-number cat owners at his marina, and wonders why. He also wonders what a MOB pick-up would look like if the "M" is actually a 5-pound Maltese named Tex.

• Cats versus dogs

Did you know there is a DNA test kit to help you figure out your dog's "heritage"?  Read about the process here, in this very funny post from Living the Life Aquatic:

• Pepper, the Mystery Dog

Here's a slice of life from Belle, the boat dog on s/v Roughdraft.  Mike, Belle's owner, is a regular contributor to the blog, Write on the Water.

• It's a dog's life

Two posts from Sailing Chance; the first is a great reminder that when cruisers prepare the human medical kit, they also need to think of other important crewmembers.  The second links to a one-minute video of sweet, happy dogs.  If you're wondering how much space a dog needs to be content on a boat, watch this.

• First Aid for the Dogs
• Passing the Time on a Rainy Day

In this post, we learn about several products that have worked well on Moondance, to keep Chief Security Officer Bailey happy, healthy, and safe.

• Cruising with a Dog

Even when it hurts, true pet lovers try to do what's best for their furry loved ones.  Dani (Sundowner Sails Again) explains a tough decision:

• We are leaving our dogs behind

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