Dog safety on a MS 400/390

[LongShadow]

Hello all,
New to Mainship 400. Will spend lots of time aboard Looping. Thinking of getting a dog.
Concerned with dog safely going up and down stairs to flybridge and not falling off stairs. Can it be made more safe somehow?
Has anyone dealt with this issue? Would appreciate receiving real world experiences.
Thank you.
Jim B
'07 MS 400 Single
"Ellan Vannin"

 

[rslifkin]

Not specific to the MS390/400, but whenever he's out on deck, our dog wears rubber soled sneakers. The extra grip lets him move around the boat (including getting on and off) much more safely.

 

[LongShadow]

Thanks. I know some dogs won't wear boots, but good idea. Perhaps if started as a puppy it would accept them. Do you recall the brand or where you bought them?

(The boat I've had since '10 and am selling is an '89 381 I lived on for five years in DC! Hence handle Long Shadow. Can exchange pics by PM if interested.)

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. We put SeaDek on the decks of our boat so the dog, and my wife, don’t slip. At a minimum I would put it on the steps. Then the dog will probably be able to go up and down without slipping.

 

[Comodave]

Here he is.

 

[rslifkin]

Thanks. I know some dogs won't wear boots, but good idea. Perhaps if started as a puppy it would accept them. Do you recall the brand or where you bought them?

(The boat I've had since '10 and am selling is an '89 381 I lived on for five years in DC! Hence handle Long Shadow. Can exchange pics by PM if interested.)

Very cool! Ours is an 86, and sure, feel free to send over some pictures, I'll dig up some of ours.

The shoes we have are the Qumypets brand ones from Amazon. They typically last about 2 summers from what we've seen so far (we're on the second set). Our poodle was 4 when he first tried the shoes on. He thought they were a little strange at first, but as soon as he realized he could run around the house like crazy without sliding on the hardwood floors, he was sold and has never complained about them since.

Here's a picture of Xander snoozing with his shoes on, totally ignoring them.

 

[DavidM]

Here are some tips from cruising with a dog full time for a year or so:

Don't expect the dog to go up the ladder to the flybridge. Even with curved stairs it probably won't work. That limits the size of the dog to what you can carry.

Use a doggie life jacket every time you get on or off the boat. Our dog fell of the dock several times. She was excited and didn't pay attention to the dock's edge or in one case I slipped and dropped her in the water. The life jacket made it so much easier to get her back on board.

Train your dog from puppyhood to use potty pads. After she was well trained in that I trained her to go forward and poop or pee on a square of I/O carpet. All I had to do i say "go potty Abby" and she would march up forward and do her thing. The carpet square was attached by a a 6' lanyard and all I had to do was drop it off the side to soak and get it cleaned.

One anecdote: One day on a mooring at Catalina Island we were about to go ashore so I said "go potty" an pointed towards the bow. She marched up there, looked around, barked a few times and came back. I said it again and she did the same thing. I went forward with her and found the carpet square blown off in the water. So the dog was smarter than me!

Long overnight passages. Our first dog was not trained as above and wouldn't pee on the boat. We made a couple of overnight passages where she had to hold it for 24+ hours. Our vet said it was ok but she did squat for a long time when we finally got her to shore.

But 99% of the time I would take her to shore morning and night. A few times she had to deal with ironshore and wasn't happy but finally gave in.

David

 

[SIBERNUT]

2 points- carry all docs re: license, vaccinations, etc
Any time you visit a vet for anything, ask them to scan the chip (you do want her back, right?). They DO go bad.

 

[Lepke]

I have had a series of black labs. They are more surefooted that I am. You can put webbing on your lower lifelines. I have a folding ramp off the swim platform so they can get out of the water alone and when they get older, a ramp or steps that make it easier to get aboard from the dock.

 

[danderer]

Don't expect the dog to go up the ladder to the flybridge. Even with curved stairs it probably won't work. That limits the size of the dog to what you can carry.

Our experience was different. Our golden was quite happy going up and down the stairs to the flybridge on our 34T (same stair layout as the 400).

 

[garmstro55]

Our pooch won’t climb the stairs on our 400, we have to carry him. At 25 lbs it’s do-able but bigger dogs would be problematic. I think the Sea Dek or similar product would be a good place to start.

 

[Comodave]

Our Lab is very sure footed and will walk right up to the edge and have his toes hanging over the edge. He has never gone over though. I help him once and show him what I want him to do and he does it from then on. Treats are involved…

 

[PM]

How big and what breed is the dog. Some take to stairs and even ladders, some are more cautious. My dog loved to be where the action was but didn't mind being left in the cabin either.

pete

 

[SteveK]

On my GB36 my boxer would jump up/down to the aft cabin roof and few steps to bridge. On this boat he goes up/down the stairs easy. Boarding is step on to the swim platform and in the door. These changes turned out to work well for the humans to in comparison.

Stairs, not ladders if similar should not be a problem for most bigger dogs, could be a struggle for smaller ones.

 

[LongShadow]

Sorry all, been away for the holiday and just checking in. Thanks for the really interesting dog pics! And as with most discussions and variety of dogs there is experience on both sides. This discussion is aimed at helping me/us decide two things, 1) IF we get a dog and, 2) how big. In our 70s, we don't really want to schlep a dog up and down a full flight of stairs several times o a day, yet that is where much of a 400 owner's time is spent. We either need a self-loading dog, or something small and able to be carried. I'm sure our household discussion will continue, but all inputs here have been helpful and appreciated. Jim B

 

[Blue Tortuga]

After our last dogs passed 9 months apart we decided we needed “travel dogs” under 15 lbs that could fly and boat with us. We ended up with two Brussels Griffons which are great but the puppy years have been work. When outfitting our Mainship 400 our last
Dogs were bigger so we just ran like around upper lifelines. On our newer Mainship 430 we have now I went with 70% textilene top to bottom on the upper deck plus a textilene door at the stairs. We Also created textilene doors at the aft Deck where you go forward to keep the little buggers in the cockpit.

Textilene is the material most use for exterior window coverings. You can see thru it. I can send some pics if I can figure out how to attach them.

 

[Blue Tortuga]

Pics of textilene flybridge rail covers on our Mainship 430

See pics attached.

 

[Dougcole]

Welcome aboard. We put SeaDek on the decks of our boat so the dog, and my wife, don’t slip. At a minimum I would put it on the steps. Then the dog will probably be able to go up and down without slipping.

This is what we did as well, seadek pads on the steps.



We just spent a month onboard our MS 400 with our dog, an 18 month old, 40lb, Lab/Aussie Cattle dog/Catahoula mix. She flies up and down the steps with no issues whatsoever, but she is very quick, sure footed and agile.


Our old dog, a 90 lb lab/pitt mix (RIP) was much more careful and not as agile, especially as she aged. I would help her up and down, just giving her a little support and encouragement. The pads helped her a lot.


I also added some extra starboard on the undersides of the flip down cockpit steps to fill in the gap behind it. A dog's foot could easily slip through there and could cause injury. Both of our dogs use those steps getting on and off the boat.

 

[Mambo42]

We have 4 dogs onboard our Defever 49 and at first it was a bit 'rough' for them, but they do settle in quite quickly. Only took them a couple of weeks to figure out the routine and learn how to get up and down the stairs. 3 of our dogs are not young (around 10 years old), but even for them it was not too difficult.
Getting in and out of the dinghy was a bit tricky in the beginning, but now they are used to walking up and down the passarelle or jump in the dinghy from the swim platform. Only need to protect the dinghy, they have the habit of putting their nails out when we are in the dinghy going to shore.

We also changed their diet. They used to have Pedigree, but we changed them to food which is much better to digest and reduces the amount of poop they produce (literally half of what they used to do). They know they can pee on the bow deck on a piece of artificial grass, but they still prefer to be taken to shore in the dinghy. So every morning , afternoon and evening we take them (2 at a time) to the shore, walk them and make sure they do what they need to do. it does take a lot of your time, so if we plan to leave early it means we have to get up even earlier. From wake up to anchor up is then usually 2 to 2.5 hours (depending on how far we need to go to take them for a walk).

But they are behaving well onboard, they still love to be around us and we love having them around. If you have a dog and then decide to start living onboard I can only say: don't be afraid, it will work out fine. It will take a bit of adjustment, but that can be done.
And as an added benefit we now have security onboard ! There is not a single sole that will come onboard without the dogs warning us. In anchorages everyone knows in an instance that there are dogs onboard, so whoever had bad ideas quickly shelves them. In fact, even when we leave the boat (and for some reason the dogs don't come along) we leave all the doors open, nobody will enter.
At the moment we are on the dry, still living onboard, but at night everything is wide open. The security of the marina knows them by now and they know the dogs have our boat covered.

 

[LongShadow]

Blue Tortuga, those are great photos. What a good idea! That's a thought for even the smallish two-legged variety should some be aboard. Thank you.
DougCole and Mambo42, these are very helpful looks into the choices we will face. Great detail for us to chew over. Would not maybe have considered the food issue (until we had to?).
Dog or not, we'll put some additional traction on the steps.
Jim B

 

[psneeld]

One might be surprised at how many dogs go overboard each year and aren't noticed right away.

A few dogs reported overboard to the USCG that I was involved with may not have gone overboard by accident.... really strange details reported...

 

[TrawlerAJ]

For what it's worth, our 43 lbs Cattle/Catahoula Leopard goes up and down our 400 steps with shocking ease. We've had some other dogs onboard that couldn't negotiate the stairs, so our most recent family member was chosen so that she's light enough I could carry her up and down, although I was hoping for a little less than 43 lbs! But, to our amazement she scampers up and down with no problems at all. Just non-skid on the stairs.

 

[dannc]

Going up or down stairs or ladders I think will depend on the dog. We had a 15-20 pound mutt that loved the water. My parents bought a house with a pool and the dog used the pool more than the people.

The dog would go swimming multiple times a day, especially when it was hot outside, even though he stayed in the house. He could climb out of the cement pond using the cement steps or the pool ladder. :lol:

Decades ago my wife stopped buying expensive, bagged, commercial dog food. Even the expensive stuff was causing problems with the various dogs that owned us. Instead, she feeds the dogs a raw meat diet with veggies and some supplements.

This has evolved into buying frozen beef burgers because they are generally cheaper than bulk ground beef and the burgers are already the right size/weight. To mix it up, the dog gets turkey burgers as well. This is more expensive than buying bulk ground turkey, but like the beef burgers, the patties are already the right size.

The dog gets the raw ground meat along with ground spinach and/or canned pumpkin with a supplement or two. For some reason, the wife puts in a dried mint or something similar.

I have not priced out what the expensive bagged dog good costs in many years, but I suspect it is no more expensive than what we spend on raw meat, canned pumpkin and frozen spinach. What is cheaper, is the dogs did not have reactions to the food and require skin medicines and vet trips. The fillers in the dog food, rice, corn, wheat, and who knows what else, caused the various dogs we have had over the years to have reactions.

The other benefit with this raw meat diet, and why I am mentioning it, is that the solid waste from the dog(s) is GREATLY reduced. They poop less often and with much less volume because the dog is not eating fillers, i.e., wheat, rice, corn, etc. Furthermore, the poop does not attract flies and it seems to break down "better." On a boat that may or may not be an advantage.

Later,
Dan

 

[debbiet]

I had one of those oooEEEEooo moments when I got the forum digest email, because we just got back from the marina trying (and failing) to get our dog aboard our trawler.

He's a malamute. We have a 34' Mariner Orient which is bow-in to our 40-ft slip. The swim step is about 18". We can pull the stern in so there's only a 3-4" gap between dock and swim step. We got him halfway on (jerky = yummy) but he'd back away before he reached the transom door. He was wearing a doggie PFD with handles but we didn't want to force it. He also weighs 100 lbs.

Stern-in is a challenge in our slip, but we're going to try to reposition this weekend if the weather permits. However, we need him to be able to board when we're bow-in. Does anyone have any hints/tips? I have some stuff left over from a previous dog that we used to get him in the back of my SUV (a ramp and stairs) but that's a lot of junk to have on the boat / dock.

 

[Comodave]

Treats? Our lab will do almost anything for treats.

 

[Cold Duck]

Dog food is definitely an issue especially if traveling outside the USA. Back in the 70s there was no dog food at all in central/south America. Things are better now. First mate improvised, rice and fish, lobster finally finding deep fried shrimp. Once in Costa Rica a tuna boat had the yachties over for shrimp dinner and gave the dog a chunk of filet. We had not seen good meat in over a year. The dog was the envy of the group that night!

 

[Nepidae]

Dog on board

We have never had a dog on board but have queried those who have and most say if they hadn't already had the dog they wouldn't have gotten one for the trip.

Remember, rain or shine, anchored or docked at least twice a day they need to go potty.

Depending on the boat you may be lifting on & off EVERYTIME.

Also may not be fair to the dog, can't always take them with you on shore and if you are with a group they might not appreciate a dog under feet, begging for food or other things some owners think is cute.

We just finished an 8yr Loop so have some incite into this.

Rethink your idea you will be happier in the end.

 

[Comodave]

We have always had a dog, that is just the way we live. We make accommodations and give up some things but we will not go without our furry child. Check the name of our boat.

 

[psneeld]

Vets I have discussed sea dogs with say they will go when they go, being den animals, they can go days without going.

While they prefer to go whenever they can convince their owners to take them out, if scared or confused by their environment (like a week trip on a big steel ferry) some will definitely not go for days. Been there done that.

 

[Cold Duck]

We have never had a dog on board but have queried those who have and most say if they hadn't already had the dog they wouldn't have gotten one for the trip.

Remember, rain or shine, anchored or docked at least twice a day they need to go potty.

Depending on the boat you may be lifting on & off EVERYTIME.

Also may not be fair to the dog, can't always take them with you on shore and if you are with a group they might not appreciate a dog under feet, begging for food or other things some owners think is cute.

We just finished an 8yr Loop so have some incite into this.
Rethink your idea you will be happier in the end.

Boy, I have to strongly disagree with this analysis. There are more attributes to having a dog aboard than negatives. Not in any particular order, but;

1. Yes, rain or shine you have to take doggy to shore. We have met more interesting people around the world directly attributed to walking the dog that I can't even list them.

2. With just two of us onboard it was really nice to have a wet nose in your lap on those lonely midnight watches.

3. While anchored in foreign ports, ours would be the only boat not boarded by thieves because we left the dog aboard. Typically they are afraid of medium to large dogs, ours was 50lbs. ( Actually only time we were bordered by thieves was after coming back to Long Beach, California while we were onboard. A loud bark and a .38 held by a naked guy discouraged them LOL).

4. Everyone loved our dog while the group headed south that year did not have other dogs, we have since cruised elsewhere without our trusty friend (now in doggy heaven) and met dog people. Dogs were always welcome aboard our vessels.

5. We actually had locals come out with food for the dog, was a great way to meet locals and gain tremendous insight to their cultures that you would not normally be exposed to.

There are too many more great experiences that were directly attributed to having our dog with us on the journey that I can't talk about them all. Take a dog, you will be rewarded 10 fold.