Cruising with our new puppy

[Gail Harris]

I joined DK today and am excited about being a part of this site.

My husband and I will be getting a mini goldendoodle in mid-July.  We are retired and live on our 45' sailboat the majority of the year.  I'm interested in any tips concerning having a dog aboard...especially on potty training when it's not possible to go ashore.  Also, learning to go up and down stairs, the best life jacket, really any ideas to make things easy and comfortable for our new little puppy.  We are true dog lovers and have had dogs all of our lives.  We had a lab before we started sailing but he has a problem with motion so he is happily living with our grandchildren.

 

Thanks for any response.

 

Gail

[BetteB]

Welcome to Doodle Kisses! While we have not taken our sailing, I am sure someone here has! Our doodle loves the water, though, and I bet yours will too! Good luck with your new doodle! :)

[Azure & Muppet]

Welcome! Living on a sailboat sounds interesting. I hope you'll share many pictures of life with your doodle. I'll think about your questions and let you know if I have any ideas or suggestions.

[Gail Harris]

Thanks to everyone for the "Welcomes". We are so excited about our upcoming puppy! I'll update as she conquers the challenges of being a "boat dog".

[Azure & Muppet]

I thought of something you may find useful for potty training when it's not possible to go ashore. It's the UGO Indoor Dog Potty. You can read about it on the website. This is something we used and still use with our dog (who is also a mini goldendoodle). It was great for potty training and we still use it as an indoor option for when the weather is too miserable to go out, when person or dog has physical limitations like an injury, or when we're gone too long for them to hold it. And it was great to have around for our senior dog who had limited mobility and less control as he aged. We just keep it on the floor in our bathroom where we can easily and conveniently empty it into the toilet and flush.

I posted this on your page, but thought I'd post it here in the discussion too for future reference.

[Debbie and Thomas]

First, welcome to DK, you will find lots of advice here. I joined a year ago when my goldendoodle was 3 1/2 mths old. He was a high energy puppy and the members on this site helped us thru so many situations. All I can say about the puppy you will be bringing home in July is that these dogs are VERY smart and will adapt to any situation...so I am sure he or she will adapt to a life of sailing especially from an early age. Regarding potty training aboard... I would buy some of that turf they use now on soccer, lacrosse and football fields. It can be picked up and rinsed off! If you train the new puppy to go there, say every fifteen minutes when he is young, he will want to go there all of the time. Also, when you bring him home, buy lots of toys but honestly our puppy LOVED an old fashioned paint roller. He rolled it around and chased it and made us laugh. It really wore him out and he would crash and sleep with it in his paws.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Welcome Gail, So glad to have you. Please look at the groups on here as there is a Traveling Doodle Group and Waiting for a Puppy Group and etc and etc. I had joined about 6 months before I got my Murphy (13 months old now) to get a feel for this breed and to learn all I could and I got such an education.

We had traveled in a RV with our puppy the first 4 months of his life and he did very well. Ofcourse we were able to take him outside for potty training where you won't be able to, but the potty-pads or the turf sounds like that would be perfect. I have to say I never met a doodle that didn't like water, but I know there are some that don't. I'd be more worried about the ones, like my Murphy, that are OBSESSED with water. There was actually a discussion on that just last week. If mine were on a boat, I'd have a lot of training ahead of me to keep him IN the boat and not jumping off.

But like my breeder (who I found on this site) had told me, "he will be happy wherever he is as long as he is with you." So that's what I would think for yours as well. Murphy took to stairs from the day we got him at 8 weeks old, so I can't imagine that being a problem unless he is really small and the stairs are really big. 'Life jackets, I can't imagine you'd have a very big selection to chose from, so deciding on that should be pretty simple. No advise there. Ours swims like a fish but I would still have a jacket on him if we were on a boat.

Well, do some searching on here and you will get a lot of questions answered. Some you didn't even know to ask yet even.

[Laura & Chewie]

Welcome! You will find this site invaluable...such a wealth of information and wonderful people who are always so eager to help. I got my mini goldendoodle last July and have been a member ever since and learned so much. Can't wait to "meet" your new puppy and hear about his adventures "at sea" and on land.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

How exotic your life sounds! I don't have advice but I am sure others will be able to help you. I can tell you that I expect your pup will adjust to boat living pretty easily if you get your "ducks in a row" about what to do. And, that is exactly what you are doing now! I have a small medium doodle (just barely over the mini requirements). He has never had any trouble with stairs and he certainly has been exposed to RV stairs, our two story house, my son's open stairway. My doodle loves water and does not get motion sick. I hope you have the same luck with your puppy.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Welcome to Doodle Kisses! I know you'll find lots of support and great advice as you start this adventure with your new puppy. I found our puppy to be very adaptable, and I'm sure yours will be as well. It's all about what they get used to. I wouldn't worry at all about stairs. Our Guinness was running up and down the stairs from the day we brought him home. As for the motion sickness...I'm wondering if it would be possible to determine if he/she gets carsick before you commit to a particular puppy. That might be a good indicator of whether or not there would be a motion sickness problem on the boat. I know our puppy did get very carsick, although that seems to be improving at 10 months.

[Gail Harris]

What a good idea about the trial run in a car as a new puppy. I feel sure our breeder would agree to the test. Thank you for the suggestion. I'm finding this website to be a wonderful resouce - everyone is so friendly and helpful.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is a fantastic idea.

[Lee Seidman]

Welcome to Doodlekisses.
We live on the water in South Florida and are boaters. We take Lexi everywhere on our boat and have trained her to use a product called " Potty Patch". It is a wonderful product used by several friends boating with their pups as well....Website

.http://sissytiff.info/dbm83/l.php?74557&12607878&o=9870&...

Look us up if you ever cruise to the Fort Lauderdale area....we have room for another boat behind the house with water and electric hook up......