Life on a boat with a labradoodle

[Marsha Moser]

I live part time on a 42ft trawler on the East Coast. I would love to have a labradoodle as a boat companion for my husband and me. Anyone out there with a liveaboard labradoodle that could advise me? I know the Chesapeake has a ton of labs( I love them but they shed too much). Please answer soon.

[Adina P]

I know nothing about living on a boat, but I do have two Labradoodles (first generation both). Am I understanding correctly that you know of others who have done this with labradors? If so, if labradors do well on a boat, then I would imagine a labradoodle would also do well. However, although many many Labradoodles love water, not all of them do. You may not know that right away if you get a puppy. But I suppose you could train a puppy to tolerate water if you request that of the breeder.

Seems like the logistics of potty training a puppy might be difficult... what exactly does part-time on a boat entail? Would it mean days without a chance for the dog to walk around on land? Or is it just part of the day? I'm very curious, actually, because my husband has a dream of living on a boat for some time in the far future. But I have had a hard time imagining how that would work with dogs as I don't plan on not having dogs in the far future.

if you do not necessarily want a puppy, there are many rescues available throughout the United States and that is another option for you.

[Marsha Moser]

Living on a boat in our case means 3mo. on the boat, 2 weeks on land in Texas. Dogs are either dinghied ashore a couple of times a day or walked around the marina twice a day.

[Adina P]

do you know anybody who has raised a puppy on a boat? I only ask because I know I had to go out with my puppy for potty 1 million times a day. With a small dog, you could create a potty area on the boat... but medium to large dogs might have trouble with that as a means to potty training.

Are you thinking of getting a puppy from a breeder? Or are you looking into rescue an adult?

[Adina P]

oh one more question. Did you mean that three months out of 12 you live on the boat... or did you mean that you spend three months on a boat followed by two weeks on land followed by three months on a boat followed by two weeks on land repeated through the year?

[Marsha Moser]

It means 3mo on, 2wks on land, 3mo on water, 2wks on land. I don't know about the potty training thing on a boat. How long does it normally take before they are house-broken? I have a puppie in mind (actually I think she might be in my heart but I've only seen pictures) I haven't had a puppy in a looong time but prepared to give the pup alot of attention. My husband and I are semi-retired. Does this breed live as long as Labs. My lab was 12 when he died.

[Cam & Oski]

Please don't stone me, but how about a Portugese Water Dog? They have hair like doodles so are prone to less shedding & love water.

Seriously, please don't take away my Doodle Lover's membership card, I'm just spit balling here ;)

[Adina P]

How long does it normally take before they are house-broken? I have a puppie in mind (actually I think she might be in my heart but I've only seen pictures) I haven't had a puppy in a looong time but prepared to give the pup alot of attention. My husband and I are semi-retired. Does this breed live as long as Labs. My lab was 12 when he died.


To answer your question about housebreaking: it can be as short a process as two weeks or as long as several months. There is no way to tell for sure how long any individual puppy will take. As one extreme example, I've followed the books to a tee (or as close as is possible in real life) with my labradoodle Rosco who I brought home at eight weeks. But he was not completely reliable until he was about 7 to 10 months old. He has a habit of not drinking much during the day and drinking a ton of water at night and consequently needing to go out to pee many times between supper and bed time. This is not common at all, but there's no way to know if your puppy will be easy to housebreak puppy or a tough to housebreak puppy.

Again, there are alternatives to taking your puppy outside for potty... but I'm not sure how successful these are with large dogs. Such alternatives would be a litter box, a chunk of sod in a plastic container (there are a few companies that manufacture such things just for indoor potty training, they install it and send you refills and might even clean out the containers for you) or the Wiz dog product. So I suppose it can be done, but not necessarily easily or 100% successfully!

To answer your question about life spans, there aren't that many elderly Labradoodles yet so it's hard to know for sure. however I would imagine, that if your puppy comments from a good breeder who does health testing to rule out the common testable conditions... your dog's life span should be equal to whatever the Labrador or poodle's lifespan is.

Here is an article I wrote on health testing in Labradoodles: http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/potential-health-problems-in -- it is worth reading carefully so that you choose a breeder who is careful about health.

[1qrgkdwnfqccb]

i can not comment on how well a puppy/dog would do on a boat for that period of time,
but we have a 2 year old goldendoodle....and have a house at the beach and we usually spend the better part of the summer there, my husband and father have boats, and izzy absolutely LOVES the boat! from the minute we pull in our driveway she starts prancing around it and whining! when she see's us hooking it up she goes nuts...she will whine the whole way to the dock! but once on the water, she is the perfect dog! there are several small islands on the inner coastal that we visit as well as many little towns, and every time we stop she gets sooo much attention!
we just got tucker (he is 5 month now) and he has yet to make it to the beach, we just bought a new home, and i felt he was too young to travel for the 12 hour treck, and also wanted to make sure he was fully potty trained before we took him down.

but in my opinion, and just an opinion... having a "boat puppy" would be great, and if started off young, he/she would not know life any other way!

i do agree that potty training would be a bit difficult...because i even worry about izzy sometimes, if she dosen't go before we leave!

but make sure you get a boarding ramp for him/her before you take off...and make sure he/she is comfortable with using it. it took some work to get izzy to get the hang of it. but it is very helpful to get them in and out of the open water!

and i also agree with ann that a smaller doodle would suit you better ( i would go with a med) only because i know what it is like to have a 75lb dog in a boat....they have days just like small children do, and to be on a boat for that length of time...i think it would just be a bit easier on you guys!!

and i would also have some professional training done prior to leaving, because you want to make sure you full control of the pup, i think it would get scary out there with a bad puppy that won't listen!!!
when looking for a trainer i would make sure to mention what your plans are so the trainer can work on not only basic commands but some others that would help in a situation that could arise on a boat!

wishing you the best of luck! and happy sailing!!!