# Boating with Puppy, Good/Bad Idea?



## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

I read a lot of threads where people have taken their dogs on a boat, but what about a 16week old puppy?

We plan on going to a lake for the July 4th weekend and want to take our 16week(at that date) puppy with us. We will be on a pontoon boat, so there will be shade. We usually spend 8-9 hours on the lake, would this be too long for a 4month old? 

I'm concerned about the heat mainly. My next concern would be him drinking even the smallest bit of water, since we had a horrible time with him drinking pond water and getting sick.


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## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

I took Sigurd on a row boat a few times when he was under 5 months old.







He did fine and loved it! He slept a lot of the time. I also spend a few hours with him on the lake in a large inflatable boat, again, he did fine. He's never been on a motorized boat or a pontoon but I can only imagine with the proper exposure, your pup will be fine. I would make sure your pup has enough water, and shade. The only thing I'd worry about is when the pup has to potty - is there any way every 3-4 hours you could come to shore to allow him to go? For that long of a boat ride, I'd bring a bully stick, some treats, etc as well.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

In dog scouts we have a canoeing outing with out dogs.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

8 hours might be a little too much for such a young puppy. 

I have a boat and when she was that age, I'd take her out for 2-4 hours at a time, but 8 hours is too much in my opinion.

Make sure your pup has plenty of water and a nice shaded spot to cool off under because he's going to need it under the hot sun.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Took Jake out few weeks ago....did fine...plan to go ashore a few times for potty breaks and wear his hiney out before you go....bring something to chew on that he loves and lots of fresh water...keep him tethered to you and have a blast...

I get what you mean about the drinking water....been there...


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

I can't believe you guys haven't trained your dogs to not drink the water they swim in... for shame!!


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks for everyone's input, would love to hear what others have to say also!

If we decided to take him, we plan on bringing tons of water, food, make many land stops for potty breaks, and have lots of toys and chews handy. We will also have him tethered close by and all the "gates" will be closed.

There will be shade on the pontoon since it will have a canopy, but I just didn't know how hot it would be. 

Maybe I will talk to the people going and see if they can drop me off after 4 hours.


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## Relayer (Apr 29, 2010)

Go have fun!!! I wish I still had my boat now that I have Max. Of course, the best boat is a friend's boat.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

We had a Dobie that we fostered for a couple of months. Great dog, traveled well and was very friendly. Even snuck him into a hotel or two while we were traveling. 

Hubby & I took the boat out one day to go fishing. We only fish during the cooler part of the morning, just for a couple of hours so I took the Dobie. BAD IDEA! He got sea sick, ejectile poops ...like a water hose. He raced around the boat in an attempt to find a place to go and squirted everywhere. Hubby and I were balancing on the rim of the boat attempting to stay out of the line of fire. We were too far from shore to get him there in enough time. The poor dog decided to jump over board and hubby had to dive bomb him to keep him from jumping. (We were in the Gulf of Mexico). So then I had ejectile dog poop all over hubby and Dobie. 

Bad enough you have a large Dobie squirting the entire boat, but you have other fisherman watching and laughing hysterically. I had to wrap the dog in a life jacket and both of us went over just to get him cleaned up. It was the trip from he!!.


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

Lilie said:


> We had a Dobie that we fostered for a couple of months. Great dog, traveled well and was very friendly. Even snuck him into a hotel or two while we were traveling.
> 
> Hubby & I took the boat out one day to go fishing. We only fish during the cooler part of the morning, just for a couple of hours so I took the Dobie. BAD IDEA! He got sea sick, ejectile poops ...like a water hose. He raced around the boat in an attempt to find a place to go and squirted everywhere. Hubby and I were balancing on the rim of the boat attempting to stay out of the line of fire. We were too far from shore to get him there in enough time. The poor dog decided to jump over board and hubby had to dive bomb him to keep him from jumping. (We were in the Gulf of Mexico). So then I had ejectile dog poop all over hubby and Dobie.
> 
> Bad enough you have a large Dobie squirting the entire boat, but you have other fisherman watching and laughing hysterically. I had to wrap the dog in a life jacket and both of us went over just to get him cleaned up. It was the trip from he!!.


I hate to laugh, but the way you wrote that gave me such a visual!

I sure hope that doesn't happen to me. Ugh, that would be a horrible experience!

I'm still debating on taking him or not, I'm leaning towards taking him at least for at least a half day and see how it goes.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

We had a GSD, Stomper, that loved boating, took him down river all day long on the Muskegon River/Hardy Dam, there were ways to cool down(he was black).
We adopted a stray border collie "black jack", he was fine in the boat, we lived at a lake. Though now and then he decided he had enough and bailed...swam to shore and worked his way home if we didn't go to get him. We didn't take him after a couple bails, though Stomper still went along.
Our next dog Clover hated the boat, we went camping in the motorhome and boated all day, she stayed in the AC RV. She hated to swim, hated the wind on her coat, ears. Every dog is different, and I would try a short outing first with a back up plan in place. 
Now that we have a different boat, we don't take the dogs at all, DH doesn't want the fiberglass scratched up.
Dogs do wear and tear on a boat, but a pontoon is much more dog friendly than a speedboat.
One thing to keep in mind, fireworks will be shooting off all JUly 4th weekend, so your pup may feel overwhelmed from all the noise, excitement going on.


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

For sure you can take your puppy!!! We take molly every weekend boating/fishing. If your pup gets to hot there is a lake surrounding you
I would suggest you keep her leashed though Molly jumped out of the boat twice I think she learned she lesson. We spend the whole day on the lake with her and she loves it.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I know some people will disagree with me, but IMHO if you take your pup you should buy him a canine life jacket and make him wear it when he's on the boat. I wish I could recall the details, but I used to know someone whose dog drowned when he fell off a boat.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

The puppy's only 14 weeks old... He's just a baby. 8 hours in the sun is a long time for such a young puppy. Shade or no shade, water or no water, that's just too long. Unless the puppy can go indoors with a/c and no motion from the boat (if you've got a yacht), i'd be hesitant and i really don't know why everyone is telling you to just go for it. I'd be hesitant to bring my 2 year old out in the sun and on a boat for 8 hours, i would never bring a 14 week old out that long.

I brought lucy out when she was that age and i'm telling you, 8 hours is too long. I have a 21 foot bowrider with a bimini top for shade and i could just tell after a couple hours she had enough. 

I'd plan for a couple hours and see how he's doing and just go from there. Planning on going 8 hours straight for a 14 week old puppy is just not a good idea.


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## VChurch (Jun 14, 2010)

If you're planning on taking food/water and making a potty break every once in a while; you should definitely take your puppy!! It'd be fun and a new experience for her, which is always a good thing!

I need to take my dogs boating sometime when the puppy gets a little older. I'm not sure how my four-year-old mix would feel about being surrounded by water -- he's not a big swimmer; likes water at the beach/lake but doesn't like swimming pools/rain/bath time. lol


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## AvaLaRue (Apr 4, 2010)

I took Ava when she was about 12 weeks...I can't remember exactly. Our schedules haven't allowed us to be out on the boat much in the past month. 

Anyway, that was her first trip out on the boat (Bass Tracker boat). We stayed about about 7 or 8 hours. She did great. When we got to a shallow area, she and I both got in the water to cool off and let her learn to swim. 

I would pack not only water but ice cubes. My dogs seem to enjoy the icecubes better when it's super hot out. I would also keep the dog tethered to either you or the boat at all times. A life jacket would also be ideal if you could get one before you plan to go out.

Good luck! Keep us posted!


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Lifejackets are good for dogs not because they can't swim, but if you both go overboard and the dog panics, he will tend to try to climb on you and push you under. If they have a lifejacket on, you can "ride" on their back using the handles without pushing him under and keeping him off of you. The handles are also good to scoop him up out of the water if he does fall in. If you're both safely in the boat, people will just laugh at you like you're an idiot 

And since dogs can only sweat from their paws, I always keep their fur wet when it's hot so they can artificially sweat and keep cool.


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

Lucy Dog said:


> The puppy's only 14 weeks old... He's just a baby. 8 hours in the sun is a long time for such a young puppy. Shade or no shade, water or no water, that's just too long. Unless the puppy can go indoors with a/c and no motion from the boat (if you've got a yacht), i'd be hesitant and i really don't know why everyone is telling you to just go for it. I'd be hesitant to bring my 2 year old out in the sun and on a boat for 8 hours, i would never bring a 14 week old out that long.
> 
> I brought lucy out when she was that age and i'm telling you, 8 hours is too long. I have a 21 foot bowrider with a bimini top for shade and i could just tell after a couple hours she had enough.
> 
> I'd plan for a couple hours and see how he's doing and just go from there. Planning on going 8 hours straight for a 14 week old puppy is just not a good idea.


Not that it changes much, but he will be 16weeks when we go. 

I am not dead set on an 8 hour outing. I always have the option to take him on the boat for 2-4 hours and then take him back to the air conditioned house after that point. He would be able to stay crated at the house for 4 hours, especially if he is tired.

I still haven't decided for sure if we are even bringing him on the trip, the boat being the main reason not to bring him.

We had planned on buying a life jacket for him, and I neglected to mention that in my original post.

Thank you to everyone that has replied!


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

My advice is to start with a short trip, and see how it goes. Next time go for a longer period and so on. Take plenty of drinking water with you and make sure he doesn't drink from the lake - that's a good way to pick up giardia and other unwelcome intestinal bacteria.. Make sure there is shade available if he seems to be uncomfortable. Just what you'd do for a human toddler really.
_________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge


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## SylvieUS (Oct 15, 2009)

He should be fine on a pontoon on a lake, with the fresh water, toys and potty breaks you are planning for him. Take him for a walk or a long game of fetch before you go, wear him out a bit.

My Husky boy loves the pontoon. On a lake you shouldn't have as much 'seasick' risk, although you may have some issues with wake 'waves' from skiers/tubers on a holiday weekend. Only feed him lightly in the am...just in case! lol.

Puppers may enjoy splashing in the shallows/swimming. They make 'water wubba' floaty toys for them to fetch with. Remember to bring him his own towel (wet dog smell, eww!) especially if the temps are lower or its breezy, he's still just a baby  (besides that, if you're boating with any 'iffy' dog people, I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate being shaken on by wet dog!  )

Have fun! Take pics! Share! lol Let us know how you make out.

Best,
-Yvonne


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

unloader said:


> I am not dead set on an 8 hour outing. I always have the option to take him on the boat for 2-4 hours and then take him back to the air conditioned house after that point. He would be able to stay crated at the house for 4 hours, especially if he is tired.


Well if that's the case than go for it. Just as long as you arent dead set on staying on a little pontoon boat for all 8 hours in the hot sun, i'd say go for it.


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks a bunch to everyone that took the time to respond and vote! I think we will take him, but just in case he hates the boat or it's too hot, we will have a backup plan in place.

Thanks again!


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