Can you train your dog for boat life before you buy the boat? Sure. It’s not that different from preparing your dog for any major life change.
Before you up-end your life, you need to know your dog will be happy with your choice.
How? It’s easy. Just train your dog to live on a boat—before you buy it.
Train Your Dog For Boat Life (Or Any Big Life Change)
Sure, moving onto a boat with your dog is a major life change. But before you panic thinking it’s too major for your dog to adapt to, think of any number of things they’ve already learned to handle:
- Moving to a new town
- Taking a long car trip
- Staying in a kennel or with a pet sitter
- Going camping
- Adopting another dog (or adding a cat or other animal)
How do you know your dog will handle the change well before you just go ahead and do it? You can do what we did and start training now help your dog make the leap.
Long before we bought Meander, we trained Honey for boat life. You don’t need to own a boat to do it.
Here’s how we prepared Honey for sailing. And it worked!
Training Honey To Be A Boat Dog
I started training Honey for boat life when I was still a newbie sailor–around our third season on the water.
As a new sailor, boat life was still strange to me like it was for Honey. Being a young (in experience) sailor helped with training our dog for boat life.
If I had sailed my entire life, I’d find it much harder to figure out what about boating will feel strange to my dog. And I’d struggle to know what I had to train her to do to adapt to boat life.
I started by noting all the things about sailboats that could feel unsettling to Honey:
- Boats are big
- Boarding a boat is awkward, requiring a gangplank or scrambling over a bow pulpit or around stanchions
- Boats move when you step aboard or move around them (at least the small ones)
- Parts of the boat move unexpectedly, like the boom swinging overhead when you turn through the wind
- Wind causes sails to flap noisily
- Moving parts, like halyards, clank against the mast
- When a boat is in motion, it may heel (lean to the side) so you find yourself sitting or standing on a tilting surface
- Big gusts can blow a boat over dramatically
- Spaces in a boat are compact and crowded
- Wet boats are slippery to walk on
And that’s just the beginning. I haven’t even mentioned house training a dog to a boat on a long passage with no access to land.
So how do we expose Honey to a sailboat without buying one we can’t afford?
We expose her to similar experiences on dry land.
Before You Buy A Boat
Once you start looking, it’s amazing how many boat experiences you can emulate on dry land.
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Our trainer, Russ Hollier, suggested a wobble board (Amazon) and a teeter plank (Amazon) to teach Honey to feel more comfortable with traveling over new and potentially moving surface. You can see her early experiences with these scary, moving objects in her video, Adventure Dog in Training.
After many months of training, she’s a natural with moving surfaces. She’ll sit or lie down on a wobble board even as I move it under her.
We simulated flapping sails by hanging tarps on the clothesline. A flagpole is a good stand-in for halyards hitting a mast. Metal playground equipment in the rain is not unlike climbing around a slippery boat.
With all this practice, Honey has gained a lot of confidence.
Now we just had to test it with the real thing.
Take The Dog Sailing
Thanks to our friends at Go Pet Friendly, we found Dog Gone Sailing Charters in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Captain Ro offers dog-friendly day sails.
And her first time sailing, Honey did great.
Taking Honey on a boat charter allowed us to see if Honey had any misgivings about sailing—before spending thousands of dollars on a sailboat.
Training Your Dog For Boat Life
We’ve done every one of these things to train Honey for boat life. I bet they’ll work for your dog too.
Here’s how to train your dog for living on a boat.
- Get professional help.
If you’re making a big change in your life, why leave it to chance? Give your dog the best chance of success by working with an experienced, positive, and relationship-based trainer.
Our trainer, Russ, suggested things I would have never thought of in a million years. Honey’s confidence has increased a thousandfold thanks to the advice we got from a pro. - List what you need to train your dog to do.
Once I had my list of potentially scary things about a sailboat, it was easy to take the next step. We developed a plan to train Honey to cope with each of the potentially scary parts of boat life.
We also worked on ramps, moving surfaces, and exposure to water. - Expose your dog to changes a little at a time.
We spent a lot of time just walking around the docks with Honey before starting actual training.
Find a way to give your dog access to a boat tied up at a dock. Don’t be in a hurry to set off before your dog has even gotten used to a still boat. - Practice every day.
We trained Honey every day for a few minutes to get her ready for her first boat trip. It made the actual experience somewhat familiar from repetition.
- Make a backup plan.
Some dogs tolerate change better than others. It’s the same with humans.
If your dog doesn’t like the boat, think about next steps. Perhaps you go back to step one. Maybe you adapt your cruising plans, Or perhaps you travel by RV instead of boat.
You’re family. Figure out how to make everyone happy.
Want To Cruise With Your Dog? Start Today
If you’ve ever wondered if your dog could handle something as crazy as living on a sailboat, now is the time to see.
Start training today even if you don’t own a boat.
You have nothing to lose. Except your curiosity to know what your dog is capable of.
Your Turn: Do you have big dreams of an adventure with your dog? How about another change that’s less dramatic? Have you done anything special to prepare your dog?
(Note: This post was first written in April 2013–2 years before we moved onboard Meander. It has been updated and republished.)
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Wow, is it really possible to live on a sailboat for a length of time? Do they make sail-houseboats? I guess I know very little about boats.
Sounds like you are well-prepared and your journey with Honey should be smooth sailing, so to speak. What great ideas for preparing a dog for big change, rather than just hoping for the best.
Long term sailors are called cruisers and there are thousands of them all over the world.
The life has a bit in common with living in and traveling by RV. A 30+ foot sail boat has a small galley (kitchen), compact sleeping quarters, and a head (bathroom) about the size of a phone booth.
The big difference? If you’re crossing an ocean, you can’t just stop in the middle of the night. Someone has to keep watch to makes sure you don’t sail into a tanker.
So I’m thinking the life will be as big a change for us as for Honey. But we have a choice, she doesn’t. Hope you’re right and the preparation pays off.
Excellent advice on thinking through how things may impact your dog. We’re not sailors, but would take our dogs on ‘pontoon’ boats for fishing. Sally, being a Lab LOVED it…ready to jump out in the middle of the lake and into the water. Tino HATED it as soon as we got within jumping distance of the dock he jumped out and ran down the dock until he was on dry land. Poor thing – we didn’t take him again.
You raise a point we’ve thought about a lot. Honey doesn’t know she’s a water dog and she isn’t interested in swimming. That could be a very good thing so she doesn’t jump in the water like Sally.
She’s never jumped out of the kayak so I’m hoping a sailboat will feel even more secure to her.
Jack & Maggie are like Honey, no interest in swimming or water. I used to try to keep one hand on Sally all the time though – she really wanted to just jump in that water and swim and if a duck happened by…oh no…made me so nervous. I see she has a life jacket, so that’s good. But you are probably right the sailboat will seem more stable and safer. Good Luck!
Though I have not sailed recently I grew up sailing. A great post to start one thinking about changes. Thanks.
Lucky you. I wish I had been introduced to sailing as a young person. The learning would be much easier.
If you decide to take it back up, we’ve seen a few sailors who take their dachshunds with them. Apparently many of them take to it quite well. 🙂
It’s great that you are so thoughtful and forward thinking that you have started preparing Honey now. My approach with Chester and Gretel has pretty much been sink or swim with things (no pun intended) and they have handled it pretty well. I have come up against a couple of cases where I think I hurt the process by making too big of a leap.
I never know if I’m being overly cautious or not. But after seeing how frightened Honey was the first time we tried to get her to walk on a ramp, I guess it pays to go slow.
Chester and Gretel just might have bolder personalities for new experiences. But we’re always guessing what our dogs’ reactions will be when we try something new with them, aren’t we?
Aw dog. Now all I can think about is a margarita.
Are you bringing your treats to BlogPaws? If so, Honey and I would love to buy you a margarita in the hotel bar. 🙂
Bishu didn’t care for boats, wagons or sleds, but loved car rides. She didn’t like the feel of something slipping around under her and the wobbling/swaying, I guess. Even slipping your feet under the covers on the bed caused a “harumph” and dive off the bed to more stable surfaces. This was good since we preferred her not sleeping with us. A full size bed is way too small for 2 adults and a medium sized dog!
Great ideas for our next go ’round. Hope to get our next dog interesting in kayaking.
I think it’s fantastic how you guys are taking such great care to make Honey comfortable on the boat. You’ve really thought of everything, and I can’t wait to hear how your sail in P-town goes. If I’m not mistaken, one of the skippers on that boat is a beagle. It will be interesting to see if having another dog there might make Honey more comfortable – you know, he can show her the ropes. (Let the sailing puns begin!)
We really didn’t have many challenges with the boys in the transition to the RV. Buster’s barking when we started and stopped was a bit of a hurdle, but even that’s gotten a lot better. Just knowing that they’re with us I think helps a lot. Families stick together … dogs believe that just as much as humans I think.
Good job of preping!
I went the simpler route, I live with bullheaded dogs that refuse to admit there is anything they can’t do – I can’t figure out if that makes my life harder or simpler – probably both 🙂 Just a different set of considerations.
True, change is not easy all the time with our pets. A lot of it depends on the animal’s temperament and sometimes there’s no way to prepare them. When we moved into our house in Oregon, after a move from Colorado, our Maggie was freaked out by the wood floors and wouldn’t walk on them. We solved the problem by putting her bed by the door and she slowly figured out the floors weren’t as alien as she thought!
Really great post here. We go through major changes every 2-3 years moving with the Military and we have been fortunate that Luna and Penny are able to quickly adapt to their new surroundings and lifestyle. Penny has a much bolder personality so she isn’t shy when we introduce her to new things. Luna, on the other hand, is probably similar to Honey where we have to take our time to build up her confidence.
I know my dogs pretty well and how they will react and cope with most situations. One reason I fostered Riley is because I’d love another Greyhound and while Greyhound visitors are made very welcome here, especially by Frankie, I wasn’t sure of their reaction to an overstayer. After having Riley here for just over a month the jury is still out on the decision. Not sure if it’s because he just wasn’t quite the right dog or if it’s bringing a third dog into the equation. So I’ll keep fostering whilel I work it out and even if I never add another GH to our family I’m doing something good so it’s a win/win really:)
Looking forward to reading about Honey’s day cruise at the end of May! I hope you all have a blast.
You are one smart, thoughtful lady! And Honey is one lucky dog to have such an adventure ahead of her! I have dog friends who go kayaking and canoeing. I love the water, but have never been on a boat. You make it sound a bit scary! I hope Honey enjoys it. And I bet she will! Thanks for sharing.
That is really cool what you are doing to prepare Honey for a sail. I always note that understanding our dogs is so important. Also, your post is helping me because I need to start thinking what I can do now to help Kelly in the event we adopt another dog. I know she can adjust, because she did with Brooks, but I also know that she will likely have some trouble with the transition when the time comes. I will have to use your suggestions to brainstorm ways to help her. Thanks. And I can’t wait to hear more about your sailing!
I believe most dogs are pretty resilient, especially if they have their owner by their side. Good luck and if you need a cabin boy, and a cabin dog, I am available.