Dog pee & poop on the boat

[crappierod]

I have trained ny dogs to do their bussness outdoors, How do you do this when you are cruising all day?

 

[tiltrider1]

Train them to use pads.

 

[Comodave]

We have some Astro Turf carpets. We used them at home to get Radar to pee on them. Then we put a pee pad under them on the boat. The pee pad will absorb the urine as it leaks through the Astro Turf. Then rinse the turf off and put the pee pad in the trash. But he much rather goes ashore so if we are staying in a marina he will hold it for 8 hours easily. We have trained him to go on command so he knows what he is supposed to do.

 

[Airnet]

We went thru this last summer with our weimaraner puppy.
1. Get a piece of astro turf or whatever.
2. Get a different dog to pee on it. Do not rinse.
3. Next boat trip, place on swim platform or rinsable surface when you know the dog has to pee.
Done.

It's tough once the dog figures out they can go to shore if they hold it. I know the dog is thinking, "Wait, if I hold it we can go play it the water. Haha sucker"

 

[DavidM]

You can train a puppy to use a pad, but it will take a lot of work to train a mature dog. We cruised full time with our 8 yr old for about a year. She never got it. Once held it for 30 hrs on an overnight passage.

We trained our second dog to use a potty pad from the start. I would keep a piece of I/O carpet on the bow. When we anchored I would just point to the bow and say “go potty” and she would jump up and head to the bow to do it.

Once I sent her up and she came right back barking. I sternly told her to go potty again. She went up and came right back. I then went forward to check and one of the ties to the pad had come loose and it was hanging off the side.

Dogs are often smarter than humans.

David

 

[rslifkin]

Our dog is fine to go 12 hours without a trip ashore and we don't do multi-day passages. So we haven't needed to worry about it, although I don't think we'd have much luck getting him to go on astroturf or a pad anyway. He might pee on it, but he likes to run a 20 foot circle a few times before pooping and there's no room for that on the boat.

 

[crappierod]

dogs pooping

Thanks for thr help

 

[RCook]

We have some Astro Turf carpets. We used them at home to get Radar to pee on them. Then we put a pee pad under them on the boat. The pee pad will absorb the urine as it leaks through the Astro Turf. Then rinse the turf off and put the pee pad in the trash. But he much rather goes ashore so if we are staying in a marina he will hold it for 8 hours easily. We have trained him to go on command so he knows what he is supposed to do.

FWIW, we cut the astroturf to fit in an upside-down rubbermaid tub lid, and zip-tie them together at one end. In the cockpit, it almost always contains the pee, and usually the poo. Easy to dispose overboard and rinse. Worked/works like a charm with our female Border Terriers - both got used to it as pups.

Now, if I could only find the miracle which would get our 5 YO male terrier mix to start using it..... We have tried several versions of applying his pee to the astroturf, but even though the BT uses it regularly, he won't. He seems to think even the cockpit is "in the house", and he won't go there. I haven't tried putting him with it on the modest-sized swim step.

 

[Comodave]

FWIW, we cut the astroturf to fit in an upside-down rubbermaid tub lid, and zip-tie them together at one end. In the cockpit, it almost always contains the pee, and usually the poo. Easy to dispose overboard and rinse. Worked/works like a charm with our female Border Terriers - both got used to it as pups.

Now, if I could only find the miracle which would get our 5 YO male terrier mix to start using it..... We have tried several versions of applying his pee to the astroturf, but even though the BT uses it regularly, he won't. He seems to think even the cockpit is "in the house", and he won't go there. I haven't tried putting him with it on the modest-sized swim step.

Time is the miracle. Just wait him out, eventually he will go. I checked with the vet and he said it was not a problem to let them wait that when he really had to go he would. But most people give in before the dog does. They think it is mean. We had a gravel dog run at a previous house. Our lab back then started digging so I put in pavers. He didn’t like it and wouldn’t use the pen. I called the vet and was told to wait him out. It took 36 hours before he broke down and used the pen. Once he used it he never had anymore issues using the pen. You just have to be the alpha dog in your pack…

 

[Simi 60]

Cat
Problem solved

Ours hasn't been off the boat in six years
Always uses her litterbox

 

[Comodave]

Some people are cat people and some are dog people. We are dog people.

 

[rslifkin]

Some people are cat people and some are dog people. We are dog people.

Seconded.

 

[catalinajack]

So, what do the folks who have pee/poop pads do with the poop? Overboard? I'll bet some do wash poop overboard. No different than emptying a black tank into the water.

 

[Comodave]

We do the same thing that we do when Radar poops ashore, pick it up in a plastic bag and put it in a trash can.

 

[SteveK]

 

[Peter B]

Typo in title fixed. (he boat = the boat) You're welcome. Don't mench...

 

[Simi 60]

Some people are cat people and some are dog people. We are dog people.

I'm a dog person, had them all my life
But not on a boat, too much drama.

I see owners loading them into the tender and taking them ashore in the morning for a crap,
And much of our coastline and islands where people cruise is national park and you get heavily penalised for taking a dog ashore

Last year we had a helicopter land on the beach at the island I am anchored at now to fine someone with a fluffy white dog running amok who thought the rules didn't apply.

 

[Porgy]

So, what do the folks who have pee/poop pads do with the poop? Overboard? I'll bet some do wash poop overboard. No different than emptying a black tank into the water.

I don’t know in terms of pathogens, nutrient loading and important things but, legally they are absolutely different.

 

[catalinajack]

I don’t know in terms of pathogens, nutrient loading and important things but, legally they are absolutely different.

Sir, crap is crap. There is no "legal" difference, although some may rationalize that thinking in order to excuse their bad behavior.

 

[Porgy]

Of course there is a legal difference. Read the applicable CFR definition of sewage. Human waste.

 

[catalinajack]

Of course there is a legal difference. Read the applicable CFR definition of sewage. Human waste.

Porgy, that definition does not take away from the fact that crap is crap. I am virtually certain that when those regs were written, dog crap was not contemplated. If it had been, dog crap would have been proscribed as well. If you are okay with dumping your dog's crap into the waater, then I guess you would be okay with me pumping out my holding tank while anchored nearby to you, legality aside, cuz the effect on water quality is EXACTLY the same.

 

[Porgy]

What, People didn’t have dogs on boats until after the mid 1970’s? They couldn’t contemplate that?

No, I don’t think dogs going here or there, does any harm. Nature evolved to recycle given enough space time and resources. It’s when waste is not diffused but concentrated, like human civilization does, that we run in to problems. No, a dog is not the same as someone emptying their 50 gallon holding tank in one spot.

 

[backinblue]

In these discussions, it's also good to remember what is happening every day on a crowded beach. How many gallons of pee from thousands of beach goers gets deposited in waste deep water? It rarely concerns anybody and is pretty much accepted behavior but those evil boat owners a mile from shore are the real problem!

 

[Shrew]

Of course there is a legal difference. Read the applicable CFR definition of sewage. Human waste.

Could you please point out this distinction?

https://www.epa.gov/vessels-marinas...text=An NDZ is an area,at a pump-out facility.

The designation being used is "Treated and Untreated Sewage". The only reference to 'human' is

The purpose of this NDZ is to safeguard human health through the protection of intake waters used for drinking.

Based on this, dog urine and feces would be equally as impactful.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Wow must be a long long winter if TF has reduced itself to dog sh$t and where to deposit Spot's poop. Really?

Dump it overboard, rinse the pad and forget about it. For those that find this appalling, have you ever dumped your tank 3nm offshore?

 

[SteveK]

WA NDZ has 2 sections, one considers whether there are reasonable pump out locations and the other does not care if there are any.
I am unable to find a map of these two zones or how this exception is applied. Over the last few years closure of pump out locations continue to occur. The questions begs an answer to what are the thousands of boaters to do with the crap besides arguing if dog **** is different from human ****.

 

[Porgy]

“Sewage means human body wastes and the wastes from toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain body waste.”

Title 33 Chaper 1, Subchapter O, Part 159, Subpart A, Section 159.3

 

[mvweebles]

Splitting hairs here. Urine + feces = sewage. There may be a legal technicality in language, and severity of bacteria develoment may vary from species to species, but make no mistake. Take a turd and marinate it in piss and you have a brew that will make you or any other mammal pretty dang sick.

Peter

 

[SteveK]

Then there are some people that drink their own pee, go figure

 

[Shrew]

Wow must be a long long winter if TF has reduced itself to dog sh$t and where to deposit Spot's poop. Really?

Dump it overboard, rinse the pad and forget about it. For those that find this appalling, have you ever dumped your tank 3nm offshore?

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