Dogs on boats

[Coppercove1]

Just back from 35 nights out, from our base in North Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast, Desolation Sound (twice), the Discovery Islands, & Princess Louisa Inlet. It has been fantastic, and realization of our many year dream of semi-retirement and time on our still new to us trawler.

We have been boating in these areas since the kids were little and boats were much smaller, since about 2001.

We could not fail to notice that an extremely high percentage of our fellow boaters have dogs on board, often two. In some anchorages I would estimate that up to half the vessels have dogs. This seemed like a change, and perhaps is a COVID-era trend. Do folks agree?

We love dogs, and have had various dogs as part of our family until our beloved Toby went to his reward in 2020. We have no plans to replace him and have doggy crew on board, but that is our choice.

We have to comment however on the impact of boat dogs in some of the crowded anchorages, eg, Roscoe Bay, Prideaux Haven, Tenedos Bay, Squirrel Cove, etc. When up to 50% of boats have dogs (often 2), and they need shore leave up to 3 times/day to do their business, that is a lot of excrement in shore areas of limited size.

We saw no-one bringing doggy waste bags with them and hauling their production out. Some of the areas are getting foul, and I pitied kayakers looking for camp spots.

I don’t want to see ever more stringent regulations, but if this trend keeps up something needs to change.

What do you all think?

 

[Old Sea Dog]

Clean up after your pets. Just common decency. We travel with 3 small dogs. 2 of them rescues. Whatever happened to leaving the area better than you found it?


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[O C Diver]

I guess times change. My 20 pound beagle passed away 18 years ago (haven't had another dog since) and we never picked up after it. Back then I lived in a rural wooded area. We would go for a walk twice a day and she would do her business at the edge of the woods. Never thought it any different than the squirrels, foxes, coyotes, and everything else doing their business.

Now I understand that it's different in the city, suburbia, parks and other public areas. Just find it amusing that you can have a flock of 100 or more Canadian geese that no longer migrate, continuously fouling a residential neighborhood park and pond, but somebody is cleaning up after their 4 pond miniature dog.

Just one more reason I enjoy other people's dogs when at a marina, as opposed to having my own on the boat.

Ted

 

[rslifkin]

We have a dog on board. And regardless of where we're walking him, we clean up after him. But we're rarely walking him anywhere totally unpopulated, so there's a definite expectation of cleanup.

 

[Shrew]

We are out cruising from mid June until early Sept. While I agree that it is extremely common to see dogs on boats, I don't see dog droppings on the beach. While it would be naive to say or assume that everyone picks up after their dogs, I would say the majority of the time, people are good about it.

It might be the rural nature of the location(s) and people's lack of situational awareness or inability to grasp the inability of such behavior to scale with volume.

 

[Unclematt]

I am currently doing the Great Loop with my dog. I don't care where she goes I clean all of it up. It is the right thing to do. The geese do make an awful mess.

 

[SteveK]

We saw no-one bringing doggy waste bags with them and hauling their production out. Some of the areas are getting foul, and I pitied kayakers looking for camp spots.

Curious, where would 50% of boaters with dogs store and then get rid of that pile of **** at one time after a 2-3 week haul.

 

[socalrider]

We're just back from 5 weeks out in the Channel Islands & Catalina. 2 dogs & 3 kids plus friends. Lots of excrement. We always bag our dog droppings & put them in a plastic bag under our bow pulpit to be disposed of whenever there's a trash can to be found.

If there were no trash cans to be found, things would get pretty gross after a week or so. Not an issue for us where we cruise though.

One question for the group: we use these plant-based compostable doggie bags & have been tempted to toss them overboard when we're out past the 2nm limit, but I'm hearing different things about whether they actually decompose. Would hate for them to wash up on a beach before breaking apart. Anyone seen data on how they behave in an ocean?

 

[KnotYet]

Curious, where would 50% of boaters with dogs store and then get rid of that pile of **** at one time after a 2-3 week haul.

Contemplate it while astride the throne, grasshopper!
T'would be but a minimal addition to the blackwater tank, methinks.

 

[ssobol]

Curious, where would 50% of boaters with dogs store and then get rid of that pile of **** at one time after a 2-3 week haul.

What prevents one from dumping it in the boat toilet (yes, without the bag)?

Depending on the size of the dog it will fill the holding tank up faster, but on a larger boat with a smaller dog, you'll probably not notice any decrease in holding tank pumping intervals.

 

[SteveK]

Contemplate it while astride the throne, grasshopper!
T'would be but a minimal addition to the blackwater tank, methinks.

What prevents one from dumping it in the boat toilet (yes, without the bag)?

Depending on the size of the dog it will fill the holding tank up faster, but on a larger boat with a smaller dog, you'll probably not notice any decrease in holding tank pumping intervals.

You boys must not have a dog. bagging it is easy, getting the sticky mess out not so much. Go on dreaming about it though. When cats must wear diapers in residential neighbourhoods maybe then will I care if my dog craps in the woods.

 

[KnotYet]

You boys must not have a dog. bagging it is easy, getting the sticky mess out not so much. Go on dreaming about it though. When cats must wear diapers in residential neighbourhoods maybe then will I care if my dog craps in the woods.

Only 3 dogs at present...
Less about crapping in the woods, more about fouling a public area (like always).
A great innovation such as a bit of toilet paper eases the poo-bag release as well.

 

[catalinajack]

Just back from 35 nights out, from our base in North Vancouver to the Sunshine Coast, Desolation Sound (twice), the Discovery Islands, & Princess Louisa Inlet. It has been fantastic, and realization of our many year dream of semi-retirement and time on our still new to us trawler.

We have been boating in these areas since the kids were little and boats were much smaller, since about 2001.

We could not fail to notice that an extremely high percentage of our fellow boaters have dogs on board, often two. In some anchorages I would estimate that up to half the vessels have dogs. This seemed like a change, and perhaps is a COVID-era trend. Do folks agree?

We love dogs, and have had various dogs as part of our family until our beloved Toby went to his reward in 2020. We have no plans to replace him and have doggy crew on board, but that is our choice.

We have to comment however on the impact of boat dogs in some of the crowded anchorages, eg, Roscoe Bay, Prideaux Haven, Tenedos Bay, Squirrel Cove, etc. When up to 50% of boats have dogs (often 2), and they need shore leave up to 3 times/day to do their business, that is a lot of excrement in shore areas of limited size.

We saw no-one bringing doggy waste bags with them and hauling their production out. Some of the areas are getting foul, and I pitied kayakers looking for camp spots.

I don’t want to see ever more stringent regulations, but if this trend keeps up something needs to change.

What do you all think?

Those same dog lovers would criticize in an instant anyone discharging their holding tank in unauthorized waters yet are a-okay with washing their dog's crap overboard anywhere they please. Plus, even those who bring their dogs to shore to crap, do they pick up their dog's crap and bring it back for safe disposal? Not likely. Nope they leave it right there next to the water to wash in the waterway with the next rain. I love dogs. I do not like dogs on cruising boats because, for the most part, their owners leave the crap in the water, one way or another. Hypocrits all.

 

[ssobol]

Those same dog lovers would criticize in an instant anyone discharging their holding tank in unauthorized waters yet are a-okay with washing their dog's crap overboard anywhere they please. Plus, even those who bring their dogs to shore to crap, do they pick up their dog's crap and bring it back for safe disposal? Not likely. Nope they leave it right there next to the water to wash in the waterway with the next rain. I love dogs. I do not like dogs on cruising boats because, for the most part, their owners leave the crap in the water, one way or another. Hypocrits all.

Likely argument is that "... raccoons, bears, foxes, [some other wild animal] poops in the woods, on the beach, wherever, and no one cares. How does my dog pooping there make any difference?"

It's possibly ok when only ONE dog owner thinks this way, but when a large number do, it becomes a problem.

P.S. My dog does not being on my boat even when it is on the trailer in the driveway, so when I go boating he stays home.

 

[Deano]

When underway we kept a square of sod on the foredeck. It was the only think our little dog would use. We’d pick up the poop and hose down occasionally.

 

[thataway]

We have been boating with dogs aboard since 1982. We took a 75# Labrador retriever from Long Beach CA, to the Med and Baltic. She passed on in Holland. But no major issues, except several countries we could not visit because of rabies fears.

We cruised AK with two labs aboard for 4 seasons in the 1992 the 1996 era--adn there were very few dogs aboard at that time. Those dogs sailed with us to Pensacola thru the Panama Canal--again rare to see dogs aboard.

We have been boating with smaller dogs as we age. For the last 10 years it has been a miniature Poodle--an ideal boat dog. They do not shed, (bilge pumps don't like dog hair.). They are water dogs, swim well and small enough to easily pick up.

We either picked up the poop or buried it--never left on the shore line. There are multiple reasons not to leave excrement of any type in our harbors or lands.

 

[backinblue]

I am currently doing the Great Loop with my dog. I don't care where she goes I clean all of it up. It is the right thing to do. The geese do make an awful mess.

Hi Matt. How far have you gotten? Everything going well? Haven't heard much from you since you started.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

“Now I understand that it's different in the city, suburbia, parks and other public areas. Just find it amusing that you can have a flock of 100 or more Canadian geese that no longer migrate, continuously fouling a residential neighborhood park and pond, but somebody is cleaning up after their 4 pond miniature dog.”

I always pick up after my 18 lb. Princess and quietly hope that someone is working on eradicating the large flocks of Canadiens (geese) that are raising havoc in our marinas.

 

[backinblue]

Reminds me of a news story a few years ago where a man was seen peeing into a resevoir and they ended up draining it. I think it was Portland OR or somewhere near there.

 

[AlaskaProf]

We cruised AK with two labs aboard for 4 seasons in the 1992 the 1996 era--adn there were very few dogs aboard at that time. Those dogs sailed with us to Pensacola thru the Panama Canal--again rare to see dogs aboard.

Pretty impressive, but Kevin remains the dog/boat champ in my estimation. Seen here going "walkies" in Prince William Sound. (yeah, I've posted this one before, but I really like it)

 

[backinblue]

Count me as impressed! I just this week got a new puppy that will be much smaller than the smallest of those dogs and I'm worried about getting him used to boating. I'm inspired!

 

[catalinajack]

Pretty impressive, but Kevin remains the dog/boat champ in my estimation. Seen here going "walkies" in Prince William Sound. (yeah, I've posted this one before, but I really like it)

What I see in this picture is a dog slave.

 

[ssobol]

What I see in this picture is a dog slave.

We all make our own life choices.