getting 80 pound dog aboard

[fractalphreak]

We boat with our dogs. For this year I built a prototype ramp that builds off the original steps on the transom. I built it so it could accommodate the humans as well. It worked well, and so I am engineering something similar but more permanent, which will basically mean more attractive and longer lasting. The carpeting was selected to give the dogs (and humans) good positive grip.

With this setup, we had the dink lashed to the swim step, and the dogs could board or deboard themselves, without any human touch. Mindi is 55 lbs and Rio is about 32. The upper step is about 15 1/2 or 16 inches wide (front to back), and both dogs are completely comfortable stepping over the gunnel from the aft deck onto that step, then turning and going down the ramp then into the RIB.

With this in place, I can still access my swim step, with or without the dinghy in place, and can still launch and retrieve the dinghy with my Seawise davit.

 

[78puget-trawler]

We had a similar incident the very first overnight outing with our boat.

At 8:00 AM I had hand loaded the dogs into the dink to make a potty run to shore. Half way there the 90 pound dog decides to bail out and swim back to the boat. By the time I had rowed back and side tied away from the swim platform, he was attempting unsuccessfully to get up on his own.

My wife held him up until I could lift him aboard - we both got drenched. The knucklehead only did it once.

I am laughing here, sounds almost identical to what happened to us.

 

[Aft Deck Capt]

Nice solution, I'm glad your dogs navigate it easily.

As our big guy aged I built a similar arrangement for dockside loading and unloading. I had to train him at home with treats before using it on the boat.

 

[Aft Deck Capt]

78P-T, I wish I had video of the event! I'm not sure who had the most entertaining expression...my wife or the dog!

 

[78puget-trawler]

I know all 3 of us were pretty well wrung out by time we got Yaboob aboard! I call him Yaboob as in 'you boob'. I told my daughters mother in law that Yaboob was Arabic for Trooper, his real name! LOL, she almost fell for it!!

 

[Simi 60]

Geeez I'm glad we have a cat

Never needs to go ashore
Sh1ts in a tray
Eats raw fish
Pick her up one handed
Incredibly agile.

 

[Xlantic]

I have been getting my various Labs in-and-out of my trawlers over the years.

I use a passerelle to get them on-and-off the the boat from the dock. This often needs a bit of coaxing.

To get them down to the swim platform In my previous boat, a Grand Banks 42 CL, I built two light platforms that worked quite well and were a big improvement from man-handling.

In my current boat, a Grand Banks 50, the cockpit is around 6 feet above the swim platform. I built a set of steps that works well, although my 11 year old Lab needs lot0's of encouragement.

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: I see how much you all love your dogs and know they love you the same. I see all the effort and I just have to say one reminder. Please keep the dog's happiness and comfort in mind. If your doggy reaches the age or size or whatever that boating isn't the same joyful experience it was, please recognize that just as you would for any other family member. Recognize both the physical and mental aspect, as if getting on and off scares the dog in some way, doing so several times a day is tough. I know you all love your dogs very much and sure you don't really need this reminder, but just in case.

 

[JohnEasley]

Wifey B: I see how much you all love your dogs and know they love you the same. I see all the effort and I just have to say one reminder. Please keep the dog's happiness and comfort in mind. If your doggy reaches the age or size or whatever that boating isn't the same joyful experience it was, please recognize that just as you would for any other family member. Recognize both the physical and mental aspect, as if getting on and off scares the dog in some way, doing so several times a day is tough. I know you all love your dogs very much and sure you don't really need this reminder, but just in case.

A good reminder. Thanks. It isn’t just about us.

 

[ctjstr]

I've been considering this for our aging Pointers.

https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Solv...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

those are great. bought one for our older dog and each time we extend it, its pretty much a guarantee she'll just jump on board without the ramp. We did find an added benefit a couple weeks ago. We were tied up next to a boat with a couple that had been married 60 years. Mom had some early alzheimers and refused to leave the boat. I was chatting with her husband and suggested he take the ramp and let her use it to walk. Worked like a champ and they were happy. Offered them the ramp to take home. Fortunately she was pretty small, but still 150 lb or so. think of them often now and hope they have some good years left.

 

[markpierce]

Wouldn't human children be less of a burden? They can be potty trained.

 

[Comodave]

Wouldn't human children be less of a burden? They can be potty trained.

Dogs can also be trained...

 

[MOJO]

I was told by a trainer that dogs don't have a sense of where their back feet are...the back feet just follow the front feet. If the back feet don't "feel" the same surface as the front, the dog balks. They need to learn to know where their back feet are and move them independent of the front feet. Training them to go up/down a ramp, climb a ladder, etc., often requires you to move the back feet for the dog to show it where to put the feet. Dogs trained to actually climb ladders start off with the ladder horizontal a few inches off the ground. You move the front feet to the next step then help the dog learn where to move the back feet. With a little bit of encouragement and help they learn to walk the horizontal ladder. Then the angle is increased until they can climb. Training for a ramp should be easier, but maybe start out with it horizontal on the ground with a treat/reward for just staying on the ramp as they walk along. Increase the angle just a little, rinse and repeat until the dog can/will walk up and down.

 

[sunchaser]

Looking for ways to get my 80 lb 12 year old chocolate lab on board. SHe will not walk a ramp and she is to heavy for me to lift on and off the grand banks. was thinking of some sort of rope and pulley thing attached to some sort of dog sling to swing her on board but have no idea how. Love to hear some successful ideas. Thanks

Assuming you have a swim platform and transom boarding gate:

We saw a vessel very close to yours in design a few weeks ago in Roche Harbor with a Golden Retriever aboard. With the transom door open and backed into slip, they had a 2x12 (about 6-7' long) that reached from the dock into the transom door. They'd done a neat job of covering 2x12 with wrapped rope for traction in wet weather. When at anchor the dog scampered from the dinghy onto swim platform and through the transom door.

 

[foreverunderway]

For years I have been trying to get enough boaters together to build 3 to 5 step side accommodation ladders at a reasonable price. It would require 10 orders to get them out (in alloy, possibly with teak steps) at around us$3500.00 plus shipping from Trinidad or Grenada. All I've found start at twice that and much, much more. It not only would work from the dock, but dink or swimming as well.

I believe it would add years to the usability to owners of those boats without sugar scoop sterns, as well, Just walking up stairs to the deck level. They fold up against the lifelines completely out of the way.
Here is one design in SS. I have several others. Of course, any would hold at least 400# of people, not just a dog.

 

[cabinetman1955]

Looking for ways to get my 80 lb 12 year old chocolate lab on board. SHe will not walk a ramp and she is to heavy for me to lift on and off the grand banks. was thinking of some sort of rope and pulley thing attached to some sort of dog sling to swing her on board but have no idea how. Love to hear some successful ideas. THanks

How about a small davit on the boat and a body harness that supports the dogs body. You put the harness on the dog on the dock lift it up and swing it onto the boat.

 

[High Wire]

We had a miniture poodle mix that could scale chain link cyclone fence paw over paw without any training (escape artist). I wonder if heavy commercial fish netting would provide a way out of the water

 

[mdstrum]

we have an 130lbs newfi and use the Pet Loader Steps, they fold up small and can take 250lbs...steps for us working better then ramps for the car and when boat is on a high dock and swim platform is not an option

https://www.petloader.com/

 

[Jacques Burgalat]

I'm with Wifey B and those who think that we should let old sleeping dogs lay if we can.

Granted, if you're on a trip, you don't have much of a choice but to haul your pup on and off the boat at regular intervals, but whatever you do, forget the hoist and harness method unless you've been using it since puppyhood. Dogs aren't dinks, and they WILL find a way of wiggling out of it, often at the most inopportune moment.

Those of you who just want to go out on the water for a few hours would probably do well to leave your aging pup at home. Most dogs don't only become arthritic and physically unstable with age, they also become deaf, and deafness makes them loose confidence in their surroundings, which probably matters more to them than we might think.

 

[thataway]

Cruised extensively with labs (2 for 4 years--one from Calif to Europe). We made a sling for our labs out of a square piece of Sunbrella, with re-inforcement straps under and to the 4 grommets in the corners. We used a Spinaker Halyard to house the dog, who was trained to lie down in the middle. The lifts included from when the boat was on the hard (7' draft, so the distance from deck to ground was about 13', and when we were at a large freighter pier, so the lift was about 30 feet above the deck).

For a Sundeck motor yacht, I made a "boson's chair" for our labs. It was about 2 x 3" square of plywood, I glued a pad to the top. Sunbrella was stapled to the bottom, and then around the sides, with an overlap opening at one 2' end. This was secured with "Common Sense" fasteners (turn button). There were heavy straps crossing under the plywood, with a "D ring sewn into the apex. The dinghy davit was used to take the dog from Sundeck to dinghy. The dog walked thru the boarding gate, laid down on the pad, and was raised up or down.

We always taught our dogs how to get into our inflatables, with our help. We have also taught labs to climb boarding ladders and use ramps. We had a Dog Pasarelle off the stern, which the lab went on and off a number of times a day. It was about 18" wide and 8' long, mostly made of 1/8" Brunzelle Ply "H" secant and epoxy, with some glass and cored center. We had 1/2" square cleats about every 12", with carpet between the cleats.

 

[Comodave]

Cruised extensively with labs (2 for 4 years--one from Calif to Europe). We made a sling for our labs out of a square piece of Sunbrella, with re-inforcement straps under and to the 4 grommets in the corners. We used a Spinaker Halyard to house the dog, who was trained to lie down in the middle. The lifts included from when the boat was on the hard (7' draft, so the distance from deck to ground was about 13', and when we were at a large freighter pier, so the lift was about 30 feet above the deck).

For a Sundeck motor yacht, I made a "boson's chair" for our labs. It was about 2 x 3" square of plywood, I glued a pad to the top. Sunbrella was stapled to the bottom, and then around the sides, with an overlap opening at one 2' end. This was secured with "Common Sense" fasteners (turn button). There were heavy straps crossing under the plywood, with a "D ring sewn into the apex. The dinghy davit was used to take the dog from Sundeck to dinghy. The dog walked thru the boarding gate, laid down on the pad, and was raised up or down.

We always taught our dogs how to get into our inflatables, with out help. We have also taught labs to climb boarding ladders and use ramps. We had a Dog Pasarelle off the stern, which the lab went on and off a number of times a day. It was about 18" wide and 8' long, mostly made of 1/8" Brunzelle Ply "H" secant and epoxy, with some glass and cored center. We had 1/2" square cleats about every 12", with carpet between the cleats.

Labs will bend over backwards to learn what you want them to do. Give them 15 minutes or so and some treats and they pick it up. Particularly if the promise of more treats and some love at the completion of the task...

 

[BruceK]

You might like this:

How about the descent, you can see the dog working it out: "this looks hard,I`ll just jump". The kelpie breed is an Australian working dog. Smart,loyal,good at working sheep,resourceful, and willing to learn. Kept domestically in cities, they need to be exercised and occupied.

 

[Jacques Burgalat]

I think the OP was asking for ways to load a large, old dog onto a boat, when that old, large dog didn't really want to go there anymore, and his/her owner was beyond being able to throw it over their shoulder and carry it aboard.

You're not going to teach an old, arthritic dog who used to jump aboard to go down a gangplank when his rear end is all over the place, or to hang quietly from a sling for the first time in his life. Old dogs don't learn new tricks that easily.

My advice is to use a plastic dog crate that you can either hoist or push aboard and vice-versa, with a piece of wall-to-wall carpet on the bottom for footing.

 

[n3qtrtme]

We bought a the 3 step Taylor made boat steps. Drilled a couple of holes in the side, suspended them off the side stanchions with a fender behind for support. I call them “redneck dog steps” and when we are at a dock, they are just regular dock steps. Yeah, they look funny. But, both my old lab (since gone) and the younger one use them easily. I can’t figure out how to post pictures but if you go to Carolyn Sherlock’s Boat Galley site, she wrote an article on it featuring our dog. I will try to figure it out, but in the meantime, check the Boat Galley.

 

[n3qtrtme]

Here’s the link... https://theboatgalley.com/boarding-steps-for-a-big-dog/

 

[thataway]

I think the OP was asking for ways to load a large, old dog onto a boat, when that old, large dog didn't really want to go there anymore, and his/her owner was beyond being able to throw it over their shoulder and carry it aboard.

You're not going to teach an old, arthritic dog who used to jump aboard to go down a gangplank when his rear end is all over the place, or to hang quietly from a sling for the first time in his life. Old dogs don't learn new tricks that easily.

My advice is to use a plastic dog crate that you can either hoist or push aboard and vice-versa, with a piece of wall-to-wall carpet on the bottom for footing.

I need to clarify our "sling". (Our lab was 12 years old when we taught her to lie down in the center of a 5' x 5' piece of reinforced Sunbrella.) The 4 corners were gathered, and a lashing put into the grommets, and the halyard (hoist) lifted this sling. Dog was completely surrounded by the Sunbrella, not an open sling.

Incidentally Jacques, "Suzzie" left us when we were in Sixhaven Marina in Amsterdam. A kind neighbor took us to the Veterinarian school at Utrecht University where we found she had inoperable cancer at age 14. She had sailed over 15,000 miles with us by the time she passed on.

Certainly a dog crate would work--as would the other alternative, with a plywood floor, which is far easier to stow.

 

[HiDHo]

We use a sling made from Herculite awning material, it has four leg holes and two strap handles. I use our upper deck dinghy davit to raise and lower our dog that weigh’s about 45 lbs to pilothouse level. I use a snatch block to center the pull thru our deck hatch opening.

 

[cabinetman1955]

I love dogs. I'd never boat with one.


It seems to me that just as we select a boat to match our own physical limitations as we age, it would make sense to pick a boat that would match our dogs physical limitations as they age.


I would be very concerned about depending on a block and tackle with harness to get a large dog on and off the boat. I can see too many ways the dog could become injured as it is something that would have to be done at least a couple times a day.

My dogs PFD had a lifting loop in the middle of the back that we could lift him out of the water he was a small dog but the harnesses I have seen for big dogs have lifting loops on them ?

 

[Comodave]

My dogs PFD had a lifting loop in the middle of the back that we could lift him out of the water he was a small dog but the harnesses I have seen for big dogs have lifting loops on them ?

We have a Kyjen Outward Hound PFD for our 85 pound Lab that has 2 loops on the back for picking him up. When we got it we would put it on him and give him a treat. Then we would carry him around and another treat. He loves the PFD, cannot wait to get into it when we pull it out.

 

[MOJO]

I would be very concerned about depending on a block and tackle with harness to get a large dog on and off the boat. I can see too many ways the dog could become injured as it is something that would have to be done at least a couple times a day.

We had a 65 lb German Sheppard on our 42' sail boat. She was very reluctant to let us lift her up from the dinghy to the deck. I had a harness custom made for her so we could swing the boom outboard, attach a block and tackle and lift her up. We did it twice. She HATED being suspended in the air so much that she "learned" to allow us to lift her up. We'd bring the dinghy along side, put her front feet up on the rail and then boost her rear end up. She'd practically leap out of the dinghy to get on deck. Ditto for her getting in the dinghy. I'd get in the dinghy, she'd put her front feet on the rail and allow me to "help" her jump in. Never used the harness again!