Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueBlue
When boarding, we tied the dink alongside a removable boarding ladder and simply lifted him through the boarding gate. You will find that (most) dogs will assist you by kicking off the dink's gunwale with his hind quarters, while using the front legs to lift himself aboard. We are friends with several cruising sailors with larger dogs who use the same technique. |
Both of our dogs employ the same assist with the front legs technique to get onboard. Our 11 year old dog was 90-something pounds and the handle on the doggie life jacket made it very easy to asist with onboarding and offboarding. He trusted me enough to jump and I guided him to the pontoons. It was his idea to use the pontoons, but once we established the routine he started to trust me and would just jump once we were in position. It was then my job to prevent him from crashing. The handle on the doggie life jacket is key.