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My Dog Won't Pee on the Boat

3K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Multihullgirl 
#1 ·
What's a fella to do..?

I mean it's a good habit to have at home (not peeing in the house) but becomes inconvenient out on the boat...

Been sailing the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior so we generally can get him to shore once or twice a day, lot of the islands have public piers I can get into, but we prefer to anchor out, which means launching the dingy and rowing to shore for doggy duty...

He can hold it for awhile, usually we hit shore in the morning and around supper time and sometimes the morning romp waits till noon if were heading to another island early in the morn.

But next season I'd like to take a trip from Bayfield to Isle Royal which means a good 48 hrs on open water...

We've put him in the cockpit and waited but nothing ever happens, he'll just look over the coaming at the trees on the islands and wimper softly...

Any suggestions on getting him to "go"..?

I'm sure if we wait "long enough" something will happen, but I'd like to train him to go on a regular basis on the cockpit floor so I can reduce the number of trips in the dingy..

 
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#2 ·
Next time you take him/her to shore collect a little pee, and poop, or at home. Get some puppy pads at the doggy store, and wet the pad a little in the middle. It should get the message, when you go back to the boat. Put it on the cockpit floor and put him on it and let him smell it. It should not take long if it's has to go. When it does reward him with a treat, and commend it for a good job!
 
#6 ·
In my experience the trick to making this work is using that same piece of astroturf at home. Lay it on the grass or wherever the dog normally goes and guide the dog directly to it when he/she REALLY has to go. You can hose it off between uses to keep it tolerable but there will be an odor that remains which the dog can detect. That odor, plus the feel of the mat under his/her feet will trigger the proper response if it's used enough at home before the dog mysteriously finds the same mat on the deck of the boat.

GTJ
 
#5 ·
We tried that at home when we first got him, but he never got the hang of it...

Eventually we trained him (or he trained us) to go to the door and let his intentions be known...so we let him outside...now he's good at home or anybody else's house...

We tried it on the boat a time or two but no result,(hence the longing looks at the trees)

But maybe we'll try again on the boat and just have to "wait him out"...
 
#7 ·
MY dog will use the use training pads in the house when she is caught short. We have never treated them in any way.

She is on a high sodium diet (bladder stones) and drinks copious amounts or water.

I have never taken her sailing.
 
#8 ·
We tried the astroturf trick. When it didn't work, I decided that she needed the smell of some pee on it to get the idea. I think my neighbor was ready to call the asylum when he saw me walking the dog carrying an astroturf mat and trying to stick it under the dog every time she squatted. I eventually got her to pee on it on land. But we have never been able to get her to use it on the boat. She just gets bigger and bigger and sadder and sadder.
 
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