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cruising with bull dogs

73K views 444 replies 88 participants last post by  tdw 
#1 ·
I am planing a long term cruise with my husband and 2 bull terriers. Both of my dogs are under 50 pounds and are well behaved. Has anyone done any cruising with a bully? I am curious as to which countries do not allow them as well as reactions from port officials. Any info would be a great help.
 
#2 ·
You don't say where you are from or where you wish to ultimately go, nor do you say what kind of boat you have. So I will have to argue from general principles here, principles based on having owned two boats since 1999 and one bull terrier from 1986-2001 (R.I.P.).

Do NOT try to make sailors out of bull terriers, particularly two of them. Reasons to avoid dogs in general include the need of dogs to get daily exercise...exceedingly difficult on a pitching deck. Bull terriers do tend to sleep and fart a great deal, but they can also "fetch the tree" or "retrieve the tire" or "drag the sled" for as long as your arms can hold out. They are immensely strong for their size, and if they are not well-exercised (and not just by demolishing supposedly indestructable "Kongs"), they will likely grow peevish, fat and ill-tempered. Also, a boat is BORING for a dog...no interesting bits of dirt, trees or other dogs' puckerpoints to sniff, and insufficient cabin sole space for the classic bull terrier "spins" that regularly dislodge terrestrial furniture. And let's not forget the epic craps a pair of bull terriers can produce, along with the gas-passing and chow breath and incessant rolling to get comfortable, which will surely wear holes in your expensively Sunbrella-clad V-berth.

And let's not forget that bull terriers are solid, almost cinder-block-like animals. That egg-shaped head will take a bad tumble down a steep companionway, and if you can carry one in one arm while safely going up and down yourself, then you are a circus giant with an entertainer's pension and don't require my advice. The same brute solidity makes them poor swimmers (sinkers, really) and they suffer from inertial forces found in abundance aboard sea-going vessels. Not to mention their relatively thin coats mean they'll get easily chilled in a damp breeze...when they sneeze, I doubt you'll be carrying enough Spray Nine to remedy the carnage.

Lastly, a large number of places will quarantine dogs of any breed, and a subset of those will refuse you entry. I strongly dissuade you therefore to take your dogs, lovable as I well suspect them to be, cruising. If you do, restrict your trips to North American daysails, where every 50 miles sees a dog-friendly, restriction-free harbour where your little darlings can eat a 2 by 4 or six and have a nice, relaxing BM.

Hope this helps.
 
#3 ·
Go to Noonsite.com and see if they have information on the countries you're interested in visiting and what their quarantine regulations are.
 
#4 ·
You gotta be jokin right? No person in their right mind would take two dogs on an extended cruise. Two days at sea you'd be slippin and slidin in dog crap, not to mention sea sickness, the additional water requirements, the different entry requirements for other countries, etc., etc., etc.

The only reason to take a live animal aboard a cruising ship is to have it for dinner 2 weeks out. If you need a good recipe, I have one, stuffed with rice.
 
#282 ·
You gotta be jokin right? No person in their right mind would take two dogs on an extended cruise. Two days at sea you'd be slippin and slidin in dog crap, not to mention sea sickness, the additional water requirements, the different entry requirements for other countries, etc., etc., etc.

Ihave two king charles cavaliers onboard. I am not sliping and sliding on dog crap either! Both are trained for wee pads when we cant go ashore. NO places weve gone out of the US has denyed us entry with the dogs, infact few places have quarentten. Both dogs never get seasick. They eat a preportioned food and we keep 6months worth at a time stored in sealed bins, waste disposal is easy on deck we wash off (that is not often, the pads are thrown in burnable trash) water they have in am and pm..
To read your note shows you not only are a selfish person who has no interest in sharing your life with a dog who would give you company and whose friendship has many rewards. YOu also appear to be so lazy and thoughtless to say such a horrible thing of keeping a live animal only to have dinner in 2 weeks at sea
what a jerk! Your note didnt sound like joking..

Kathleen
s/v Legacy
Exuma, Bahamas (just cruising with 2 dogs)

:hothead
 
#5 ·
Transporting animals by sea from country to country is a huge impracticality. Animals carry diseases that may not be present in the countries you visit. Countries frown on this, especially the US. You may even find your animals subject to quarantine upon return. If it is essential that you land; you may find that your choices are extermination of your animals or no pratique.

Animals at sea are a huge pain in the neck for, what should be, obvious reasons. If you must have animals on your boat I would advise you to take stores south of Hatteras. With the aid of a little lax house-keeping you will soon have cockroaches the size of, well, bull terriers.
 
#7 ·
Several long-term cruisers I know do travel with dogs... the dogs have been trained to use a piece of astro-turf on the swim platform....which is easily cleaned by dunking it over the side (of course you have to be past the 3nm limit ;) ). I don't really see a problem with it, provided the dogs are not super-energetic...a border collie would probably be a bad boat dog... if they are super energetic...can't swim... One person has a Newfie on board... but it gets plenty of exercise swimming.

The real problem is customs....and animal quarantine procedures. You should check with Noonsite.com as I suggested before, as I believe they may have some of the animal quarantine issues listed there. Most former Imperial colonies and crown properties seem to have fairly draconian animal quarantine procedures from what I've been told.
 
#9 ·
dogsailors said:
according to noonsite thanks for the tip sailing dog dogs are not allowed in many countries in the middle east. Turns out i'm not interested in traveling to saudi arabia. thanks for the replies.
Or Europe or Australia or New Zealand or some other nice places, either.

If you go to the Caribbean, you might have better luck, but the advice regarding exercise, food and water, and the tendency of bull terriers to skitter off the deck remains. And yes, some people *don't* take their children. They wait until they are at school or grown.

But they aren't children, are they? They are dogs. Unless you are tied to a dock, dogs have little place on a small boat. When my old bully died in 2001, my wife and I decided that we wanted to circumnavigate within ten years, a goal we are well on the way to achieving, or at least commencing, by '09. This fell well within the lifespan of a dog, and having seen other people with dogs aboard in Lake Ontario (where the shore is never more than six hours away), we decided that to have a dog with us of a bull terrier's size, temperament and swimming ability would be cruelly confining, messy and a bureaucratic nightmare.

But you will do as you will.
 
#10 ·
Europe does not have any problems with dogs. Seems cruel to leave the kids behind let alone dogs. We dont plan to circumnavigate but we do plan on crossing the atlantic some time . My dogs have a good 6-10 years left in them I am not putting off cruising, the dogs will adapt as they do to a lot of things as long as there is a bed to snuggle in. I will probably have to write a book about traveling with dogs since NO ONE does it.
 
#11 ·
dogsailors said:
I will probably have to write a book about traveling with dogs since NO ONE does it.
Good luck with that. I've owned boats and I've owned a bull terrier. The bull terrier never went on the boats, unless we were at dock, because he could barely swim and the pitch of the companionway was too steep. As you've made up your mind to cross the Atlantic with two bull terriers, I would suggest the need to solicit opinions no longer exists.
 
#12 ·
#13 ·
I would hope you do some short term cruising before you commit to taking off to parts unknown and determine whether it is in your dogs best interest to accompany you. Some good points have been raised, specific to your breed. I would think it would be wise to find out if they hold true before making any final decisions.
 
#14 ·
Portugal, Spain France, the UK and other Countries now have strict 40 day quarantine for dogs. They will take them away from you at Customs.

If the dog's origin is not the EU you can't bring them without the 40 day quarantine, physically 40 days or more as per the Vet. In England its 40 days no matter where the dog originates from.

Also, dogs to enter the EU need all kinds of papers, etc.. children just need a passport. I have both, and only cruise with the children...believe me...
 
#15 ·
I think Shackelton proved conclusively that having an emergency source of food is a good idea on a long cruise.
 
#17 ·
SailorMitch said:
I think Shackelton proved conclusively that having an emergency source of food is a good idea on a long cruise.
You mean DogSailor as emergency rations for the bullies when they run out of Pal ? :)

Seriously , it cannot be a good idea to cruise long term with mutts. Much as I love 'em and did a fair amount of day sails and short term cruising with our former muttley, when she went the way of all mortal flesh I decided no more until we swallow the anchor. Far to many restrictions in far too many countries. To be honest , same goes for cats, and cats and boats go together a damn sight better than boats and dogs.

For the time you are just rockhopping then fine and dandy. You can sail all over America with barely a problem and not even need to spend too many nights at sea but a couple of weeks away from land ? Not fair on dog or human, methinks.
 
#19 ·
Dogsailors... many cruisers are out there with dogs. I knew one cruiser that had 5 of them (tiny yorkies). I can understand not wanting to leave your children behind but as noted above it is quite problematic in many places...and may not be in the best interest of the dogs health. Nevertheless, many cruisers do it.
Given your plans, I assume you are east coast based and you can certainly day hop there giving the pups a place to get off the boat and adjust to it.
The Bahamas can offer many months of cruising and are not too restrictive on dog entry (advance permit required) and again...offer land readily available for walking/exercise. You can judge from there how they will do on extended passages and may wish you modify your cruising plans accordingly. There are some tougher places in the Caribe to enter with pets...(BVI's are one as I recall) and sometimes you will need permits in advance of your visit so you need to be sure your dogs can withstand multiday passages at sea and full time living aboard and seasickness issues before going much further than the Bahamas.
Right now the best thing you can do is drop the hook somewhere and stay just on the boat with them for a few days and see how you both do. No trips ashore in the dinghy allowed. If you're all still happy after 4 or 5 days...maybe your plans are not unrealistic.
Good luck!
 
#21 ·
pigslo said:
You are right TDW. Cats are easier to cook and taste better!
pigslo
Darn tootin Piglet. Have you ever tried to get an Old English Sheepdog into a boat oven ? Still and all makes a good throwrug when it's all done and dusted. Mind you the owner is gunna be a bit pissed when he gets back from Wisconsin.
 
#22 ·
camaraderie said:
Pigs...of course the traditional ration was salt PORK!! <g>
But sometimes fresh meat is just so rewarding... ;)
 
#23 ·
Both dogs have done extensive coastal cruises as well as hiked the appalachain trail and canoed down several rivers once even in the atlantic. My dogs are cared for far better than most and I will not feel sorry for a dog who eats and sleeps all day. I was not asking for opinions but simply wanted to know if anyone has cruised with these near genuis dogs. Obviously no one on this site is acctually out cruising so I will have to see for my self. Good luck arm chair sailors have fun talking sh*t while Im out sailing.
 
#24 ·
Stuffed Bull Terrier Recipe
Feeds 20 stranded hungry sailors
2 well fed dogs
6 lbs dry rice (organic long grain brown best)

do not feed or water dogs for at least 5 days. This will clean intestines and make them very hungry. On the 6th day, give animals dry rice. After eating supply all the water they can drink. The rice will swell in their stomach, some add onions or garlic to the rice.

place over spit rotate frequently and enjoy.

SE Asian cookbook
 
#25 · (Edited)
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