Advice for dog on boat? Dog shoes, etc...
 

I'm looking for advice for bringing my dog (8 month old golden retriever) on the boat. This will be her first time. Specifically, I'm thinking of some type of shoe for her to protect the seats. (My 2009 MB seat quality is awful; a bunch of the seat cushions developed small tears on their own soon after I got the boat (mostly on their bottoms/sides), even though I am extremely careful with them). I know that any shoes would need ventilation, since dogs apparently sweat through their feet.

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I can't find the old posts because the new forum's search feature is badly broken (can't just search for "dog", and searching for "dog boat" just finds every message with the word boat in it or results in a "Database error").

I take my 85lb pit with me everytime on the boat. His paws/nails haven't bothered the seats at all. Just my .02 My conern would be more of the puppy pissin or crappin in the boat. Mine took a big diarrhea crap in the boat one time before I could get him back to the dock. It was no fun to clean up while on the water.

If your 09 seats already have tears in them it sounds like your gonna have bigger problems than an 8 month old puppy tearing them.

My wife got these for our black lab:
https://www.neopaws.com/catalog/summ...oe-p-1914.html

They work, but it took him a little time to get used to them. He still walks funny when we put them on, but he only wears them on the boat. She got the summer ones that breathe and work well in the water.

Umm they actually make those lol? Every dog on a boat I have ever seen usually is laying or sitting down the whole time... I wouldnt stress to much about it.. Take her out the first time and see how she acts.. If she is all over the place then those may be an option but I wouldnt be to worried about it... If your dog is all over the place then there is no reason she should go with you anymore cause your going to spend more then half your time training her to sit lol :) Is she a pretty relaxed dog?

I have been taking my 10 month old yellow lab for the first few times, and thought she would needs boots as well. She doesn't, but as you explained in your post, the tears in your seat pose a risk of getting worse by her.

Chase, a young dog is not going to sit still for a long period of time. That doesn't mean don't take it, it just means they have to learn somehow and at some point.

Anyways, I keep her nails trimmed somewhat, and there has been no damage what so ever to the boat or upholstery. I was really worried before, but now am not.

I recommend Ruffwearhttp://www.ruffwear.com/. I got the Big Eddy life jacket, and use it when we are anchored and sitting still swimming in deep water, more for piece of mind that she is safer.

We take our Weimariner out all the time with no extra precautions and no damage. My boat is older and has pretty tough vinyl though.... Having owned Golden's before I think your bigges problem is going to be keeping the dog out of the water.

We tried taking our yellow lab (3 1/2 year old, full field line) on the boat a few weeks ago and he went nuts because he just saw water on all sides of him and wanted to jump in. If you have a mellow Golden, I think your biggest problem will be getting the dog hair out of the carpet after you're done. If you have access to a carpet saver, I'd highly recommend one.

I have more of a problem keeping the loose hair and dog smell out of the boat when I take mine.

Our black lab runs from one end of the boat to the other. He just has a real hyper personality and wants to be in the water all the time. When the boat is moving, someone has to hold him and keep him from jumping in after the person wakeboarding behind the boat. He is 9 years old and still acts like a 2 year old! From my experience, Labs and Goldens come in two personalities. You either have one that is wide open and wired all the time or one who is real laid back and could care less. Our lab is wide open! Depending on your golden's personality will determine if you need shoes or not.

Idk why but I could not stop laughing at this picture from the neopaws.com website

https://www.neopaws.com/images/header_dogs.jpg

Primal seat covers:

http://primalmp.com/index.html

Our Bulldog has been a fixture in our boat for ten years, and no tears or rips yet.

My buddies big lab put two toenail punctures in the vinyl. Be forewarned it can happen.

We take ours on the boat all the time. Keep their claws trimmed & haven't had issues at all. We're on our 3rd year on this boat, plus 7 on the last one.

I do make the dogs use boots in the snow & ice, but to protect their own feet. And their not made by neopaws.com.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/IMG00056.jpg

Ive had my golden on the boat since he was 8 weeks old but he is super mellow (and makes sure to always wear a PFD!) and just kicks it on the boat. Never a problem with the paws tearing upholstery. The hair on the other hand makes for a fun vacuum job at the end of the day!!!

Our mini dachsund has been on the boat since he was a pup. He sleeps when the boats moving and then finds a nice shady spot to view from when stopped. Not once has he had an accident on the boat and he's almost two now.

AndY, I clicked on this thread just hoping to see pictures of dogs in shoes so thank you.

Make sure that thay piss and crap at the house then pray they crap again at the launch. Nothing sucks worse than your dog dropping a steamin duece in the boat. Trim up the nails and watch them for sunburn. Our Wiemerainers(sp) love the water/boat and they are good ballest :)

We have tried it all. Custom covers made out of terry cloth is great untill it gets wet they stay wet all day. Towels are the same. Booty's my dog will not keep them on and I dont think he can swim with them. The only thing I have found that really works is Soft Paws. They are rubber nail guards that glue on over each nail. They only last 6-8 weeks untill the nail grows then just cut them off trim the nail and replace with a new cover. They will also prevent damage to wood floors and peeps cant get scratched . They also come in custom colors Here is the clear.
www.softpaws.net

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...oftpaws001.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...oftpaws002.jpg

Thanks for all the advice. (I was interested in the Primal covers, but they aren't made for MBs.) I'll look into the Carpet Saver, which I assume is this.

Our golden was a few years old when this was taken. This is about as much action as we get out of him on the boat.

Bought the vest and booties for my 12wk old. the booties were a lost cause. He wouldn't leave them alone, and they tracked sand everywhere. Turns out I didn't need them anyway, dog is pretty inactive on the boat. The vest was more for safety and to get him used to it. Waters too cold for a young guy to go in yet, but i'll want him used to the vest when he's grown.

John, the carpet saver I was referring to is actually a carpet overlay that matches the contour of your boat's floor. It's similar to snap-in, but it goes on top of the existing carpet. I think a lot of Malibu's have them, but I'm not sure about MB's.

Here's an example: http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=951

Always made me nervous having mine jump all over my seats.....never had rips, but with 3 they will start playing with each other for no apparent reason. Now they only go on the pontoon boat with us.

good looking blue! I have on that is 90lbs. also have a 45lb red nose. both have been on th boat with zero issues

those boots would last about 2 mins!

John, great looking Golden. We have a 1 year old that hasn't been on the boat, but like others have said, our 3 year old lab has been in the boat multiple times and her claws have never done anything to the seat. She does want to get in the water at all times though!

I find it hard to believe that your MB seats starting tearing on their own. MB uses thick vinyl and I've never had any problems with my seats tearing....plus the seats are warrantied for like 3 years.....take your boat back to your dealer and they will fix them.

-P

I was led to believe the seats would be good quality as well, before I bought the boat new. That's one of the reasons I got an MB. Maybe it was a fluke, but there were also many other problems (yet to be fixed). I did bring it to the dealer at the end of last season, where it sat for 5 months with no work done, at which point that dealer (the only one within 6-8 hours) went out of business. I'm hoping to finally start my boating season in a few weeks (it's been at a non-dealer shop in the time since, for a structural repair on a mfr. defect to be made so it's safe to use) and at least get a bit of water time before it's time to winterize it again. I'm not bitter though (well, yeah, I really am); maybe the warranty repairs I try to get done at the end of this season will happen in less than 8 months if I'm lucky.

Tony, I don't see a carpet saver specifically for MBs, but I guess I can make my own from the link I sent. That would also be great if the dog pooped in the boat, since I don't have snap-out carpet. I'll probably also bring in some "pee pads" used for potty training, so I can put them down if it looks like she really has to go.

I like the idea of Soft Paws. I might be willing to let our dog in the boat with those on.

@John - Try contacting Dustin@MB directly....he will take care of you.

-Phillip

Pip: Oh, yeah, I have, many times.

@John - That is a bummer, he's been pretty good about taking care of the few minor issues I've had with my boat. You would think that a mfgr defect would be resolved, especially if it's unsafe. Is the new shop fixing this under warranty atleast? Out of curiosity, what was the defect? Hope my boat doesn't have the same issue.

-P

Yes, the new (non-dealer) shop is fixing it under warranty. Though they made me take it to that shop 3 hours away (since that's where the old dealer contracted fiberglass work to) instead of one 15 minutes away... It's just very frustrating that it's gonna be about 8 months from when I started trying to get it repaired - and this is just one of the issues I need fixed.

The work being done is a "bulkhead repair". The primary symptom is that when the windshield door is closed, going through rough water makes that door partially "fall through" the opening, where it gets wedged extremely tight (also causing damage to the driver-side windshield, which won't be fixed at this time). It is apparently caused by insufficient bracing or just being built wrong in some way, allowing the boat to flex too much. That lets the two sides of the boat separate more and the windshield goes through. Last year I just left the windshield open most of the time, which sucked sometimes.

Get a hold of Mark at Primal. He'll usually custom make covers if you need them.

My golden is a nut and doesn't sit still on the boat. Especially if I'm in the water. She wants to be in/out of the boat all day.

I've never had any problems with her tearing upholstery, though. Her nails stay relatively dull from running on concrete and playing a lot. My method is a towel over the back seat because that where she climbs up onto the sun deck and a primal cover on the center engine hatch. That way she has a run way to the water over the seat and engine cover. It's worked great so far.

The fur is another story, though.. LOL! I usually pull the carpet out when she's on the boat.

@John - Yeah I would be pretty frustrated myself if I was in your situation. I haven't noticed any problems with my windshield so hopefully they addressed this issue and reinforced the bulkhead in the 2010 models. What model of boat did you purchase?

-P

Dremel them toes! Cut the nails back and round them out!

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my dog makes the day on the lake. 7yr golden. I also have a 14yr old boat, so the dog paws are not a big deal to me.

My boat is a 2009, bought in December 2008. I know that my boat isn't the only one with the problem, but I think most were unaffected - just a bad build I guess.