Captain Maria Langer's Guide to Pets on Board

In this article, Captain Maria Langer shares her experiences cruising the Great Loop and beyond with furry first mates, along with her practical advice on boating with pets. She covers everything from safety precautions to handling pet seasickness, so whether you're considering bringing your furry friend aboard or are looking for tips to enhance your current pet-cruising setup, this guide aims to empower you with the knowledge to make your cruise enjoyable for both you and your pet!

Cruising with Pets
By Maria Langer

When I bought my Ranger Tug back in September 2022 and prepped to take it for its shakedown cruise, I didn’t think twice about loading my two best friends on board, Lily and Rosie, a pair of rescued Chorkies — Chihuahua-Yorkshire Terrier mixes — from the same litter. Although they’d never been on a boat in their two years of life, they took to it quickly. Soon, they were walking along the boat’s narrow gunwales for a better look at folks passing by on the dock and climbing the steep steps up to their favorite spot for morning sun on the boat’s command bridge. In the 9,000 or so nautical miles I’ve traveled aboard Do It Now since that first cruise in Puget Sound, they’re been with me on board every single day. They’re crewmembers, I tell the people I meet, although they’re not very helpful with the lines.

In my travels along the Great Loop and in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve met a bunch of folks who either travel with their pet or wish they could. If you’re one of the wishers, maybe you don’t need to be. In this article, I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned while traveling with my four-legged friends. I think you’ll learn enough to bring your canine (or feline) friend aboard with you.

Lily and Rosie keep watch while I stow the bimini top on Do It Now’s command bridge.

Safety First

The first thing you need to consider is the safety of your pet — and that means PFD: Pet Flotation Device. All kidding aside, you must obtain a well-fitting and effective PFD for your pet. Make sure he has it on and properly secured any time there’s a chance he might fall into the water. It doesn’t matter whether he’s a great swimmer or not — if your dog falls overboard while you’re under way and you don’t immediately notice, it could be quite a while before you realize he’s gone and you backtrack to try to find him. Don’t be that pet parent!

Related to all this, make sure you have a way to get your dog back on board if he does fall into the water. I bought a fishing net with an extending handle to scoop up my pups if I need to. (I haven’t needed to yet.) A boat hook to grab a PFD’s handle could work, too.

Size Matters

I’ve seen folks cruise with dogs smaller than my 8-pound girls to as large as 100+ pounds. In my opinion, smaller is better; it’s easy for me to lift my two girls on and off the boat or dinghy. If you don’t have a dog yet and think you might want one to share your cruising life, keep that in mind.

Although most folks I met with larger dogs had simple enough ways to get their dogs on and off the boat — steps, ramps, etc. — I did meet one couple who used their dinghy lift with a special harness to lift their Golden Retriever to the dock and back. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Size also comes into play when moving around inside the cabin, provisioning dog food, and cleaning up dog poo. Even when my girls are under foot, they’re seldom in the way. I can fit two weeks worth of dog food into a large shoe box — which is a good thing, given how small my boat is. It would be a different story with one or two large dogs. You need to make sure you have space for the dog(s) to relax, sleep, and eat.

Don’t think I’m trying to say that you can’t have one or more large dogs aboard, even if your boat is small. It really depends a lot on you and your dog(s).

Lily and Rosie relax in their favorite sunny spot aboard Do It Now while at anchor in Canada.

Potty Breaks

Tips for dealing with pet waste while cruising is something that could probably fill an entire book. Let me just tell you what I and others I’ve met do.

Unfortunately, although I tried to teach my girls to do their business on a special fake grass mat designed for the purpose, I’ve had very little success. They’d rather hold it in than use that mat. I think I’m more stressed than they are when they haven’t relieved themselves for more than 24 hours. So instead, I either overnight at marinas or at moorages/anchorages where I can dinghy them to shore. (I actually changed my dinghy setup to make the dinghy easier to launch and retrieve so I could anchor out more.) I’ve got them trained so twice a day is enough, although I shoot for three times a day: morning, midday (or arrival at our destination), and evening before dark.

Lots of folks do pretty much the same thing, although I have met folks whose dogs can go on a disposable “puppy pad” or the same fake grass mat my dogs won’t use. One couple with a large boat and an older dog leave the door at the helm open for the dog, who goes out and does its business on the forward deck whenever it needs to; they clean up the mess when they see it using poop bags and their anchor washdown setup. Another couple I met who were cruising on a sailboat with a medium size dog have an actual piece of sod — real grass! — on a tray that they put out when they’re at anchor. They replace it periodically.

If you do take your dog ashore for potty breaks, remember these rules:

• If your dog does not return when called or may bother other boaters and their dogs or if there is a leash rule where you’re going ashore, be sure to leash up your dog.
• Always clean up after your dog. Poop bags on rolls are cheap and easy to carry — use them! Dispose of them in garbage pails and, if there are none to be found ashore, bring them back to your boat and put them with your other trash.

Don’t be the dog owner that ruins it for everyone else.

Gracie and Nellie wait aboard New Bearings to greet Mom and Dad returning on the Dinghy.

“Pet Friendly” Isn’t Always Pet Friendly

Some marinas are more pet-friendly than others. I remember staying at a marina in Key West last winter that promoted itself as being “pet friendly.” But when I arrived and took my dogs for their first walk, any patch of grass or landscaping within a quarter mile was marked “No Dogs.” I had to leave the marina property and find a patch of dirt near a parking lot for them.

In a more positive note, I stayed at a marina in Belhaven, NC where boats were parked alongside a pair of bulkheads with a big grass patch in the middle. Management and other boaters had no problem with me letting my dogs loose to run and chase each other on that big lawn. When I went through the area again months later, I made sure to stop there, just to take advantage of that fringe benefit for my pups. This is the ultimate in “pet friendly.”

Be sure to get the facts about a marina or other stop, especially if you plan on staying more than a few days with your dog. Reviews by other dog owners can be very helpful.

Lily and Rosie watch a Roche Harbor sunset from the gunwale
just days after first coming aboard Do It Now.

Dogs Can Get Seasick, Too

I’m sure this varies by dog and conditions, but keep in mind that your dog might get seasick in rough water. Mine occasionally do and it isn’t pleasant for any of us. What I’ve learned (the hard way) is that if we’re going to cruise in rougher than usual water, I should wait until we’re stopped for the day to give my girls their first meal. Otherwise, I’ll have to clean that meal off my bench seat at the helm and feed them again later.

If your dog suffers often from motion sickness, you can get medication from your vet to prevent illness. One of my dogs used to get carsick and I had her on that medication for a while. (At the time, we were exploring Arizona by RV so we traveled nearly every day.) What I found is that over time she grew out of the problem. But on rough water — well, both my girls can get sick.

Healthcare

If you’re cruising long distances with your dog, you should keep the topic of pet healthcare in the back of your mind. It was in the front of my mind when my dog Lily developed an serious eye infection as we traveled north up the ICW in Florida.

It’s very important to have your dogs fully vaccinated and have proof of that vaccination with you on board, especially if you’re leaving the country. Depending on where you travel, you might want to consider medicines to prevent heartworm or repel fleas and ticks. Finding a vet that can take your pet on short notice isn’t easy, especially when your travels along waterways limits where you can look and you don’t have access to a vehicle.

When Lily ulcerated her cornea playing on the beach at Marineland, I was lucky to find a vet walking distance from a marina south of Jacksonville a few days later. By then, she couldn’t open her eye at all. Two visits and $600+ dollars later, she was on the mend and we continued on our way. But I could have avoided the problem by hosing her off to prevent sand from getting in her eye. Lesson learned.

Nellie and Gracie while underway in the pilot house aboard New Bearings

Swimming Isn’t Always Fun

If you have the kind of dog who likes to go swimming, that might be great — for the dog. You’ll need to train him to stay on board unless you give him permission to swim so he doesn’t decide to take a dip at an inopportune moment, like when you’re maneuvering in a marina.

If you do allow your dog to swim off the boat when you’re at anchor or docked, be sure to have a good way to get him back on board. You might also plan ahead for the mess he’ll make when he comes back on board covered with icky water or mud.

Cats Can Be Crew, Too

In my travels, I’ve also met a few folks who have one or more cats on board. In some cases, these folks are live-aboards — they don’t have a dirt home and cruise year-round. They — and their cat — are always on a boat.

In many ways, traveling with a cat can be easier — as more than a few of these folks have pointed out to me. Potty breaks aren’t necessary since the cat does its business in a litter box on board. Most cats don’t need (or want) to be walked, although I’ve seen some folks put a harness and a leash on their cat to get it off the boat for a while.

The main problem I see with having a cat on board is having space to put that litter box for him. It would be a difficult challenge on my small boat, but maybe it wouldn’t be for yours.

The only other thing I’d worry about is the possibility of the cat getting out and jumping ashore when docked. I think you’d have to really know your cat before introducing it to the cruising life.

Mo aboard 'Nine Lives' anchored on the St. Johns River in Florida.

Don’t Assume Your Pet Has to Stay Home!

If you want to bring your dog (or cat) along on your next cruise, I hope you’ll start by considering all the points I’ve listed above.

If you think your dog might have a problem, start with a smaller, shorter trip — maybe a day trip or an overnight cruise. See how your dog does on board while under way and while docked or anchored. Does he like it? Is he calm enough?

Often on a first outing, a nervous dog can be calmed by another crewmember sitting nearby, petting and talking gently to the dog. Some dogs that aren’t often exposed to new things — “stay at home” dogs — might need a little help with the new experience.

I’ll be honest: this is not something I needed to deal with. My girls took right to boating and we’ve done hundreds of days of pretty much trouble-free cruising together.

I hope you can find the same success with your best friend!

About the Author

Maria Langer is a mostly solo cruiser who, with canine companions Lily and Rosie, recently completed the Great Loop in her 2019 Ranger Tug R-29 CB. As an OUPV Captain, she provides training for new boat captains and first mates, as well as Great Loop orientation training. Visit her blog at https://www.MyGreatLoopAdventure.com/ to read about her Great Loop trip, watch her videos, and learn more about her captain services.

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