The dog’s first ride, advice welcome

[Acard7]

We are heading to Red Rock Lake in central Iowa for the weekend and I’m looking for any advice on bringing our dog with us on the boat. It’ll be her first time on the boat on the water. I plan to get her in the boat tomorrow while I prepare it for the weekend so she can find a spot she likes. She’s not afraid of water so we are good there. We got her a life jacket. We’ve got her hemp treats to calm her down if needed (she already hates fireworks). Going to bring her toy bone for her to chew on. Planned on bringing some food in a plastic bag and then her water bowl. Weather is gonna be perfect, barely any wind too, so we are excited to get the boat out for a solid 3 days.

Anything else I am forgetting? As you can see our daughter loves to torture Daisey (Bernedoodle) ? All jokes aside, Daisey has been the best family dog I have ever had.

 

[Julian]

Too late to say take her on the boat as a puppy....

And I looked at your photo and thought.....man his daughter has some seriously abnormally long lower legs!!!! Lol. ( on my phone and dogs foot looked like a leg/shoe).

Bring a ball (if she fetches). Extra dog towels.

 

[Seadeals]

An exciting event for sure. I have fond memories of our pups past and present on the boat. Rounded nails are good so don’t trim unless you grind the edges off. Think ahead about how you want to launch (dog in boat or with vehicle then in at dock). Swimming is likely, so be ready to grab that shark fin to assist back onto the swim platform. Muddy/sandy paws if beaching, and most of all enjoy it all and take a few pictures.

 

[Seadeals]

By the way, they swim onto you if you are floating in the water so be ready for some good paw scrapes!

 

[Acard7]

Too late to say take her on the boat as a puppy....

And I looked at your photo and thought.....man his daughter has some seriously abnormally long lower legs!!!! Lol. ( on my phone and dogs foot looked like a leg/shoe).

Bring a ball (if she fetches). Extra dog towels.

When we brought her home as a puppy from Fort Wayne, Indiana, she puked all over my wife’s lap…And that’s when we learned she had motion sickness ?? She has gotten way better with riding in a vehicle since then, no more pukes. So we weren’t brave enough to throw her on a boat back then ? I do feel she will be better in the boat anyhow due to how open it is.. I’ll have to remember to bring her ball, she gets so crazy with it we always have to put it away. Who knew a 4 year old dog would still act like a puppy.

 

[Acard7]

An exciting event for sure. I have fond memories of our pups past and present on the boat. Rounded nails are good so don’t trim unless you grind the edges off. Think ahead about how you want to launch (dog in boat or with vehicle then in at dock). Swimming is likely, so be ready to grab that shark fin to assist back onto the swim platform. Muddy/sandy paws if beaching, and most of all enjoy it all and take a few pictures.

The life jacket has a good handle ahead of that fin if needed, we also have the Lilly pad so she should be able to get on and off from there. I may have to just file her nails a bit, she was at the groomer a couple weeks ago so I’ll have to check how they are now.. I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t terrorize our daughter in the water is all ?

 

[sunbyrned]

Once my dogs get in the boat, they jump off the back ready to play, so I have to keep them on a leash and tie the leashes down until we’re under way. They won’t jump off when moving though so I untie them once we get rolling. Same thing when arriving at the dock. They’ll jump onto the dock or fall into the water if you’re not careful. Something to consider because it’s a a little troublesome at the dock with the dogs swimming around. Ha! Oh yeah, one more thing. Have doggie bags ready and give her a chance to go before getting on the boat and when you get off. It’s either nerves or excitement, but my dogs will release a lot of “energy” coming and going. I have carpet so the nails have never been a problem, but they will dig into the Lily Pad pretty good. As my dad would say, “ it’s only money”, so that’s how I have to look at it. Enjoy your time creating great memories!

 

[Acard7]

Once my dogs get in the boat, they jump off the back ready to play, so I have to keep them on a leash and tie the leashes down until we’re under way. They won’t jump off when moving though so I untie them once we get rolling. Same thing when arriving at the dock. They’ll jump onto the dock or fall into the water if you’re not careful. Something to consider because it’s a a little troublesome at the dock with the dogs swimming around. Ha! Oh yeah, one more thing. Have doggie bags ready and give her a chance to go before getting on the boat and when you get off. It’s either nerves or excitement, but my dogs will release a lot of “energy” coming and going. I have carpet so the nails have never been a problem, but they will dig into the Lily Pad pretty good. As my dad would say, “ it’s only money”, so that’s how I have to look at it. Enjoy your time creating great memories!

A leash is definitely a good idea, thanks! And I’ll throw some plastic bags in for sure ??

 

[Acard7]

Well she did great but was nervous for sure. She jumped on the Lilly pad but then went face first in the water which scared her, lol, so she laid in the boat some but then got brave and figured out how to stay on the Lilly pad an hour after the incident. We decided with how tired she was and how busy it was over the holiday weekend we kept her in the camper which I think she was happy to stay in some AC. We plan on getting her out on our calmer lake this week and anchor closer to shore so maybe she will swim there and back, one of my friends advised to try that anyways!