Sailing and boating with a dog can make the adventure more fun, but there are definitely some extra things you'll needs to take. From essentials like food and hydration, to the fun stuff like toys and backpacks, there are so many things they might need.
Rosie is an essential member of the crew and we couldn't imagine life on our Leopard 45 without her. So, here's some of the things we've bought to make life safer and more comfortable for her aboard the catamaran.
What's on the Packing List
The Essentials
Food
Let's start with a dogs favourite part - FOOD! Generally we try to feed Rose a mix of fresh meat and kibble. Trying to find kibble can be a bit of a mission so whenever possible we try to have it delivered. Here's some of the suppliers we've found useful so far.
Zooplus - They offer delivery to 24 countries in Europe and have a great rewards program.
PetBarn - An Australian chain pet store, Pet Barn frequently have some good sales on pet food and medications.
Paws and Whiskers - A Trinidad supplier with a range of dog food including grain free options and free delivery
We keep her food in a 10L container and double bag any extra food, sealing it with heavy duty tape to help keep the moisture out.
Medications & vaccinations
The two basics we have aboard are heartworm tablets and tick/flea medication. We keep a minimum of a six month supply and take it to the vet with us when a treatment is required for the next country we want to visit. Other medications we have include:
Medicated ear drops
Medicated eye drops
Povidone Iodine (Betadine)
3% hydrogen peroxide
Vet surgical glue and bandages
Her vaccinations are largely guided by the countries we are visiting but all of the documentation is kept in a file that is just for her paperwork, helping make vet visits and pet importation applications easier. Two key things we've been asked for are the rabies vaccination and rabies titer test.
Sun protection for dogs
There are a huge range of sun protection products for dogs available including dog sunscreen, hats and sunglasses. As sailing pet owners it's quite a important topic to learn about so we've actually devoted an entire article to it.
Rose's main form of sun protection is her large Doggles ILS sunglasses which have a 100% UV absorption rating. It took some training for her to get used to them but now they don't bother her too much, especially when she's relaxing or playing around. We bought Roses on Amazon along with a few spare lens sets.
Foot protection
Rose's dog shoes were bought for the snow in Austria but have been incredibly useful on the boat. In Italy, Rose was playing in a river and stepped on a piece of glass. Trying to protect the cut would have been a nightmare if we hadn't had the boots on hand; she couldn't get it off to lick the wound and each time we changed the dressing we changed the boot to help keep her foot dry and clean. The booties are now a staple part of our dog first aid kit.
Rose's came from Zooplus and are the same style as these ones you can buy on Amazon. The double Velcro strap really helps to stop the boot from slipping off.
Life jacket
Living with a dog on a sailboat you have to be vigilant and prepare for the possibility that they could fall overboard. For many cruisers, this involves having a life jacket aboard for the dog to wear when necessary.
Of all the life jackets on the market, the one that's consistently highly rated by cruisers is the Outward Hound Granby Splash. For that reason we chose it for Rose. It's a great design but make sure you double check the sizing, and if in doubt we'd suggest sizing up.
Grooming tools
Like all Australian Shepherd's Rose has a double fur coat that helps regulate her body temperature. To keep her fur under control (it transcends time and space!) we mainly use a grooming rake. It does a great job at getting through her double coat without causing discomfort, and helps decrease the amount of "puppy glitter" we find around the boat. Hers is single row rake with rotating teeth from Pet Barn Australia but there's a FURminator equivalent on Amazon.
The other grooming tools we have that are used less often are a horse brush and toenail clippers.
Toileting for dogs on boats
Before leaving Australia Trent and Tynan custom welded an aluminium dish and lined it with fake grass for Rose to use as a toilet. It sits on the trampolines and gets thrown in the water and soaked whenever it needs a wash. In marina's we hose it down and use a urine neutralising spray. Since Trent had taught Rose from a young age to toilet on command, it was easy for us to get her to use the dish when she moved aboard.
Dog bed
In general Rose has never really been one for dog beds; she'd much rather lay on the floor or propped up on a pillow. As a result she just has a normal bed pillow with a heavy duty cover I made from upholstery fabric.
Accessories and Fun!
Play ropes
One of Rosie's favourite toys is a simple piece of thick rope she was given by Sheppards Chandlery in Gibraltar. It was just an offcut that we tied into a loop but she loves running around with it and playing tugga. Rose has been trained to understand that it's the only piece of rope on the boat that she's allowed to play with, the rest is a no go zone!
Ruffwear Singletrak pack
As you can see on our channel, Rose comes along for all of our adventures. The Ruffwear Singletrak Pack has two 500mL water bladders enabling her to carry her own water. The bag is well made with comfortable straps and doesn't slow her down!
When it's on, this pack does sit relatively high on the shoulders so you need to carefully balance the weight so it doesn't become lopsided. If you're only looking at buying one backpack we'd suggest you go for the Approach Dog Backpack below.
Ruffwear Approach pack
After our success with the Ruffwear Singletrak Pack, we got Rose the Ruffwear Approach Dog Backpack for longer adventures. It's now become her main bag and we even bought a second spare from Amazon while we were hauled out in Trinidad.
With this bag the weight is lower on her sides making it easier to balance and she can carry greater quantities of water, as well as an emergency bootie. Of the two she seems to prefer wearing this one. See her wearing it on an adventure in the video below!
Lead & collar
It's not often that Rose actually wears a lead and collar but when she does it's a homemade loop lead and K9 Everyday Collar. She has a titanium dog tag that we bought online which has our details and an email address engraved on it. Next time we'll add a Whatsapp number since that doesn't change as we move around.
Dog toys
Australian Shepherds are known for being heavy chewers and Rose is no exception - she can systematically destroy soft toys in a matter of minutes! When it comes to durability and enjoyment we've found that the Chuckit brand toys come out on top.
Her favourites are:
Chuckit Ultra Ball
Chuckit Ultra Fetch Stick
Chuckit Ultra Tumbler
Chuckit Fetch Tug
Most of her Chuckit toys came from Amazon as it tends to be cheaper than pet stores. Zooplus in Europe also have some great sales on various Chuckit toys as did T.J. Maxx in the US. We have tried Kong but Rose didn't seem to enjoy them as much.
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