Training Your Dog to Use the Carpet
To get your dog to use the carpet the first few times when it’s time for them to go, put the dog on a leash and take them to the carpet. Let them sniff. Stay there until they go. It may take a while, particularly with an older dog.
Any dog I’ve worked with has gotten the message almost immediately, but some friends have told me it took a bit of patience with their dogs. The critical thing is NOT to take the dog ashore until they go on the boat; praise lavishly the first few times they do use the carpet so they know they did the right thing. And don’t let them lie down on the mat — it’s not a sleep place! Patience and persistence will pay off—you can teach your dog if you stay calm and positive and keep at it.
After the first few times, you’ll probably find that your dog goes to the pad on his or her own. Underway, we keep Paz on a leash or down below and she learned to “ask” to go forward, just as a dog in a house learns to “ask” to go outside. We then take her forward on her leash (we also installed netting on the lifelines so that even if she slips, she wouldn’t go overboard).
Getting a Scented Rug to Use to Train Your Dog
Okay, you’re saying, that’s great. But where do I get a “scented carpet?” And how do I keep from smelling it?
The first question is whether you have a friend who has a dog that uses a carpet. If you do, you can try asking for an old carpet, but it’s unlikely they have one (we were really lucky). So instead, ask if you could put your piece of carpet under theirs for a few days. Some of the urine will seep through theirs and scent yours. This is what we did whenever we replace Paz’s carpet: put the new one under the old one for several days before throwing the old one away . . . or giving it away as a training aid. We’ve now done this several times for friends!
If that approach won’t work for you, there are two alternatives:
If there is snow on the ground, you can bury a piece of carpet under the snow and then get your dog to go on the snow right above the carpet (use a leash to keep them in the correct spot). I’ve never known someone who could just put an unscented carpet on the grass/dirt/sand and get the dog to go on it, but if it’s covered by snow it seems to work. Then when the snow melts, the urine will sink into the carpet. But it’s unlikely you’ll have snow when you need it, so (with a bit of embarrassment) I’ll tell you about the second method.
I really don’t know how to put this delicately, but the other option—which does work well—is to scent it yourself. It’s how we scented a brand new carpet after three years of living ashore when we spent several days cruising on a friend’s boat. Paz refused to use the unscented carpet, but immediately did her business after one of us sprinkled it with our own urine. And yes, I know of others who have used the same technique very successfully with their dogs. How you do this will probably depend on where you are, but if you’re in a marina or crowded anchorage I suggest a specimen cup . . . oh, the things we do for our dog-children!
I know of very few people who have had luck with purchased puppy-training “scent” that you are supposed to spray or drip where you want your dog to go. Despite it seeming to be a simple way to give your dog the idea, I wouldn’t waste my money trying it.
Recently, I’ve also seen ads for various “indoor dog potties” and a grass patch called “Fresh Patch.” You can also buy “puppy pads” that are similar to disposable diapers but lie flat on the floor or a tray. For years, we used a “welcome mat” size piece of carpet. And no, she has never been confused and used any of our other carpets by mistake and friends also report no confusion.
The one problem with the carpet is that it would get waterlogged and Paz didn’t like to step on it when it was wet. Paz started waiting to go ashore or even pooping or peeing right beside her carpet, instead of on it. A couple years ago, we switched to an artificial grass “pee pad” that she greatly prefers. She no longer waits to see if we’ll possibly take her ashore. Yes, it’s more expensive than the cheap rugs we were using but it’s worth it to have her actually use it and not whine for a trip ashore. We got it on Amazon:
No absorbent surface to “go” on
If you’re walking your dog in a city, where do they prefer to go? On the concrete walkway? Or on grass or dirt?
City dogs, with few other options, learn to go on hard surfaces. But most dogs, given the choice, prefer a more absorbent surface. Let’s face it, would you want to be standing in a puddle of your own pee? I thought not.
You might have to create an absorbent area on your boat for your dog to pee on.
Solution: Use an absorbent pee pad (affiliate). Have them go on your catamaran’s trampoline. Use real sod or something else that absorbs moisture.
Does your dog lift his leg to pee? He might need a vertical target to pee against.
Solution: Get them a fire hydrant or other vertical surface (affiliate) to target.
Ep6 How we taught the dog to go potty on the boat
Of a day I would walk the marina jetties searching for inklings of dogs on boats and of an evening I’d consult Google looking for the best toileting solution for Maxy & Mel.
I have found the most popular onboard doggy toilet used by many boaties to be the mat of synthetic grass (aka fake grass or Astro Turf) of which we refer to as The Doggy Pee Mat.
Now I’m not sure if our dogs think, “Oh yes! This looks slightly like the soft stuff covering the backyard that I go to the toilet on back at our big dog castle. The stuff that I can dig into, slide over, roll on and can maintain my balance upon at all times.” What I do know is that it gives us humans peace of mind to think we are providing a familiarity for our dogs on our boats.
Our canine friends are intelligent and above all hopelessly devoted to us. As such they obey our instruction (most of the time) and teaching them to go outside to go to the toilet was one of our very first expectations. Now we have to undo this a little bit.
So, let’s talk about The Doggy Pee Mat itself before getting into the training of your dog using it.
We purchased our mat from Bunnings; a large hardware store here in Australia. The size is about 1m x 1m costing us AUD20. I would highly recommend getting a spare.
What I like about the current mat is that it has a 5mm rubber backing compared to mats we have had in the past that only have a nylon weave. The rubber mat seems to hold most of the urine whereas the weaved backing allowed the urine to leak onto the deck immediately. More importantly, it doesn’t slip around while Maxy & Mel determine their position.
While the mat is in its perfect state, now is a good time to insert a hole in all four corners. We suggest placing a hole in each corner, so you can rotate when one of the corners begins to perish.
On board we have the tool to insert eyelets which reinforces the holes; highly recommended. If you don’t have one of those tools, pop into your marine upholsterer who I’m sure would be happy to help you out (before it is christened of course).
At the very least drill the holes so you get a clean shape which will avoid fraying.
Next we had a few metres of floating rope which we threaded through one of the eyelets making a bowline. The other end of the rope is attached securely to the bowsprit or close to.
The purpose of this rope is to dunk your Doggy Pee Mat in the ocean, so ensure you have enough rope for it to reach the water. The ocean dunk is purely to rinse the mat and dilute the urine smell. Don’t worry, it will still be a strong scent for your furry sailing buddy.
We never dispose of faeces overboard. Some local authorities may have strict rules about dunking anything in the water including urine, so please check things out with the governing bodies in your area.
Maxy & Mel’s mat lives permanently on the bow. When it is not in use we roll it up and stow it securely along the toe rail making sure to give the decks a regular hosing. As I mentioned, the current mat holds about 95% of the urine. I just fold each corner into the middle and overboard she goes.
If you leave your mat out in the sun all day and your hatches open you might find yourself asking one another over Sundowners, “Do you smell that?”