Dogs defending their boat

[comfortably numb]

 

We have a very placid dog. She is a cross Labrador/Staffie and rarely barks or growls. During the 4 years we had a shared boat she would happily sit or stand on the stern deck as we passed other dogs when cruising along, and when moored up she wouldn't react when dogs passed by on the towpath.

 

But now that we have our own boat and have lived aboard it for the last 18 months, she has completely changed. She's still not too bothered about other dogs when we're travelling along, and only reacts if they start barking at her, but if we are moored up she growls and barks at other dogs who come by along the towpath.

 

Surprisingly it took a while for the penny to drop. Beforehand our boating was only occasional holidays but now when we go out it's our home, and our dog's of course too. So she is merely defending her territory.

 

But it's so out of character nevertheless, as when we lived in a house she would happily let other dogs come into our home.

 

Have any other of you live aboards had similar experiences with your dog when you moved to live on your boat?

[Phil Ambrose]

We have a very placid dog. She is a cross Labrador/Staffie and rarely barks or growls. During the 4 years we had a shared boat she would happily sit or stand on the stern deck as we passed other dogs when cruising along, and when moored up she wouldn't react when dogs passed by on the towpath.But now that we have our own boat and have lived aboard it for the last 18 months, she has completely changed. She's still not too bothered about other dogs when we're travelling along, and only reacts if they start barking at her, but if we are moored up she growls and barks at other dogs who come by along the towpath.Surprisingly it took a while for the penny to drop. Beforehand our boating was only occasional holidays but now when we go out it's our home, and our dog's of course too. So she is merely defending her territory.But it's so out of character nevertheless, as when we lived in a house she would happily let other dogs come into our home.Have any other of you live aboards had similar experiences with your dog when you moved to live on your boat?

Er no, when we first moved aboard we had 4 dogs ranging from a tiny Yoodle upto a GSD, moved from an isolated cottage with virtually no day to day contact with anyone/thing. Now only 2 (different) dogs and no issues.

Phil

[tony p]

When my partner had her boat , her patterdale cross thought the whole towpath about 50' either side was his territory, my dog in the 90's appeared to think he owned the whole oxford canal!

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

My 'Charlie Dog' let's any One OR Thing, Use or Play in HIS Estuarie, River, Canal, Sea, Ocean, Tow Path infact Did you know that in HIS mind, He owns more than the Crown Or the Church Combined !.

He just objects to Anyone or thing actually Comming aboard, unless there pocket smells interesting !.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wm0bbhndq9ys0y6/IMAG0425_1.jpg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/29rrovqgufxtdg0/2014-07-24%2011.21.20.jpg?dl=0

[bigcol]

Lovely pics, enjoys life it plainly shows.

So does Charlie get a chance at the odd donut at all?

 

Lossed our Timmy earlier in the year, but we still have a 11 year old teacup yorkie with no teeth, he starts the trouble.

And we have a 11year old giant snazer who has a really loud deep bark, and barks every time someone comes with in a few feet of our boat. She does her job really well, also being a much love part of our family.

 

We're all getting on on our boat lol, Wife's very protective of us all!!

[Phil Ambrose]

Yes wives can be the scariest of all.

Phil

[Pykebird]

My guys will bark from opposite ends of the boat when a dog goes past, confuses the owners! They will let dogs they know on the boat.

[Murflynn]

My dogs don't discriminate between home and away. Anything within about 30 yards gets the warning, to the amusement of big dogs and all but the littleist people.

[Brin Morris]

we had a similar problem with our dog, it was only if another dog came near the cruiser deck . I found it was because we had his food bowls on the deck and he did not want another dog near them. Took them away and it was back to normal.

[GoodGurl]

my dog's seem to think they own everything in thier walking distance and no one is allowed on it, they wont let anyone on the boat unless i lock them away.

[Collie]

MIne love to bark at other dogs as we cruise past, same as they do from the car. But they are totally friendly on the towpath, or with dogs on moored boats. (Though small yappy dogs that won't shut up can eventually make my big boy lose his cool)

[smileypete]

Wonder if some dogs might need better leadership in some circumstances, not always an easy thing to change in the short term though.

 

Hope this doesn't sound a bit harsh, but seems to me some dog owners don't fully appreciate this, and make all kinds of excuses for their pet.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited September 20, 2014 by smileypete

[waterwitch]

Nellie is very protective of her air space.

[Collie]

Actually, they are all probably 'resource guarding' and there is lots of stuff about it online. Just google those two words. You can train a dog not to do it, but it takes time and care. My young Border Collie was pretty bad with resource guarding, but I am getting her better gradually. Well worth the effort.

[Barry]

My boy was so bad when living on a boat with his previous owner that he used to charge the windows in an attempt to get at anyone passing on the towpath. He was very very aggressive.

 

He did the same when he moved into my house

 

Since I got him I have taught him that he is simply not allowed to be aggressive, either to humans or to dogs.....ever!

 

He's about got it now - just huffs a bit occasionally at people he hears on the towpath. But I still admonish him for that.

 

I did it by using a water spray in his face accompanied by a firm "NO". He doesn't like it but it doesn't hurt him. The secret is absolute consistancy. He is never allowed to get away with barking or growling.

 

He's a much nicer dog now.

[tillergirl]

Its seasonal with our collies..........now the nights are drawing in if they near anything they are not too convinced about they will give a warning bark.............its like "I'm on here so don't bother matey". Light nights when we are sat with doors open and people walk past they don't bother..... the younger one will sometimes bark at another dog but the tail end is wagging - we just tell him to stop it. We wonder if its an invitation to come and play?

[RichardN]

it's so out of character

 

Worth mentioning to your Vet just in case. Also any other changes eg coat changing a bit?

[homer2911]

my dog's seem to think they own everything in thier walking distance and no one is allowed on it, they wont let anyone on the boat unless i lock them away.

 

That's a bit sad.

[comfortably numb]

 

Worth mentioning to your Vet just in case. Also any other changes eg coat changing a bit?

 

No there haven't been any other changes either with her appearance or her behaviour. I think it's just that the boat is now her home whereas before it was just a place she went to occasionally.

 

I'm not too concerned about the change in her because it's only usually a growl and a exposure of her teeth sometimes, and never any barking or physical attacks on other dogs.

 

It's just that before we moved onboard she never ever growled or barked. Also she doesn't growl if she is inside the boat and people (with or without dogs) walk past. It's only when she is lying on the stern deck that she becomes defensive and we never have her food bowl or toys there so it's not as if she is defending those.

[Nightwatch]

I think it's just to let you know she's doing her job. As she is not diving at people and getting off to see them off, so to speak, there's nothing to worry about.

 

Our late Staffie, George, was perfect at letting us know there was someone or thing around. As soon as we said it's okay he would mumble something and shut up.

 

If you are not aware, he had another disturbing,rare,habit of jumping on dogs,biting them and not letting go, so very sadly he had to go.

 

 

Incidentally, we are on the lookout for two bitch Jack Russell puppies, if you hear of any, let me know please.

 

Martyn

Martyn

[steamraiser2]

Years ago our boat was on hard standing at the bottom of the garden which was close to a public road. My son spotted that someone had broken in through a window and was still in there. I dialed 999. In the mean time I let Tess, our very lively ,but gentle, GSD out. She hurtled off into the darkness and in moments there was a lot of screaming from the boat. We arrived to see the thief halfway out of the window through which he had entered . His legs had not made it to the ground and Tess had reached up and had grabbed a mans most , ahem' sensitive parts!. She didn't bite but the message was clear. She was still restraining him when plod arrived and instantly let go when called. If a dog could look smug she most certainly did.

[Felshampo]

Wonder if some dogs might need better leadership in some circumstances, not always an easy thing to change in the short term though.

 

Hope this doesn't sound a bit harsh, but seems to me some dog owners don't fully appreciate this, and make all kinds of excuses for their pet.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Yes, could be alpha dog syndrome. Puts dogs under a lot of stress. Common with dogs that pull when on a lead. Simple to train a dog to be an alpha but harder to train the owners!

[Guest]

We have a very placid dog. She is a cross Labrador/Staffie and rarely barks or growls. During the 4 years we had a shared boat she would happily sit or stand on the stern deck as we passed other dogs when cruising along, and when moored up she wouldn't react when dogs passed by on the towpath.But now that we have our own boat and have lived aboard it for the last 18 months, she has completely changed. She's still not too bothered about other dogs when we're travelling along, and only reacts if they start barking at her, but if we are moored up she growls and barks at other dogs who come by along the towpath.Surprisingly it took a while for the penny to drop. Beforehand our boating was only occasional holidays but now when we go out it's our home, and our dog's of course too. So she is merely defending her territory.But it's so out of character nevertheless, as when we lived in a house she would happily let other dogs come into our home.Have any other of you live aboards had similar experiences with your dog when you moved to live on your boat?

You might want to consider joining a breed specific forum or FB group. We are on one and like this forum once you have sorted the wheat from the chaff as to who knows what they are talking about they can be a good source of info.

 

I think the best tip so far as to suppressing barking in a non harmful way is Bazzas water pistol trick. This worked with our previous JRT and although our new 'alpha' male is needing more work he is succumbing.

[Dave_P]

Mine is completely chilled about living on a boat. She never growls or barks at other people, dogs or boats. When we moor in a new place, she takes herself off for a walk to have a good nosey around. She's fine with being petted by any passer-by. She never needs washing and her only requirements seem to be food and attention. Amazingly, she always lands on her feet and makes this weird buzzing sound when happy, which is most of the time.

 

Best dog ever!

Edited September 21, 2014 by Dave_P

[Darren72]

All depends on each breed surely and interaction as a pup. Ours is very protective over territory home or away. Same in the car. When he was only 12 month old some idiot walking past the car while the window was down went "oh a staffie puppy" and proceeded to put his hand in for a stroke. Luckily i managed to tell the hands owner to stop just has Fletch prepared to take it off. Then tell him no its not a staffie. Same goes at drive thru car washes. Open the door to clean the sills, dont bother mate on the dogs door.

 

Once out/off the boat he is fine. Invited to enter or come in with a family member he is fine. Try and enter uninvited he will go berserk.

 

My dogs been trained and associated with people and other dogs since born. But he is the only dog out of his litter and parents that hasn't become a worker.

 

 

Each dog is diffferent.