One thing we worked VERY hard on from when Scrappy first came to join our family as a puppy was toilet training.
He was put outside almost every hour, on the hour to prevent accidents until he grew a bit and his bladder got bigger!
We carried on with lots of praise and rewards until he cracked it and voila, one very well toilet trained Scrappy (until someone gives him tummy tickles and then he pees on their foot from excitement – even now!).
Moving onto a boat though… he was so well toilet trained that he just WOULD NOT pee or poo on the boat, no matter how much encouragement or praise we gave him!
We bought mats which we may have even peed on ourselves to try and encourage him to go…!
But nope, still no joy.
If he was desperate and you rubbed his tummy to give him tummy tickles then he’d go but only by ‘accident’.
It just meant that we had to limit the distance we could travel.
The most we did was 28 hours in one go. We brought him outside multiple times during the trip to tickle his tummy to get him to pee which worked a little but he still wouldn’t poo en route!
When we stopped in Jersey over the winter we were given a berth that was a 5/10 minute walk up to a green area where he could go to the toilet. The pontoon was made of plastic and was full of holes that Scrappy kept catching his nails in.
After a few weeks of that, he point-blank refused to walk on it.
So, at least three times a day we were CARRYING Scrappy up the pontoon for him to pee and poo.
Over winter. In all weather. Sun. Cloudy. Rain. Horizontal Rain. Freezing Cold. Mega 50 knot winds with freezing cold driving rain.
Scrappy still had to go.
Something had to be done.
Cue a visit to the best pet shop in the world!
We found ‘Pets Paradise’ on one of our wanders around the town and ended up chatting with one of the guys that worked there and told him about our problem with trying to toilet train Scrappy.
He told us to wait, so we had a mooch around (and wanted to buy everything! Send me into a clothes shop and I’ll come out empty handed. Send me into a pet shop and I’ll spend a fortune!!)
Ten minutes later he reappeared with a big long piece of the fake green grass that used to line the shelves in a greengrocers.
It was exactly what I’d been looking for since before we even moved onto the boat.
The best thing? He said it was ours. For FREE. I almost hugged the guy!
Toilet training take two.
We tummy tickled. We praised. We bribed. We said “go toilet” FAR too many times. We even peed (maybe!!!).
He had no walks for a few days for him to cheat on.
We put him on it first thing in the morning when he’s always desperate to go. We praised and bribed some more.
And by some sheer miracle. He peed. Voluntarily. On the green mat. Halle-freaking-lujah!
We kept it up all day for the next few days. We let him wander up there whenever he felt like it and after a few days, he only went and pooped on it! I practically danced on the boat in my pyjamas in full view of everyone.
It wasn’t consistent at first but through countless Scooby snack bribes and a massive amount of praise… we now have a BOAT toilet trained dog!!!! Wooohooooo!!!
He’s still not that keen on going on passage, but he can and he has done.
We are no longer tied to 24-hour passages. Hell…we can now go and cross an ocean now with him if we wanted to!
Re-toilet training a dog is hard work but it was most definitely worth the effort! I didn’t have to get dressed stupidly early and carry him down the pontoons with horrendous weather anymore and we can now go wherever the hell we want! Yippeee!!
Now we’re on the new boat and have teak decks, we’ve had to be a bit more inventive so the decks don’t get ruined.
We measured the cockpit floor and bought a shallow plastic tray that fitted really well and put a piece of fake grass in there for him to go on so the deck doesn’t get stained (ask me why we did that…!!! Lesson learned the hard way!!!)
I’d highly recommend getting yourself a shallow plastic tray and a big piece of fake grass which you can cut to the right size before moving onboard if possible. This will give your dog a chance to get used to using it before moving aboard to make the transition easier for them.
I’d also recommend having a few pieces of fake grass so that when you lose one you have a spare one right there ready to go. Again ask me how I know that’s a good idea…! Lesson again learned the hard way!!
Let me know if these ideas help and you have success in getting your dog toilet trained! Arm up with patience, treats and may the odds be forever in your favour! Good luck!