Watching our boat Sea Foam steam up a channel in the early morning, I imagine you might notice many things: the red dinghy towing in our wake, the yellow kayak on the pilot house roof, the salty cabin and the graceful lines. And you definitely won't miss the Mastiff riding on the bow.

Weighing in at 120 pounds, Kona is heavier than our largest storm anchor, roughly the same size as our engine and by far the best conversation piece in our 40-foot home. Again and again, we have been asked the inevitable question, "why not get a smaller dog?"

The answers are simple. We never worry about Kona getting carried off by an Eagle in its talons. Nor do we fret about anything being carried off Sea Foam while Kona is aboard. She may be large, but she requires the same care as a toy breed, and in fact her bladder is much bigger – good for 12 hours in a pinch.

While Kona may be unique, we are hardly the only boat harboring a furry crewmate. Aboard kayaks and cruisers, on lakes and on oceans, a growing number of boaters are taking their pets along for the ride. It seems simple enough – just plop Fifi on board and push off. But do so without adequate preparation and attention to your animal's needs and you may find yourself in for an unpleasant mutiny.

Yet with a little planning and some daily discipline, animals can make a great addition to your crew. Kona came to boating when she was two years old, and she has adapted wonderfully to liveaboard life. She loves to be with us wherever we go and we enjoy having her. She is great company when you want to check a crab trap, hang a fishing line out or just putt around the anchorage at sunset. She keeps us safe, exercised and entertained by her wonderful personality. Who could ask for a better boating companion?

SAFETY GEAR

If you plan on taking on a four-legged passenger, start with some basic preparation. Order an ID tag for your pet that includes your boat's permanent marina location and slip number, as well as a phone contact that can be reached when you are afloat.

You will also need some safety gear. A good PFD (personal floatation device) for your pet will have flotation all the way around your animal's body, not just along their back. These limited flotation devices are often inadequate to support a larger dog, because the area that floats is on the surface of the water rather than under and around the dog. A large dog will end up with minimal support as they struggle to get back to the boat.

A good PFD for dogs will be brightly colored and have a large grab handle, allowing you to pull the dog out of the drink with a boat hook or by hand. Getting a panicky animal out of the water is difficult, because survival instincts take over and they will claw at any solid object –including you. Kona wears a Marmaduke-sized Skipper vest manufactured by Salus Marine.

Get your pet used to the PFD in small steps. With Kona, we made the mistake of putting her jacket on and then putting her on the boat. She attempted to go through the starboard door to the outside deck and got herself stuck, then panicked. It was some time before she attempted to use that door again, even without her lifejacket.

Technology is also helping pets stay safer while onboard (people too). Several companies, including Raymarine, Mobilarm and Maritech Industries, now make wireless systems with wearable sensors that sound an alarm when a pet – or any crew member – goes overboard. Some systems will also shut off the engine or use the boat's GPS to mark the location.

The systems feature a sensor about the size of a car remote that is worn on a lifejacket or an animal collar. The sensor is monitored by a unit on the boat, which is hard-wired into the electrical system. If the sensor is immersed in water or moves too far from the unit, say 30 to 40 feet, the wireless connection is broken and the alarm sounds. The systems cost from $600 to $1,000, depending on which brand you buy and which options you choose.

Another technology allows owners to have an ID microchip implanted in their pet. The tiny transponder, about the size of a grain of uncooked rice, is a permanent radio-frequency identification chip implanted with a needle under the loose skin over the dog's shoulder. The transponder can be read by a chip scanner or wand at a veterinarian office or animal shelter, instantly identifying the animal. The process, which costs about $50, is quick and reportedly no more painful than a vaccination. Your vet can give you details.

STAY ALERT

Gear aside, the real key to successfully cruising with a pet is developing good habits. Know where your pet is at all times, because accidents happen. Of course, all dogs know how to swim. But if they fall between the dock and a boat, they may be difficult to rescue. Remember too that a dog in the water cannot scream for help the way a person can, nor can they hold onto something to stay afloat. They can bark, but the exertion of constant swimming may make even that difficult.

Friends of ours, while at anchor on their 42-foot North Pacific, left their two Yorkshire terriers onboard while they went to shore. It was a hot day and one of the windows was left open, and their smallest dog got out onto the back deck and fell overboard. They returned to find only one dog. They called and searched the boat, not wanting to consider the truth. After 15 agonizing minutes, they heard people calling from a dinghy at their stern and, to their relief, there was their little dog, safe and none the worse for wear.

Luckily, another couple anchored nearby saw the terrier swimming frantically around the boat. They initially thought it was a muskrat or a sea otter, but when they saw the characteristic Yorkie red bow tied on her head, they knew she was a dog in trouble. They managed to scoop her up from their dinghy and keep her safe until the owners returned. It could have been a much different story with a very unhappy ending.

SEA SICKNESS

Just as people get seasick, so too can a canine cruiser. Indications of sea sickness include fatigue, disorientation and clumsiness. We give Kona Gravol, a human medication to prevent motion sickness, wrapped in meat one hour before we leave, if we expect choppy water. Once a dog gets sick it is too late to give them pills. Check with your vet to determine the correct dosage for your animal.

Kona travels well with us as long as the sea is not rough. When that happens she stands in the salon and pants. If the weather gets really bad and the boat is pitching, I usually lay down in the salon and she then lays on top of me for reassurance, which, as I'm sure you can imagine, makes for an even more unpleasant ride.

When we are underway on a bright sunny day and sitting out on the bow of our boat, she is happy to hang her head over the side and watch the sea go by. If another boat passes nearby she seems to be able to read the waves and knows when we are going to be rocked by the passing wake. She will either quickly move back inside the boat through the pilot house doors, or crouch down low until the rocking motion has ceased.

HYDRATION AND HEAT

Water, water everywhere – but give them lots to drink. Always have plenty of water for dogs to hydrate themselves, and make sure you let them drink before going to shore. Otherwise, they will drink from the river, lake or sea and you could end up with a sick dog. We carry a sports bottle with a wide-mouth cap that is dedicated to Kona's use when we are hiking or at the beach.

Excessive sun exposure can also cause problems for animals, just as it does for humans. This includes sun stroke, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion. Dogs do not sweat and panting is their normal means to expel excess heat. But excessive panting and drooling, or an abnormally rapid pulse, are danger signals that your pet may be suffering from heat stroke. If your pet shows any of these signs, heat stroke may be the culprit. Place your pet in a tub of cool running water or spray her with a hose, making sure the cool water contacts the skin and doesn't simply run off the coat. Thoroughly wet the belly and inside the legs, and run the cool water over the tongue and mouth. Take a rectal temperature, if your pet will allow it, to know when to stop cooling. A safe temperature is about 103 degrees, and time to stop cooling. Seek veterinary attention as soon as possible.

Remember too that dogs absorb heat through the pads on their feet, so be sure to protect them by either cooling the deck with water or making a piece of nonskid carpet available. Boat surfaces such as fiberglass can get extremely hot in the sun.

Like anyone aboard your boat, animals can be injured and you should be prepared for that as well. Bandages, antiseptics and other common supplies found in a good first aid kit can treat animals as well as people, but the similarities stop with medication. Animals and humans have different physiology, requiring different treatment and dosages. Anything more than minor should be referred to a veterinarian when possible.

Distance cruisers may find it worthwhile to have a book on hand, such as Pet First Aid, which was published by the American Red Cross. While it is not meant to replace veterinary care, a good first-aid book can provide valuable advice when faced with an emergency at sea. In addition, many veterinarians are now offering first aid courses for pets in their offices. A call to your vet could put you in touch with a class in your area.

GETTING TO SHORE

Kona has a very sensitive stomach and feeding her anything other than dry kibble dog food is chancy. We learned our lesson after being beckoned out of a warm bed by a whining dog in the wee hours of the morning to make a trip to shore. We have determined she can eat a bit of rice, a few raw clam or oyster tidbits, and a crust of bread for a breakfast treat. She gets five cups of dry foot each day and she typically eats it after we have eaten our dinner. We store a large bag of her food under one of our floor hatches in the salon.

Absent some special circumstances – and training – having a dog aboard also means making several runs to shore each day. Regular walks and potty breaks are a reality. It's just part of the bargain. You can argue with your spouse about whose turn it is – but one of you is going.

Kona goes out after breakfast for a short walk and in the afternoon we almost always have a hike somewhere on shore. After supper and before we retire for the night, my husband, Rick, takes her out one last time. Our big girl then sleeps curled up on her mat at the foot of our queen island bed in our stateroom. Sometime during the night she will get up and make herself comfortable on the couch in the salon.

Kona can hold her water when necessary, but there have been times when we have had to make emergency runs to shore while underway. One such time was while traveling north in Johnstone Strait along the British Columbia coastline. We did not want to stop because the sea conditions were good and the current was with us. Instead, we deployed our tender, a 12-foot Polaris RIB (rigid inflatable boat) with a 50 hp engine, which we tow behind us.

Depending on how much freeboard your boat has, getting your dog into a dinghy or onto a dock can be a problem. In our case, the tender pulls up next to the gates on the starboard or port side and Kona just steps off the deck, onto the pontoons and into the dinghy. Because our boat has a low profile, docks too are easy hops. As she ages, however, we are going to have to modify this approach, because her legs may not have the same spring. Boarding steps, ramps, and slings are options we will consider.

In this situation I was at the helm with the boat in neutral and Rick brought the tender up to the pilot house gate on the starboard side. Kona jumped in with her lifejacket fastened and the two of them carried on to a carefully-chosen beach for a quick pit stop. Meanwhile, I continued up the strait at our usual cruising speed of seven or eight knots. When the shore duty was complete, dog and Captain caught up to the mother ship and re-boarded.

EXERCISE AND ADVENTURE

Just as we enjoy the opportunity for a change of scenery, your dog benefits from getting off the boat as well, sometimes just for a ride in the tender to see new scenery and smell new scents. I believe it is beneficial to their sanity.

Kona loves our bright red tender, which we call the Catch-Up. She knows that boat is her ticket to high adventure and exploration. She positions herself in the bow with her two front feet on the anchor locker. When the boat is moving fast, her ears flap and she looks like The Flying Nun. From this vantage point she keeps a sharp lookout for deadheads, dolphins, seals and whales.

And she finds them. We were once in our tender laying a prawn trap in Booker Lagoon on Broughton Island in the northern Broughton Archipelago. This lagoon is famous for the resident dolphins that frequently "buzz" boats coming into the lagoon and frolic in their wake. One of these dolphins chose our tender and Kona thought we were under attack from sea monsters below.

As the dolphin playfully swam under and around our tender, she growled and stamped on the bottom of the boat with her front legs, much the same way a polar bear will rear up on its hind legs and crash down with its weight to break through ice. She stood up on the edge of the pontoons and growled and barked and became increasingly distressed by this dolphin "assault." We had to abandon the prawning and return her to the mother ship before we could continue our mission.

Another time, while exploring from our tender in Smith Inlet just north of Cape Caution, we were treated to the familiar sound of a whale's blow hole. Much to our delight, two humpbacks were feeding in the area along the shoreline. Kona saw them surface and began to bark. They disappeared under the water for a few minutes and then surfaced again, this time closer to our tender. Kona was now on high alert, barking each time they came up. One of the whales must have become curious about the commotion and did an "eye spy," coming close to the boat and out of the water just enough to look around. Kona did some quick calculations, and took a step back from the bow.

LAND AND SEA

We have found Kona to be a great alarm system not only on water but also on land. As we were trekking through the forest to explore a nearby fresh water lake, Kona suddenly stopped. Every hair on her back, from her stubby tail to her two velvet ears, was standing straight up. She began a low growl and could not be convinced to go forward. I had never seen her like that before, nor have I since.

Because of her unusual behavior, I acknowledged her warning – I would not take one step either. We could not see or hear anything, but she was certainly uneasy. The nose knows, I thought. After waiting about five minutes, making a lot of noise and throwing sticks and rocks into the brush, I felt comfortable to move forward again. Kona agreed and we proceeded to the lake without incident.

Another afternoon, while surveying the shoreline from the bow of the boat, Kona started barking and growling and the hair again stood up on her back. This time, the danger was a small flock of Angora goats, standing on their back legs eating the leaves off the trees. Kona thereafter kept a sharp lookout for goat, sheep or marmot attacks from the shore near our anchorage.

Kona herself attracts a fair amount of attention. My sons call her a "chick magnet." We have met many interesting and friendly people because of our dog. Everywhere we go, people stop us to ask questions about her, the first inevitably being "is she friendly?" After she leans up against you for a back rub, you have the answer.

After five years cruising with Kona, we have grown very used to having her around. We hate to leave her when we go kayaking or SCUBA diving. As soon as she sees us haul out the tanks on the stern and hears the air blast out as we set up our gear, she heads for the salon and stays out of the way. She has perfected the "hang dog" look when we pull away from the boat. And she sleeps on our bed while we are gone, a revenge tactic that would go unnoticed if not for the rumpled sheets.

A dog on board, large or small, can be a great alarm, a funny friend and a personal trainer to keep you active and moving. Because of Kona we have found some of the most beautiful beaches and hiking on this planet. Walking those beaches and trails early in the morning and late in the evening are some of our best cruising memories. Some people have asked us if we will choose a smaller dog next time, some breed that doesn't take up the same amount of space as two adults standing on our boat.

The answer is a resounding no.

Carol-Ann Giroday and Rick LeBlanc live aboard Sea Foam, a 40-foot Eagle Pilothouse Trawler based on the Fraser River in Canada. Carol-Ann is a teacher and Rick is an engineer. Their work has appeared in magazines such as Sea, PassageMaker and Power Cruising.