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.

Photo by Rick LeBlancTraveling to shore by tender, Kona gets walks each day.

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.