Abby use to go with me all the time. She started going with me at about 4 months old and we had a lot of fun. She was a great fishing partner. Enjoy your pup.

My lil JRT loves the boat but like someone else mentioned doesn't like wind in her ears. She does tend to poop at times also. The good times definitely out way the poopy times.

High strung breeds are not good boat dogs. I wish I could take my Weimaraner, but she's just too much of a spaz.

I have an Aussie. His name is Skipper. Nuf said.

He always wears a life jacket. Sometimes I'll remove it in the summer when the big motor is off. He loves to go fast. As a puppy he would jump into the water and run ashore when i would get real shallow (like 3' or less). Now he waits until I beach the boat for his potty break. I always take extra water, treats, and a chew toy for him. In the summer time I make sure to get him in the water occasionally to cool off. He loves to check out and smell the fish I catch. Sometimes he is annoyingly at my feet and gets in the way of the trolling motor pedal, but that's just part of it, especially with a herding dog. Plan that some of your time will be spent dealing with the dog for potty breaks, etc. I'll take him somewhere to catch the frisbee for a while to expend his energy first before fishing. I also make effort to keep extra rods and lures put away so he doesn't hook himself and so that I can pay more attention to fishing. Most of the time he is looking over the edge of the boat wondering when the next fish will come out of the water.
Of course I have to vacuum the boat when we get home.

I have an Australian Shepherd and a Texas Healer, anytime I am in my boat they are both there too. I started both at a young age, never had an issue with either dog jumping in the water or anything like that. I make it a point to hit the bank about every hour to let them swim a little and take care of their business. If your worried about hooks, see below for a great way to handle that. Starting them out on a leash is not a bad idea, but eventually you will have to train them how to act around the rods. My Texas Healer got a spinnerbait hook through one of his paws years ago, hasnt stepped on a bait since.

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Lure-Wraps/product/103725/

Might post in off topic as well.

Clearly you have never visited the OT!

Our 11 yr old Toy Poodle(5.5 lbs) has been going since she was a puppy, no training needed, no SHEDDING either. She just took to it. Once the motor starts she knows the routine, she gets on partner s lap or mine.
Tournament Day she holds it till weigh-in, Safe light -2 or 3pm. After we get to first spot she gets a Dog bone,her food and water is put out.She goes to sleep, either on seat or under console, till she hears the rustle of a sandwich wrapper. She's VERY smart, some of her tricks are on You Tube
Lola's tricks part 1,part 2 and 3 should be up by now. You must type in Lola's tricks part 1,2 or 3
otherwise other Lola s pop up. She's a chocolate brown toy.
BTW she has more air miles than I do, also does Auto Train. So she does trains, planes, boats, and automobiles.LOL

My pit bull loves it. She just waits and waits till i hook one and comes up jumping and she gets do excited when i get one in the boat. Makes me a proud parent

I can give you a personal opinion as a veterinarian or a fisherman. Been fishing most of my life and work as an ER vet for the past 4 years.

So, I have to remove hooks from dogs fairly often during the spring time. Most of them are in hard to reach places and often involve crankbait hooks. I am guessing ones caught in the skin are removed by the owners because to be honest I dont see many of those. As long as you keep the deck clean you probably dont have to worry about that. Some dogs LOVE chasing lures when they are cast. If your dog is one of those he/she could seriously mess up a good thing by jumping in the water after your spook. Lastly and most important I would think is to watch the temp outside. I start seeing animals for heat stroke once the temp breaks 65-70F outside. Heat stroke sucks and is expensive to treat if they get a condition called HGE from it , that tends to show up several days later. Cant predict heat stroke unfortunately . Typically happens on humid days with dogs doing things they normally do day in day out.

As a fisherman, my dog goes with me fairly often. She loves to bark at the fish. Dog hair can be a pain to get out of boat carpet.

Thats my $0.02

Great answers as usual. And yeah, I know about the off topic area but try to stay away from there....more intelligent answers here. Appreciate the input.

I will say this, expect an accident here and there as a puppy, then expect them to want to swim and track sand and mud into the boat as well. I remember taking my chocolate lab when he was a couple months old and he started a #2 on my back deck. I remember checking him into the water like a hockey player. I still had to do some cleaning. A couple other issue that you might encounter:

1. dog running back and forth from front to back
2. dog stepping on rods
3. an occasional hook in the dog
4. nails tearing seats

All in all I got over these things and never backed the boat up without my dog in the truck.

My yellow lab just jumps in and swims to shore to do her thing or cool off, or just to aggravate me. Love having her with me.

I take my chocolate lab with me often. She is 13 now, but when she was a puppy I made sure she stayed on the back deck and NEVER came forward. She got to like fishing much more than duck hunting. She goes on point every time I set the hook and will stay frozen until I toss the fish. If the fish is a throw back I softly toss it just out of range of her mouth into the water. She then sticks her head down below water level and looks for the fish. If it is a large fish, she will unfreeze and start wagging her tail because she knows I will not toss it.

All of my boys are grown and married now and she has become my fishing companion. But due to her age I have to watch taking her into the heat. I highly recommend getting a lab. They are very intelligent and easily trained, they love people, and love water.

I get a headache after 3 topics
I read down there. Everyone's just soooo funny.