I started taking mine the first week I had him, at about 10 weeks old. Had him two months now, and he's about learned where he is allowed to sit/lay (aka, not on my rods). Like any other training, its taken some work and there's been frustrations - but the alternative is to fish less or lock him in a cage all day every day, so there really isn't any other option.

Mine just chills. He's an aussie so I don't take him when its super hot. Or if I take 2 extra people while bass fishing. I have a bowl for him to drink from but he holds it until we load the boat. He does everything with me though. Hunt, fish, whatever. He gets maaaad if I leave him.

That's a good boi!

When I was boatless, I would take my dog with me. Now that I have a boat, she's older, blind, and diabetic. The heat makes her ill, so she stays at home for me.

Saw a guy today that had a GSP puppy on his bass boat.

Someone mentioned ladders above, and I forgot to mention that in my first post. Ladders can help

A life jacket with a shark fin on top gives you something handy to grab. One note: Life jackets are a really good idea for small dogs. You don't always hear them hit the water. I almost lost a dog many years ago when I didn't hear him fall into the water, and only discovered him silently dog paddling beside the boat later. I've had life jackets on mine ever since.

There are harness with flotation you should be able to pick your dog up by it.

Very large dip net or put the power pole down, let him climb on it then raise it.

My dog is 70 lbs so this vest handle makes it easy to lift her back in. She’s very well trained and stays at the back deck. Only fell in once when she got too excited when I caught a fish next to her back deck.

Lost both of these in the last year, worst part of being a dog dad... they saw more lakes and lake time than most folks do.


Now training this almost 6 month old pup. He’s a natural, but we still have some work to do.

Awesome thread!

my dog Rudy went under the console last Thursday and stuck a red eye shad in his face. had to take him to the vet to get it out. DANG!
took less than 10 minutes to get him fixed up. Going to take a while for me to get over it.

Had a chow that swam like a rock. The life vest made it easy to get him in and kept him afloat.

I don't do it but leaving my dogs here at home is no problem as they have 50 acres to roam, squirrels to chase, and they act as guards for my free range chickens. I am not against taking a daog on the boat but wouldn't want my glass scratched by toenails.

On a bit of a side note watching the Ken Smith videos his dogs and their behavior drive me crazy. A well behaved dog is one thing but those 3 jumping at his fish and standing and jumping on his on-deck rods drive me batty. No thanks.

Good lookin' hounds man.