Ok so taking Nibbler to Outer Hebrides next weekend - really looking forward to it but slightly dreading the ferry trip - 2 1/2 hours - do we leave in in the car or take him up to pet area on deck? If so I think we should Muzzle him just in case - any advice welcome - just truned six months and very bouncy boy at the moment.
We took 2 dogs to france on a ferry a few years ago now. We had a crate in the car, left with a couple of kongs and that was it for I think 4 hours? They were fine. They were however, used to spending time in the car.
We travel from the Isle of Man to the UK several times a year & always leave Coco (and Belle & Scooby before him) in the car. One of the boats does allow a limited number dogs in the passenger (pet) lounge or cabin, but the other (summer boat) doesn't. The time can vary from 4.5 hours (winter) to 2.5 hours (summer). I think all of our dogs would have been more stressed making their way on deck and travelling with other dogs than being left in the car. Coco is crated in the back of OH's truck for the boat journey, but he is on the back seat while driving (the other 2 were trusted on the back seat when left on the boat). We did spend a little while getting Coco used to the crate in the back just on the drive before we went initially - he's not normally crated - he seems fine with it, though he is VERY excited to see us when we return to the car on arrival! We never leave them with anything to occupy them, like a Kong, I cannot bring myself to leave a dog alone with a toy, just in case.
We've taken Jess on the ferry to and from Ireland - I think the crossing was about 4 hours. We left her in the car and it was fine. She just slept, barely even registered when we came back to the car. We did book the crossing for night time to make it more likely that she would sleep. We also put throws over her crate in the car so she wasn't distracted by the lights on the ferry deck or by people walking by. We would have taken her into the passenger deck if we could but that wasn't allowed on our crossing - it was a choice of car or the boat kennels. Though we did see a very bouncy young lab in the bar area wearing a guide-dogs harness. We were trying to decide if we could pass Jess off as a guide dog too, but thought people probably wouldn't be fooled....
Thanks - He loves the car and it will be a later sailing so he might just sleep - will try and tire him out with a long walk half way there and after we arrive at port - think staying in the car might be the safest and least stressful option for everyone on the boat. Question though - presume I have to leave windows down a wee bit for ventilation? What do you put in kongs that lasts a while - he usually empties them of treats in a couple of minutes - won't be able to freeze.
If we are going out for the day, I pack kongs in a small freezer bag with frozen blocks round them. Keeps the already frozen kongs fairly frozen - obviously not as good as straight from the freezer but works ok.
That reminds me - yes of course leave the windows open for air but if you don't normally do this it's worth checking how it will work with your car alarm. In my (very old) car, the alarm often goes off when the windows are left open. (this is a motion sensor, not just because it's old!) Jess also has to be in a crate in the back or she'll trigger the sensors inside the car.
Just to update - we made it - came down to car deck and he was snoring away in the back of the car in his bed - would have been a nightmare up on deck as lots of others dogs yelping away. Thanks for the advice - long walk when we got to the port helps. Enjoying having gorgeous beaches all to ourselves up here.
