Here's what I did with my dog Chancey:
1. At home, near stern of the trailered boat, I set up an
ordinary step ladder. Any height ladder will do.

2. I began training Chancey to "Climb" by placing one paw at a
time on step ladder steps, while using the command "CLIMB"(use
same command, be consistent, don't use a bunch of words). I
only got him to the first two steps of the step ladder, bcz he
was quite resistant to that particular training. But I repeated
the training!

3. When Chancey and I finally got to the lake a week or two
later, he ended up in the water unexpectedly. I called him
toward the swim ladder, grabbed him by scruff of his neck, and
issued the command "CLIMB"! He climbed up the swim ladder with
just a little help from me.

As there is no way I could lift this 90 LBS dog (dry) out of the
water while bending over the stern, by back would snap and then
dog and I would both need rescue.

J K



Our lab has had a tough time getting in and out of our boat.
Part of this is due to a high dock -- or low water, depending
on your perspective. The critical thing is getting out of the
water