Dog ramp for pontoon boat
 

I am taking delivery of a new pontoon boat this spring.
We have a 50 lb dog that loves to swim and I have seen many folks who have ramps off the side that connect and allow the dog to climb up without assistance. This is for when we are out on the lake not for him to get in the boat or for a dock.

I have looked on google and didn’t see anything that looks great.
Anyone have a source for a good ramp?
Anyone make their own?

Familiar with the yellow plastic one many retailers sell. Garbage. The weight of the dog will push it under.


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Pick one!
 

The 7 Best Dog Boat Ramps (2021)

https://www.doglovesbest.com/best-dog-boat-ramps/

I will tell you we got #2 on this list a few years back and it's borderline useless. It attaches to the ladder with no problem, but the issue is on typical Winni days, there tends to be waves and chop. With the boat rocking due to the waves, making the ladder move up and down, makes it essentially too hard for the dog to use. On a calm day, works decent. Only other thing to consider - if it's your only ladder to get onboard, it renders your ladder useless for everyone else in the water. I have no problem floating for hours, so doesn't matter to me, but my wife, parents and guests seem to think differently... :confused:

I've got a bowrider and considered fabricating my own, just haven't come up with exactly how yet... Back of my head, this is one of the factors I'm trying to use to convince myself that upgrading to a newer boat (ideally Cobalt R7) that has the swim platform that folds underwater would makes sense. It does until I do the financial math :( .... Just means I need more reasons :laugh:

Out of curiosity - anyone on here have a Cobalt R5 or R7 and use the swim platform for your pet? Does it work well or is it not deep enough? Our dog is the typical 65lbs dog - so not big by any stretch, but not a small dog either.

I have a 2016 R5 with the swim platform, and the dogs (50-60 lbs) come on and off the boat almost too easily. Dive in, climb back on board, shake, repeat.... The step is at about the perfect depth for them.

Thanks CampEye! Exactly the response I was hoping for!

Hey, I have a friend who bought a fancy one for her two 80lb goldens. There are brackets that attach to the boat, & she decided she didn’t want to do that, but shipping & restock fees kept her from returning the ramp. If you’re interested, I could put you in touch...


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Figured I would post an update on this as we bought a new one and it works great! (None the less, really wishing we would have gone the R7/R8 path outlined above, but not this year :-)

In doing our continuous research on this - we came across a new one that we hadn't seen yet. We love the brand having a small one of their 'Inflatable Docks' that we use to clean around the boat or jump off of and then we have another one of their really large inflatable docks (we have the 10 x 10): Link here: https://swimline.com/collections/sol...ocks-platforms

We have had them for several years now. Really well made, durable, solid, we inflate and deflate frequently - lives up to exactly what we need them for and why we bought them.

When we noticed they came out with a Dog model - we ordered one from West Marine as that was the fastest route to our hands (https://www.westmarine.com/buy/solst...85?recordNum=2).

We used it this past Saturday - AMAZING! Worked great! Used it Sunday and the entire black bottom tore right out the 2nd time our dog swam on it. Couldn't believe it!

After more research, I noticed in pictures that Swimline (brand) must have just recently updated the model to fix EXACTLY what happened to us. Look at the west marine picture closely and you can see how the black mesh netting is sewed right into the inflatable. On the 'updated' one (picture at the link below from Swimline) it now has what appears to be a very different, more robust way to attach to the float using rope (clearly looks to be MUCH improved).

Link to updated version: https://swimline.com/collections/sol...orts-pup-plank

Needless to say, we've been back and forth with the company today and they are sending us a new one with the new design! Hopefullly this one works much better and is much more durable, but time & use will tell.

Happy to update others as time goes on (if people even care) as to whether the new design is durable to withstand our 70lbs pups Lake Time!!! Should it not hold up, I've already designed a plan B to build and attach to this float as I know that PVC material is extremely durable from experience! :-)