How to Prepare a Dog for a Ferry Crossing

There’s a persistent myth that preparing a dog for a ferry is basically the same as prepping for a car ride, just with water underneath. It isn’t. A car ride has visual reference points out the window and a driver’s hands on the wheel your dog can half-sense. A ferry crossing hands your dog a low, constant engine hum, a swaying floor with no clear cause, and — on most routes — a requirement that they stay on a vehicle deck or in a designated area away from you for the whole trip. That combination is what actually derails dogs, not the water itself.

What Actually Happens On Board (Not What You Assume)

Every ferry operator handles pets a little differently, and the rules matter more than most owners expect before they book. On Washington State Ferries, dogs are allowed in outdoor passenger areas and in marked interior zones away from the galley, but they’re not permitted on passenger seating or near dining areas. BC Ferries takes a stricter line: pets generally need to stay in your vehicle or in a designated pet area for the crossing, which means your dog may spend the whole trip without you nearby. Some routes, like the Cape May – Lewes Ferry: Cape May-Lewes Ferry, let pets ride on exterior decks and note that many owners simply leave dogs in a well-ventilated vehicle for shorter hops.

The practical takeaway: call or check the operator’s pet policy before you assume anything about where your dog will actually be during the crossing. A 60-pound dog who’s fine being crated in a quiet cabin can still struggle being left alone in a parked car on a vehicle deck for 90 minutes with strangers walking past.

Three Weeks Out: Build the Baseline

Start well before departure day, not the morning of. I ask clients to treat ferry prep like any other structured desensitization project: short, boring, repeated exposures that build tolerance before the real event.

A client once brought in a two-year-old Labrador mix, 58 pounds, booked on a three-hour interisland ferry with almost no car experience beyond trips to the vet. Three weeks out, we started with five-minute sessions of the dog sitting quietly in a parked, running car, working up to a real 40-minute drive with stop-and-go traffic by day 10. By day 18, the dog could lie down and settle through engine noise and gentle rocking, cued by the same blanket and food-stuffed toy each time. That consistency, more than any single product, is what let the crossing itself go smoothly.

During this window, also address motion sickness directly if your dog has a history of it. According to VCA Animal Hospitals, motion sickness in dogs is common, especially in young or anxious dogs, and often improves with repeated short trips that build tolerance rather than avoidance. If your dog has vomited or drooled excessively on past car rides, mention it to your veterinarian now, not the week before travel — some dogs benefit from an anti-nausea medication trial at home first, so you know how they respond before you’re on a boat.

One Week Out: Confirm the Gear and the Paperwork

This is where I see the most last-minute scrambling, and it’s avoidable. Confirm your dog’s ID tags are current and legible, and bring a copy of vaccination records if the route requires it — our guide on dog ID tags and records walks through exactly what to carry and how to back it up digitally in case a tag is lost mid-trip.

If your veterinarian has prescribed an anti-nausea medication, plan the timing now. AKC’s guide to Cerenia notes that maropitant citrate, the active ingredient, is typically given about two hours before travel and works best alongside a small meal rather than an empty stomach — the opposite of what many owners assume. It’s not something to figure out for the first time in a ferry terminal parking lot.

Pack for the reality of the vehicle deck: water, a collapsible bowl, waste bags, and a way to keep your dog cool if you’ll be leaving them in the car, since many operators restrict access to vehicles once underway. Crack windows where the operator allows it, and never assume you can duck back down to check on your dog mid-crossing — on most routes, you can’t.

Departure Day: The Sequence That Actually Works

Here’s the honest trade-off nobody puts on a packing list: the calmest ferry dogs are usually the ones who ate a light meal a few hours before boarding, not dogs on an empty stomach. An empty stomach can actually increase bile reflux and nausea in some dogs, even though the old advice was to withhold food. Talk to your vet about what’s right for your individual dog, since this varies by history and any medication being used.

On arrival at the terminal, give your dog a real walk and bathroom break before boarding — once you’re on the vehicle deck, that opportunity disappears for the length of the crossing. Settle your dog into their crate or the car with the same blanket and toy used during practice sessions, then step away calmly if you’re required to leave the vehicle deck. Dogs pick up on hovering more than most owners realize.

A different kind of edge case is worth planning for too: a nine-month-old rescue puppy, about 30 pounds, boarded a 45-minute ferry crossing having never been left alone in a car before. She’d handled three weeks of car practice fine with her owner present, but being separated for the crossing triggered panting and pacing that hadn’t shown up in any prior session. The fix wasn’t more car time, it was a separate round of alone-training at home first, since the trigger was isolation, not motion. If your route requires leaving your dog unattended, practice that specific scenario before travel, not just the driving and rocking.

Keep it preventive: think in realistic timelines rather than assuming one calm car ride means your dog is ready for a multi-hour crossing with unfamiliar sounds and separation. Dogs generalize slowly, and the crossing itself is often the first time all the pieces — noise, motion, and being left — happen together.

Quick Recap

A ferry crossing asks more of a dog than a typical car trip: sustained engine noise, unfamiliar motion, and often separation from you on the vehicle deck. Build tolerance over two to three weeks with short, repeated practice sessions, confirm your operator’s actual pet policy before travel, and talk to your vet early if motion sickness or anxiety has been an issue. For more on the sea-travel specifics once you’ve nailed down the basics, see our full breakdown of ferry and boat travel with your dog, and if this crossing is one leg of a longer trip, our getting started guide covers the rest of the itinerary.