It was familiar because it smelled like dog poop and unfamiliar because it was in my house. My house is supposed to smell like lavender and vanilla, not dog poop.
As I entered my living room I quickly found the offensive item. Kind of hard not to on a cream-coloured carpet! A perverse sculpture of sorts it was, one log stacked neatly on top of another.
Then I looked at Piper and Zumi while pointing at the poop and they both gave me a look that said: "Seriously?"
Piper left the room he was so offended by my assumption.
But I knew it was not my dogs that left me the surprise but rather my houseguest Max, the year-and-a-half-old beagle.
Looking over at Max, he sat on the leather chair, which he wasn't supposed to be on, and wagged his little tail, happier than a pig in . . .
When I called my girlfriend and inquired about this behaviour her response was, "Oh yeah, forgot to mention that part."
What part? The part that says "My dog still poops in the house?"
House training is probably the most challenging part of raising a dog because it requires so much consistency on our part along with timing and a degree of canine body language intuitiveness.
When puppies are being taught the rules of where to poop, I generally suggest some simple guidelines. First, never let your dog roam unsupervised because the moment you turn your back to adjust the blinds will be the time the young dog decides to leave you a message on the floor.
When you cannot supervise them, keep them confined in an exercise pen. After each meal, when they wake up from a nap, after a play session, take the puppy outside immediately to do their business and be patient. If you are expecting to have your puppy do its business within the first two minutes of being outside, it will be outside all day without squatting a darn thing. If you go outside with the attitude that it will take all day for them to get busy, they usually get it done within a few moments. Sticking to these basic rules usually gets a young dog house training within two weeks.
Then there are dogs like Max. Max is a bit tricky.
He is actually really well house broken. He asks to go outside and is happy to do his business rain or shine.
When you take Max for a walk, he does his business but also likes to hold some of his 'stuff' back and share it in the backyard once he gets home. If you are not aware of this or forgetful, you will find his little messages on your living room floor. Why does Max do this? Because he is marking territory. He not only uses urine to mark territory while on a walk but his poop while at home. Most dogs do this but we don't think much of it. Why would we really? Who has the time to contemplate the rationale behind poop placement by dogs?
So, what is the training prescription for Max?
Well it is more for his owners. They have to be aware of this habit and whenever they come home from a walk, take Max outside right away and allow him to leave his mark in the yard, not the kitchen. Just like a regular house training routine, consistency will pay off and as long as Max does not have another marking episode in the house, he will have broken the habit of marking inside within a few weeks and begin asking to be let outside as soon as he comes into the house at the end of his walk.
Joan Klucha has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her at k9kinship.com.
