Thoughts on an(ahem) unsavory subject

We got through the holidays and even managed a five-day trip to Colorado, thanks to the house-sitting efforts of the amazing Lindsey with backup from her fantastic family. Now we are back into the working-day groove with Sofi spending most of her day with me in my (our) office. She's happy, healthy, and really doing well with most things.

One thing we are still struggling with is the coprophagia. This is a problem that has expanded into Tucker's sphere, so to speak....we discovered this about a week ago when Andre came around the corner after having let both of them out, face white as a sheet, having witnessed something that disturbed him terribly. It seems Sofi has taken an interest in Tucker's......well, leavins. And Andre witnessed a scene that apparently traumatized him greatly. I will spare you the details.

At that moment, I vowed to redouble my efforts to solve this problem. I did some more research on the topic, and was once again reassured that this is not as disturbing a problem as it seems...it's not a dangerous habit, just really supremely repulsive to human sensibilities. Most dogs who exhibit the behavior grow out of it eventually, unless it is spurred on by some obsessive/compulsive drive...and I think that's probably what we are dealing with.

None of our solutions have worked up to this point, including the For-Bid food additive, even shaking cayenne pepper or meat tenderizer onto her poop as soon as it hits the ground. Some people recommend enzyme treatments--adding fresh pineapple or even alfalfa pellets to the food to help break down undigested matter--but I think Sofi's problem is a learned and compulsive behavior, not nutritionally motivated.

I awoke the other night with an idea! We have some air freshener that is made of pure citrus oil, and the dogs hate the smell (we've been known to tease the dogs by offering them orange peels and watching them turn up their noses at the unpleasant smell). We've been spraying the trash cans with this spray to keep Tucker from eating kleenexes out of it. So--why not follow the dogs around, wait for them to poop, then spray it with the orange spray?!?! Brilliant, right? Turns out this works, actually!! It completely diverts Sofi's attention from her less than savory activities. She loses interest completely as a result of the spray.



Well, this plan requires me to get up at the crack of early, put on my boots, fuzzy robe, and coat, and run around the back yard at 6am in the dark, poised and ready for either or both of the dogs to poop in the bushes or trees, then descend upon the poop with my spray can before anything disturbing can happen to it. I come back in the house and remove twigs from my hair and assess my face for new scratches and abrasions. I repeat this process a couple more times over the course of the day.

How long can I keep this up? I'm not sure at this point. It's already getting a bit old, as you might imagine. But I'm committed to at least trying to break the habit and hoping that Sofi can be conditioned to associate poop with an unpleasant citrus smell. I'm definitely open to suggestions, if you happen to have any. In the meantime, think of me at 6am, crouching in the bushes in my fuzzy robe with my spray can, waiting for a dog to poop.

The view from my desk

This is a common sight for me during the day, particularly between 3 and 5pm, as the dinner hour approaches. Caramelly brown eyes and a soft muzzle, ready to endure as much back-scratching as I'm willing to administer, leaning into it for maximum effect.

Sofi is a joyful, hoppy presence who chooses solitude with less and less frequency. I worry about her mountain goat antics in the back yard, doing superdog leaps off tall rocks and screeching around corners on two wheels, but she has not hurt herself and I don't ever see her limping. Her cornering is much more effective on the left side than the right, and she does fall occasionally, but for the most part her leg doesn't slow her down a bit.

We've moved her bed into the bedroom next to Tucker's and she has adopted this as her new spot. The two of them can be found there each night, snoring and making dog-dream noises (and manufacturing gag-inducing odors) alongside each other. She is learning to play more gently and is getting more playtime with the kids, now that she is not trying to gnaw off their appendages and facial features. Not as often, anyway.

One cute behavior she has picked up from the cat apparently, is rubbing up against our legs as she walks by. She kind of arches her back and leans, then keeps on walking. Very sweet.

She still definitely has her "turtle" moments. I've given up on walking her altogether for the time being, and she had a panic attack when Bear, the 120lb sheepdog came over for Thanksgiving. We will keep working on that relationship, because I think they will enjoy playing together tremendously once she is a little more accustomed to him.

I'm looking forward to the first respectable snowfall--I know she is going to love that, and I will have my video camera ready.

Sofi's First Day

After a week of waiting for "Emily" to finish her hookworm treatment, Andre and I went to pick her up on Monday afternoon. She was petrified and just stood there in the reception area, shaking. Andre carried her to the car. She had been bathed at the shelter, but was still very stinky. So we took her straight to the Pawsh Wash for another bath.



As soon as we walked in, the woman working there recognized her and came over to help us. She said she had bathed "Emily" the previous Saturday at the shelter.

Once we arrived home, the introductions began and went much more smoothly than we had anticipated. Tucker was a perfect gentledog and was very sweet. She stopped shaking once we got her inside and put her in the crate (thanks Maureen!!) She eagerly ate some dinner and settled into her new nest.

We managed to get her out of the crate to go outside a couple of times before bed, but she didn't pee or poop, and hadn't done anything since we left the shelter.
After an uneventful night, I heard her peeing/pooping in the crate at about 6am, so I hopped up and carried her outside before she made a big mess.