[nagdu] Doggy elimination issues: Remedies?

[Bryan Jones]

Hello Robert,

I experienced this very same issue several times shortly after leaving The Seeing Eye with my dog Marqi (my first and current dog). I was living in Milwaukee at the time and we had a 1.5 mile walk along city sidewalks to work in the morning. Marqi normally relieved herself, both numbers 1 and 2, at the very start of our walk, but then a few times in the span of a week or two she stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of an intersection halfway through our walk. At first I thought she was stopping because of traffic or another obstacle in the street, but upon further investigation I realized she was leaving a deposit. I was very flustered and, like you, started to become hesitant and worried about possible negative consequences. I called the Seeing Eye and spoke with an instructor to discuss what might be happening. He was helpful and I remember taking away the following 3 bits of knowledge from our discussion:
1. He assured me I would eventually come to recognize when Marqi was needing to take an out-of-cycle bathroom break.
2. Due to the long walk, I would include time for an extra stop during our walk to give her another chance to go, just in case. I would also consider moving her initial bathroom break from the beginning of the walk to a spot a little further along the path.
3. I would check to make sure I was not feeding her too many treats or more food than she should be receiving.

A combination of all three of these helped get us back on track. I found that she had indeed been gaining some weight, so I trimmed back just a bit on her food and treats. I found a good spot a quarter mile into our walk and made that her new bathroom break location. I think the most important thing for me, though, was learning to really know my dog and her behaviors, the changes in her pace, her breathing, etc. Marqi will definitely pick up the pace when she needs to go, and she will tend to be a little less focussed, and sometimes she will pant heavily if things are getting really desperate. These are things that I learned as time progressed. It's been two years since those initial incidents and I'm happy to say we've not encountered this particular issue again 

Best of luck,
Bryan

On Dec 19, 2011, at 3:47 PM, Robert Hooper wrote:

> Hello to All:
> 
> Well, here it is-the one issue with which nobody wants to be preoccupied, least of all me. Anyway, I will plunge into it regardless and hope that someone (or a few someone's) have any thoughts. Bailey is on scheduled food and water. He has scheduled relieving times throughout the day and I give him no treats. I recently switched his food to Annova Evo Red Meat formula. Since then, his waste product has been smaller and more solid-a good sign, right? I switched him very gradually and he seems to have no gastrointestinal upset thus far. However, since I have been home for the holidays, I have been taking him to Athens (the nearest metropolitan area to where I live) with my sister. I do this in order to keep up his training while we are not busy pounding the pavement at OSU. The last two times I have walked with him, he has found it necessary to eliminate on route. He stops suddenly and without warning and instantly forms the doggy arch of doom. The consistency of the poops to-go does
> not vary from those at-home poops; that is, it arrives in several pellet-like packages easily dispatched by the ever-present plastic bag. I am quite adept at the fine art of doggy priority mail delivery, and my issue is not bending over on a sidewalk to collect the latest roadside deposit. My issue is with the fact that Bailey is going on route. I understand that he might not be able to hold it. I also understand that movement stimulates dogs, thus a further potential factor. Is there a way to teach him to let me know of any impending disasters? I correct him when he goes inappropriately-that is, while in harness, but I would feel better if I didn't have to do that. I would rather pull over, take off his harness, and let him take care of business. This is very frustrating to me. I keep thinking that the next time could be the lobby of some business establishment or an aisle in a store, etc. I have a sense of hesitation now when walking with him and that is also frustrating-I
> shouldn't have to be afraid of Bailey hitting the eject button whenever we take a walk. I wish I could isolate the problem, but there are a lot of factors that have changed in my coming home-I switched his food, his walking routine is significantly different (he now walks uninterrupted for an hour as opposed to the shorter 10-15 minute spurts throughout the day to which he was accustomed during the time we were on campus), he is in a different place (although not an unfamiliar one), I am accompanied by my sister, etc. I am hoping to receive thoughts or suggestions. I make sure to give him the chance to relieve before we take those walks, but he usually just pees. For example, this morning, he defecated normally. I took him out about three hours later (and just before I left) to relieve again and he only peed. Despite having relieved him beforehand, he still went on route. I did not give him water, however. Maybe that would have stimulated him to go then? I could vary the times we
> walk, but I can't very well call up my professors and say "Hey, can you move class back about four hours today? I'm afraid my dog will need to defecate on my way". I would gratefully accept any suggestions-whether training-oriented, schedule/feeding/watering/relieving-technique-related, etc. As previously mentioned, I don't want him, under any circumstances, to think it's okay to go in harness. I've been lucky enough that all his incidents have occurred outside. I don't want that to change. This is an instance when I am grateful for this list-it is easier than calling up the Seeing Eye for suggestions. On a further note, I must mention that Bailey's work is as unimpaired and high-quality as ever, but for those stressful little nastinesses.  I appreciate any help given very much.
> Sincerely,
> Robert Hooper
> Hooper.90 at buckeyemail.osu.edu<mailto:Hooper.90 at buckeyemail.osu.edu>
> The Ohio State University
> 0653 Buckeye-Cuyahoga CT
> 653 Cuyahoga Court
> Columbus, Ohio 43210
> (740) 856-8195
> 
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