[NAGDU] distracted relieving

[Raven Tolliver]

I’m just over the first six months of my partnership with my second guide, and she is similar. She indicates very clearly that she needs to poop by doing a partial squat.  So I have two places on route that I will give her the chance to relieve.  If I let her, she will sniff around for 20 minutes before parking, or  just sniff around a bunch, not park because I won’t give her the time to sniff, and then end up parking on route.
I have resolve this for the most part, and I realize my solution works because my dog only poops once a day.
I have gotten into the routine of making her poop before breakfast. So I will fix her food, leave it in her crate or on the counter, then run her outside. If she doesn’t poop, I bring her back inside and tie her to the couch with in view of the breakfast dish, and leave her there for several minutes. Then I’ll go back outside, and try again to get her to relieve.  It usually works on the first try, but sometimes there are days where I have to take her out twice for her to get the idea that she will not eat until she poops. This is not a 100% solution, as there are some days where I leave early enough that she just ends up parking on route. At this point, I’m just glad it happens outside and not inside. 
It’s extremely ridiculous to me, but I guess of all the problems I could have, it’s not nearly the worst.