[NAGDU] distracted relieving

[nellie at culodge.com]

Alright Tracey,

Please tell us what the words to your song are?  😊

I was just on vacation in Florida and Rosy went 5 times in one day.  I am sure it was partly due to the stress of traveling and being in a strange place, but I found myself carrying around those lovely poop bags most of my trip!

-Janell and miss poops a lot!  😊

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione via NAGDU
Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2019 9:55 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] distracted relieving

Hi Jean.
I feel your pain.  Krokus does the same trick.  Just out of curiosity, is your dog from TSE?  I begin to think pooping on route is a TSE feature, though I know dogs from other schools sometimes do, too.

I take him to relieve in front of my house, mostly.  I let him walk around along the whole strip of grass and street in the front, about 60 feet.  Often, enough walking up and down will stimulate him to go.  For some reason, he is more likely to poop when my husband takes him than when I do.  Maybe my husband is more patient.
I've also found that attaching the relieving belt and the bag can stimulate him to go, too.  Maybe it bugs him, and he wants to get it off?
At work, I walk him a block or so to a good spot, put on his bag, then let him sniff and spin until I get a result.  He used to get distracted by all the action around, but now he just needs some encouraging "park time"'s from me, and he does his thing.

If none of that works, and he starts stopping on route and saying he has to go, I try to keep him moving to a spot we've used before, just so he doesn't start thinking he can stop anywhere.  Of course, then every time we pass that spot, he thinks it's time to stop and have a sniff and a pee, so I really try to get him to go before we go.

Good luck.  For me, relieving on route is very aggravating.  I've even made up a little blues song about walking around with a full baggy, trying to find a trash can.
Tracy


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jean Menzies via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2019 6:01 PM
To: NAGDU
Cc: Jean Menzies
Subject: [NAGDU] distracted relieving

I know there is no real answer for this other than probably likely time and possibly maturity, but here goes. 

I have a new pup. I take him out for park time, and he always pees. I give him lots of time and encouragement for a poop, but often there is nothing. Then we harness up and head out, only to have him often poop in the first 200 or 300 yards of our route. His signs of needing to go on route are clear. He walks very, very slowly, stops, won’t go, pulls into the grass, etc. If I force it and try and ignore his needing to go and try to get home so that he can park at home, he will poop on the road in harness. If I take his harness off and let him go to the edge of the road, he often gets distracted by the grass and brush on the edges and starts eating crap instead of doing what he so urgently indicated he had to do. 

Factors: 
1 He is new. 
2 He has never had a yard before, and gets distracted by the grass and new smells, so parking at home might be just distracting on its own. 
3 We are walking on gravel roads with grass or brush along the edges. If I let him stop along the way, he gets fixated on eating crap and won’t necessarily poop. Again, all this new stuff is just amazing to eat. 

I really praise him when he poops at home especially prior to a walk. I sometimes even  offer up a treat reward for a home poop. 

So, any ideas on how to further encourage that poop prior to heading out? I give him lots of time and encouragement to move about. I don’t want  pooping on route to become the norm. 

What are people’s reactions to this kind of situation? Obviously, it is frustrating. But do you just accept that poop happens and if he has to go, he has to go, or do you fall into another camp and try to fix this behaviour? 

Thanks for any input. 

Jean and Boomer
_______________________________________________
NAGDU mailing list
NAGDU at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/carcione%40access.net


_______________________________________________
NAGDU mailing list
NAGDU at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/nellie%40culodge.com