10:04 – Yesterday and today I’ve been incorporating comments from reviewers and posting the “final” versions of the manuscript chapters. We’re through the initial narrative chapters and the first two lab sessions, other than incorporating any late-arriving comments.
I don’t know what we’re going to do about Colin. When he first came home with us, I thought he was going to be easy to house-train. He had accidents, of course, but he seemed to realize that he was expected to urinate and defecate outside. Then he noticed that Barbara and I used the indoor bathrooms, and apparently decided that what was good enough for us was good enough for him. He decided that our hall bathroom was for him. Fortunately, it has a ceramic tile floor.
He no longer urinates indoors, and most of the time he defecates outdoors. But only most. He goes through spells when he reverts to using the hall bathroom. He might go two or three weeks without doing anything indoors, and then defecate in the hall bathroom several times over the next few days. He’s in one of those spells now. It’s particularly aggravating because it almost always happens minutes after we come back in from a walk. Before we come in, I lead him over to the natural area where he’s been trained to go. He’ll stand there just looking down the street. I tell him we’re going to go in the house and if he needs to do something he’d better do it now. Eventually, he trots up to the front door and waits to come in. And then, often within five or ten minutes, he shits on the bathroom floor.
I wouldn’t mind so much if he’d just shit on the floor. That’s easy enough to clean up and sterilize. But the really disgusting part is that he usually eats it. That’s because we made the mistake very early of pointing at a pile on the floor and yelling at him. He’s obviously decided that it’s safer to hide the forensic evidence.
This morning, I took him for a walk just after Barbara left. Five minutes after we came back into the house, he shit on the floor. At least that time he didn’t eat it. As I told Barbara, it may be beyond the capabilities of even a Border Collie to understand if I yell at him for shitting on the floor and then praise him for not eating it, so I just cleaned it up without saying anything to him. Then, about 9:15, I took him for another walk down to the corner. Before we came back in the house, I gave him a good opportunity to do anything he needed to do. Sure enough, five minutes after we came back in, he shit on the floor, but this time he ate it. And people wonder why so many Border Collie pups end up in rescue.
Would it help if you started shitting outside? Important: make sure you don’t eat it.
Bob, can we get a tip jar set up for SteveF?
We have a Kelpie (Australian version of BCs), who will also happily eat his own feces. Seems an odd idea for any animal. In any case, I think it may simply have to do with the breed, or the type of dog.
Sadly, I have no suggestions for house-training. At this point, it will be really hard…
I wanna be the first contributor to SteveF’s tip jar!
I dunno at this point; praise and treats for when he does it outside when and where he is supposed to, and banishment to someplace dark and cold and lonely when he does it inside?
Hello? Hello? Robert?
Oh crap, he must have done it on the floor again and now Barbara has banished Robert to the cellar closet.
BGrigg and OFD: Thanks, and haha. But I’ll say the same thing I say on the not-as-rare-as-I’d-expect occasions that this comes up (adjusting the site and proprietor names, of course): Thanks, but any time you think of giving me a tip, give it to Bob instead. Running Daynotes costs more than nothing, so any tips will defray that.
Well, you could relieve yourself outside, to demonstrate that it’s okay for him. Or fence off the bathroom, or just make him spend an hour out in the snow each time he offends.
Or just sell him for scientific experiments and get a Boxer.
Bob doesn’t need the shekels, SteveF; he’s rolling in it from his home chemistry kit empire and the burgeoning royalties from his long-ago tome on Windows NT. That alone bought him a couple of small countries and a hit parade of hotties every weekend.
Another year or so of those home meth lab, I mean home chemistry sets, and he will be able to retire the national debt once and for all and provide record bonuses to our hero banksters on Wall Street.
Gee, I hope Barbara lets him outta the cellar pretty soon ’cause that bathroom must be pretty ripe by now.
>> I don’t know what we’re going to do about Colin.
Clicker training usually works.
judi is probably right.. it can be trained, though of course every dog is different.
My anecdotal experience: we had an easy time by using one training tip.
Every time our puppy took a crap outside, we always said “Hurry up!” as she went. After just a few weeks, we could reliably get her to crap by saying “Hurry up”. This turns out to be exceedingly convenient to always use just before coming inside from a walk, or before a car trip.
Though, I bet BCs are so smart they learn from each other as well. With Malcomb, he had an example to follow.
About yesterday: Thanks for the tip, I just downloaded 8 books – including the Konrath, Origin, which was in the group of five which was one of my first Kindle reads.
Today: Maybe I can get some tips from my cowgirl friend down the block. Some down and outs and came back home to Dad a few months ago. She has a lot of experience with horses (not relevant here) and dogs. She has been working with my 1 1/2 year old Boston Terrier lately and he is responding well. But not with fecal issues as we have are all through that training and not a problem here. I’ll post back tomorrow.
Do you want my opinion? Sure you do.
Problem is not with the dog, but the owner. Somehow, the dog sees it more rewarding to crap inside and eat his sh*t than crap outside and run free and play.
You, Bob, (pssssst YOU! need to get out more and take the dog with you. Colon — err, I mean Colin, is telling you something. Listen to him!
I’ve been in India the past few weeks settling up details prior to moving down there competely. All seems in order and I’ll apply for a business visa next week. Only hitch is my ferret. Yes, my ferret. She’s seven years old (that’s ninety plus to you and me) and I’ll be damned if I leave her in the care of a shelter or sitter prior to my departure. She goes to ferret heaven before I leave to India, and that’s final. Being the ornery bitch she is, it may take some time…
I bring this up because the only dog I’d ever want is a Border Collie. They have an intelligence you can deal with, unlike some other breeds which names won’t be mentioned out of courtesy to their limited labrador pea-brains.. Ferrets are also very, very smart and require almost as much maintenance as a BC or two-yo kid. I just want to put that out there, in case anyone thinks they are lab animals or cute “pets” a la a hamster or guinea pig. They are not! They are in every way an obligation as much as a child or BC is. You have to do them right. Failure isn’t an option.
Well, rant mode off. Hope it makes a difference somewhere, somehow.
Jim
I think just put Colin in a kennel in the back yard. He’ll get the point eventually.