We had a little ‘incident’ at our house this past week.

Hubby and I have been going outside with the dogs when they potty to keep a certain someone from cleaning up the yard.  The problem is, the harder we work at trying to keep her from it, the sneakier she gets about finding it.

So we all know that Delilah eats poop.  Well Hubby took the dogs out (Wednesday I think it was) and when the dogs came back in, Sampson was upset.  He ran right up to me and put his paw on me, which means he wants me to pet him.  Delilah came running in behind him and sat in front of me.  

When Hubby came in he said to Delilah, “You are disgusting, you are a disgusting dog!”

Her quest for the Crap Crack has reached a whole new level of low.

Apparently while Hubby was cleaning up after Sampson, Delilah took off to another area of the yard, did her business and cleaned it up.

Gross, I know.  But she’s a dog, she licks her own cooter for crying out loud.

The whole incident got me thinking.  

I remembered when we were potty training Sampson we were told never let him see you clean up after him.  For the life of me I can’t remember why that was, but it did work.

I thought maybe Delilah is so determined to clean up because she sees us cleaning up.  I mean, she sees me cleaning up after them on our walks, and now she sees us cleaning up after them in the yard.

My thought process evolved into this.  

Maybe it’s better not to let her see us cleaning up after them in the yard.  

Because of this, we’ve taken a different approach when airing the dogs. We follow Delilah very closely and use treats to lure her away when she’s finished.  After we bring the dogs inside the house, we go back outside and clean up the mess.

Of course, I have to scoop their poop while on our walks, but I can give her a treat for going and walking away from it.  The trouble is that a lot of people in this area don’t clean up after their dogs.  And she’s a discerning poop eater.  She might pass three piles and gobble up the fourth one, or try and eat every pile she sees.  I have no idea what her shit eating criteria is, but I do know she has one.

So I’m learning to be super attentive and keep my eyes sharp, to spot anything that might tempt her.  I use the “Leave it” command, and treat her when she leaves it.

When I was working with her to avoid dogs we’d pass on our walks, she got to the point where she sees a dog and looks to me for a treat.  I figure if I use the “Leave it” command and treat her when she leaves it, she’ll eventually learn to look to me when she sees a pile of crap.  

And as I typed that sentence I’m wondering if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  LOL 

 

Warning. Some of the photos you are about to see are GROSS. Reader discretion advised.

There’s something about this time of year that makes our darling diva go off the rails.

I’m not really sure what it is, if it’s Cabin Fever, Seasonal Afflective Disorder or maybe it’s just the static in my house.  I’ve noticed a definite increase in static lately.

Long time followers of this blog will know that Delilah a.ka. the Diva of Destruction typically contains her destroying to napkins/paper towels/dryer sheets and of course, toys that need destuffing.

EXCEPT for this time of year.  This time of year, you never know what Delilah will go for.  

Take for instance the grandkid’s book box.  It’s a little canvas box I have filled with storybooks and a couple children’s puzzles.  This Christmas we added some coloring books and colored pencils.  The box sits on the floor in  a corner of my living room.

It’s sat there for four years.  During those four years, Delilah has never even looked at it, let alone approached it.

That is until Thursday.  Thursday she got some wild hair across her ass and decided she’d tear up the contents of the toy box.

Hubby came home to this.

Typically we don’t yell or scold her when she destroys something.  Mostly I feel like it’s our fault for leaving whatever it was lying around.  Except this time I’m told, some yelling went on. I wasn’t there, I have to take Hubby’s word for it.

All I know is she was quite content to lie on her bed while I cleaned up her mess.  Thankfully she only destroyed the boxes the puzzles came in, so I was able to salvage the actual puzzles and they are now in ziploc bags.  She had a go at one of the books, but didn’t damage it.  

But the box of colored pencils was destroyed.

 Over the years we’ve giggled at the thought that perhaps Sampson was actually the one destroying things and letting Delilah take the blame for it.

I’m here to tell you, that theory has been permanently laid to rest.  The proof as they say, is in the pudding.  

Or in Delilah’s case, the poop.

Honestly while I was cleaning up the mess in the living room, it never once crossed my mind that she might have actually EATEN any of the pencils, but sure enough, the proof was there, staring me right in the face.

Thursday night I giggled when I looked down and saw the bits of red, green, blue and purple staring back up at me.

But yesterday morning, she was still pooping pencils.  

Big bits of pencils.

Why can’t she poop something I can use, like money? Oh and for the record, the other day on our walk I called her Diva and she responded to me.