Choose Your Words Carefully

A little while ago – perhaps I should say “A wee while ago” due to the nature of this post and the fact that we’re in Scotland – I reported that Daisy had started peeing the bed in her crate on a regular basis. I tried a calming pheromone and carried out an uber-thorough wash of her bedding in the hopes of eliminating all traces of pee scent; this reduced the frequency of the soiling but didn’t stop it entirely. Clearly further action was required!

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it was probably a training issue; there was some kind of faulting thinking going on in that warm, soft and sweet smelling bonce of hers. I reinstated one of the most basic toilet-training steps: every time she urinated outside I praised her, rewarded her and made sure to bind the whole event consistently to the trigger phrase I use when she goes out for her final toilet visit at night.

Unfortunately when we got Daisy I had a moment of silliness and short-term thinking which led me to depart from the sensible “clean girl!” phrase I’d used for Beanie and Poppy. Daisy just seemed so tiny and cute that I felt strangely compelled to say “Pee-pee and poo-poo!”. Worse still, I didn’t just say it plainly, but used a mock-French accent. That was fine in those early days when Daisy couldn’t go for walkies in public; no-one could hear me so it didn’t matter that it sounded silly. Now of course Daisy isn’t a pup, she’s heading towards 2 yrs old and when she squats for a number one we’re much more likely to be on a popular park trail than in the privacy of our garden. Still, that’s the phrase she knows so I’ve been saying it, albeit with less of a Peter Sellers / Inspector Clouseau accent. Yes, I do feel silly, but also yes it has worked brilliantly, eradicating the problem after just a couple of days.

It has of course created another small issue, in that Daisy now does extra pees on walks just to get her treat. There are several changes in behavior that have led me to this conclusion; firstly and obviously she pees more during the walk, but more importantly after the first one she looks me right in the eye as she squats, then jogs over and openly mugs me for her reward. And of course his Monkeyship doesn’t want to be left out, so I have to give him a treat as well. Anyway, let all this be a lesson to anyone getting a Beagle pup: choose your toilet trigger words carefully!

Finally as we’re close to Christmas I figure it’s time to post a few festive shots…

Errr Monkey.. is your hoof better than mine?

Yeah Daisy it is, and you’re not having it ’till I’ve finished!