I woke up from a power-nap this afternoon to hear our black Lab Troy asking to be let out. It turns out that our helper was walking the other dog, a mixed breed named Barbie, and left Troy at home. His turn for his walk would come after Manang returned with Barbie. The "walk," of course meant that aside from the obvious exercise the dogs would be getting from strolling along the linear park along the creek-side at our subdivision, they would be able to poop somewhere at any of the vacant, open lots in the area.
We've trained our dogs for this so that they don't poop or pee inside our house. During rainy days, they have also learned to do their thing in our garage when it is not practical to take them to their usual spots. The usual routine is either or both dogs pointing or scratching the door for them to be let out. When they notice no one's paying attention, they will bark and run in circles. To confirm their intent, one may ask them "out? out?" and they will bark and run in circles in reply. Then you know they want to relieve themselves.
They also know about schedules. They know when it is feeding time in the morning and in the afternoon. And they know that after their afternoon meal comes their time for a walk. Barbie is usually the tricky one as she is usually afraid of anything that resembles explosions or loud noises like thunder or fireworks. Thus, she will refuse to walk and even scamper back home (often pulling at her leash) when thunder cracks even in the distance. Troy doesn't mind any of those distractions. He is fearless, or so it seems. He is only distracted by the other dogs barking at him as he walks to and from the park and passes along several houses with dogs. Troy usually whimpers but it is a friendly whimper as he is a very kind and friendly dog. To those not knowledgeable about dogs, the sight of a 40kg dark chocolate dog seems to invite terror. They do not and cannot immediately recognize the kind features of the dog's face and the mild demeanor that is the trademark of Labs like Troy. Yet our Troy is always at a playful mood, which allows us to determine if he is sick or feeling unwell. And we always start like heck from the house to the park as he thinks it is a game where we run to the park. But always, after doing his thing, he would be more relaxed and he will revert to walking mode. He is easily convinced to jog/run if his handler wishes to do so for exercise or perhaps to rush back home as rain starts to fall.
I write about this as I've noticed a lot of dog owners/handlers in our village walking their pets and allowing the latter to poop just anywhere. This was noticeable to me because when we first moved in to our home, there were few if any poop on the roads. Most pet-owners were responsible enough to take the dogs out to the vacant lots or properly dispose poop according to guidelines circulated by the village association. But with a lot of new homeowners in the village, I guess the association should again distribute guidelines for pet-pooping considering the implications to cleanliness in our area. Despite us living in a middle class neighborhood and the fact that many dogs being walked have breeding (Spitzes, German Shepherds and the popular Huskies among them), a lot of owners really don't know how to handle animals including how to train them to poop at designated places. It is not enough that you take the dog out to do his/her thing. If one allows the dog to poop anywhere, then the owner should be prepared to pick up the poop to dispose of this properly. This is something that I've seen while in Japan and the US that should also be practiced here. It is, after all, in everyone's interest that we be responsible for our pets.
We've trained our dogs for this so that they don't poop or pee inside our house. During rainy days, they have also learned to do their thing in our garage when it is not practical to take them to their usual spots. The usual routine is either or both dogs pointing or scratching the door for them to be let out. When they notice no one's paying attention, they will bark and run in circles. To confirm their intent, one may ask them "out? out?" and they will bark and run in circles in reply. Then you know they want to relieve themselves.
They also know about schedules. They know when it is feeding time in the morning and in the afternoon. And they know that after their afternoon meal comes their time for a walk. Barbie is usually the tricky one as she is usually afraid of anything that resembles explosions or loud noises like thunder or fireworks. Thus, she will refuse to walk and even scamper back home (often pulling at her leash) when thunder cracks even in the distance. Troy doesn't mind any of those distractions. He is fearless, or so it seems. He is only distracted by the other dogs barking at him as he walks to and from the park and passes along several houses with dogs. Troy usually whimpers but it is a friendly whimper as he is a very kind and friendly dog. To those not knowledgeable about dogs, the sight of a 40kg dark chocolate dog seems to invite terror. They do not and cannot immediately recognize the kind features of the dog's face and the mild demeanor that is the trademark of Labs like Troy. Yet our Troy is always at a playful mood, which allows us to determine if he is sick or feeling unwell. And we always start like heck from the house to the park as he thinks it is a game where we run to the park. But always, after doing his thing, he would be more relaxed and he will revert to walking mode. He is easily convinced to jog/run if his handler wishes to do so for exercise or perhaps to rush back home as rain starts to fall.
I write about this as I've noticed a lot of dog owners/handlers in our village walking their pets and allowing the latter to poop just anywhere. This was noticeable to me because when we first moved in to our home, there were few if any poop on the roads. Most pet-owners were responsible enough to take the dogs out to the vacant lots or properly dispose poop according to guidelines circulated by the village association. But with a lot of new homeowners in the village, I guess the association should again distribute guidelines for pet-pooping considering the implications to cleanliness in our area. Despite us living in a middle class neighborhood and the fact that many dogs being walked have breeding (Spitzes, German Shepherds and the popular Huskies among them), a lot of owners really don't know how to handle animals including how to train them to poop at designated places. It is not enough that you take the dog out to do his/her thing. If one allows the dog to poop anywhere, then the owner should be prepared to pick up the poop to dispose of this properly. This is something that I've seen while in Japan and the US that should also be practiced here. It is, after all, in everyone's interest that we be responsible for our pets.
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