Dog Behavior

I met my cousin Baron last weekend.  He’s a Doberman Pinscher. He just moved here from New Jersey.  I always heard that Dobermans are tough and that people from New Jersey are tougher. So I was a little worried about meeting Baron. 

Nalla, Simba and Baron

Well, he may be tough, but he’s no match for me. I scared the pee out of him.  When he saw me walk through the front door he peed and ran away. I wasn’t even trying to scare him. I guess I just look tough. He and I are about the same size, but I’ve got that macho thing going on, you know.

Baron’s alright. He’s a nice guy. Once we established who the Alpha was, we got along quite well. I couldn’t always understand what he was saying though because he barks with an accent. And he kept saying “fugedaboudit” whatever that means.

Simba and Baron

While I was at his house I noticed he doesn’t have his own door to go outside to the potty. When he wants to go out he has to tell his mom & dad and they take him out. Can you imagine that? I can’t. I’d sooner go on the floor in the house… Oh wait, I do that anyway. Well I’d do it more often. When he comes to my house I’ll show him my door and tell him to ask for one.

Baron and I will probably be spending a lot of time together now that he’s living here. I think we’re going to be good friends.

I’ve heard that a lot of people make New Year’s resolutions. Since dogs don’t do this, I’m having a little trouble trying to figure out what these really are. What I’ve learned is that people do things that they don’t want to do, and don’t do thing they do want to do. To make things more complicated, every year they make a list of these things. Then they promise themselves they will do the things they want to do that they don’t do, and that they won’t do the things they do that they don’t want to do. Over the weeks that follow they end up throwing away their lists and resolve to try it again next year. Humans. Who can figure them out?

Well, in keeping with the New Year’s spirit, I’ve decided to try this out. I’ve made my list of resolutions. I’m going to see how long I can stick to it. So here goes; my New Year’s resolutions:

1. I will not pee on the floor anymore. I’ve gotten better, but this is something I still struggled with.
2. I will not bark like a mad dog when the door bell rings.
3. I will not beg for food at the table.
4. I will only say nice things about Nalla in my blog. That’s going to be a tough one.

So there’s my list. I’m going to try my best to keep these resolutions. I’ll let you know how I do.

Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for a while know about Nalla’s bad habits.  If you’re not a regular here, check out my Who Pooped post.  Well, I’ve never mentioned this, but over the past couple months, Dad’s been training us using Don Sullivan’s training system.  I hate to admit it, but it has actually been working.  Yeah, I’m starting to give up some control and let the big guy be in charge.  Don’t get me wrong—I’m still spoiled and get my way most of the time.  But Dad and even my nanny are using this training on me, so I’m starting to give in.  Nalla gave in to it right away.  She is now very obedient.  You should see how she walks by Dad’s side and listens to everything he says.  Well, almost everything. 

So back to Nalla’s problem.  We were all eager to get Nalla potty trained.  But she just couldn’t seem to grasp the concept.  Out of desperation, Dad spoke to The Dog Father himself.  He advised shrinking the pen to be just barely big enough for us to get in and out of our crates.  Since we have our own automatic door to get outside, there was no reason for us to have any more space inside than we needed to get in our crates to sleep.  He said to keep it like this for three weeks before giving us more space.  So Dad did this. 

For three weeks, Nalla and I were stuck in a tiny pen together; side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder.  Of course we could get outside where there was a lot more space.  I ended up spending a lot of time outside.  The weather was nice and it’s good to get out of the house now and then anyway.  But the best part is, it worked immediately!  From the first day Dad shrunk the pen, Nalla stopped peeing and pooping on the floor.  She went outside every time.  After three weeks Dad started increasing our space by a few inches every day.  We were up to a pretty good size.  Then she blew it.  This morning she left a package on the floor.  Dad and I were very disappointed.  Dad shrunk the pen to less than half the size it was yesterday and said if she does it again he’ll make it tiny again.

So Nalla, if you’re reading this: Please, no more pooping on the floor!

It wasn’t me! Honest! No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. I don’t speak English and Mom and Dad don’t speak Pomeranian. When Dad would come in and find dog poop on the floor he’d always ask, “who pooped on the floor?” Since I couldn’t defend myself, we’d both get blamed.

I know I haven’t always been perfect in this area.  I have been know to pee on the floor a time or two. But lately I’ve been very good. If there’s dog poop on the floor you can be sure it’s Nalla’s.

But now, through the use of technology, I was finally able to prove my innocence! I set up a webcam and caught her in the act. When I showed Dad the video he apologized for ever doubting me.

Watch here as Nalla pees and poops on the floor.  What a pig! After spending a few minutes outside she comes in, pees on the floor and goes back out. Then, three minutes later, she poops on the floor twice! I was outside when she did it. Between the two poopings she checked outside to make sure I wasn’t watching. When I came in I found that filthy dog pooped on the floor twice. Even after being sent away for training twice, not to mention all the training she gets at home, she still insists on peeing and pooping on the floor. We’re all hoping she learns this housebreaking thing soon. But until she does, at least they won’t be blaming me anymore. If you have any suggestions please post them here. No one like to live with dog poop on the floor. Not even me, and I’m a dog.