Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Spay & The Setback

Well, Kioko came to us "intact," and since we have no intention whatsoever of breeding her at any point in her life, we had an appointment made from day one to have her spayed. Well...the day of her surgery came and went last Saturday. We brought the beagle princess home on Sunday afternoon, and all was well until Monday morning.

Monday started with a bang. On Monday, Kioko did not have a successful potty outside even one time. She did every single one of her eliminations in the house. Overnight, she peed in the crate (which is typical so I don't usually count it), she pooped three times in three different places, and she urinated on a sofa cushion and my bedroom floor. Interestingly, she did all these things while I was not looking.

I figured this setback in the housetraining was due to the spay, so I didn't really react to it much on Monday. Tuesday, it continued in all its glorious and stinky ferocity. We had two outside eliminations, but the rest happened indoors - one was ON the living room carpet WHILE I was actually shampooing that carpet. She was taken out many times and wouldn't go (sounding familiar?), but she'd come in and use the floor inside just minutes later. This was the cycle we went through with the crate, and now it seems that she's brought that cycle into the house flooring rather than just the crate.

So. I'm more than frustrated. At this moment, I'm typing all this out to give myself some resolve to go into my room and retrieve the beagle (It's Wednesday morning now), who is covered in pee from her crate floor as per usual from overnight. I have to put my beagle in the bath and scrub her up again...and I'm just sick of it. I don't WANT to do that. I'm really really tired of Kioko's waste. I really am. I'm tired of cleaning it up. I'm tired of smelling it. I'm tired of breaking my back scrubbing it off the beagle.

Sigh.

My plan, now, is to go back to the beginning and tether her to my waist at all times. All the freedom she had earned in the house in the weeks leading up to her spay will be removed and I'm going to start all over again.

Hear me now: If you want a beagle, you make VERY certain you're willing to go through all this before bringing the darling home.

We adore this beagle. It's ridiculous how much we love this dog. If you cannot love a dog through all this crap (no pun intended) for months and months of your life, then you need to get a different breed. The more I learn about beagles, the more I come to understand that Kioko's situation is not unique at all. Beagles are often very difficult to potty train, and MOST beagles are harder to potty train that typical examples of other breeds. Know that...and know that beagle pee stinks terribly. Beagle poop isn't as bad as human baby poop, but it doesn't smell good, either.

Seriously.

Lord, please bless the beagles...especially my beagle. 'Cause right now, I don't much like my beagle, and I need help getting her past this setback.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Nix

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The Setback Plan - Back to the Beginning:

1.) Crating only when left home alone and for overnight sleeping

2.) Tethered to me via a 4' lead at all times inside the house except during meal time.

3.) Tethered to the table via a 4' lead during the evening family meal.

4.) Trips outside once every 2 hours--timer on stove used to help us stay consistent.

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