When fridays don’t start out so well...

[Josie]

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That boy of mine is in the bad books!

He is a nightmare for scraping his back legs after he’s had a poo (and even wee’s) so usually I have to get over to him sharpish so I can move him out the way of flicking his poo everywhere!

This time I didn’t make it....

this time I stood in his pathway....

And this time I ended up with it on my bare legs....

 

[JudyN]

Nice!

Jasper's an enthusiastic scraper too. His favourite trick is to stop scraping, wait till I've moved in to pick up the poo (if I can still find it and he's not either buried it or kicked it 6' away), and then start scraping again, covering me in dirt and, on one occasion, even kicking up a stone aimed at my head.

Then there's those occasions when they've pooed on a nice green well-tended bit of grass and you're trying to pick up the poo while stopping then from scraping massive furrows

 

[Josie]

Dennis does exactly the same @JudyN - it’s so embarrassing!!

 

[Mad Murphy]

Add Murphy to the list of NPS (notorious poo scrapers) hes sends clods of earth and other nastiness flying.

 

[Caro Perry]

Yuck! Luckily Harri hasn't worked out he should do this and I'm not telling him!

 

[arealhuman]

Oh Em Gee @Josie!

 

[Josie]

Yuck! Luckily Harri hasn't worked out he should do this and I'm not telling him!

He's only young - you still have time!!

 

[leashedForLife]

.

More M dogs than Fs do this [kick-scratch toward their feces, to "underline" the stool's presence - it's advertising] - some Fs kick-scratch when they're in estrus, just one more way to get the word out to prospective mates.


Obv, one's dog ripping the neighbor's pristine turf isn't how we make friends [or good impressions].
Equally, having freshly-deposited dog-poo flung around a 5-ft square area in small wet chunks, PLUS getting stinky poop all over the dog's paws & claws, so that s/he smears it on the car-seat, the wall-to-wall, & everywhere else they step (blurrggh...) is really gross.
U can't properly pick-up a poop that's been mashed into the grass, scattered in shreds, & plastered on nearby vertical surfaces - no matter how U try, U're gonna miss some, & in the process of poop-hunting, U're also very liable to get it on yer own shoes, which only smears it around more.

I prefer to shortstop kick-scratching.
I keep dogs who kick-scratch leashed for potty time; I re-teach voiding by making it a cued behavior, so i can have some control over when the dog voids. I cue "poop" B4 we leave for a walk; the walk becomes a reward for emptying their bowel, I can exercise choice over what kind of substrate it falls onto, for ease of pick-up, AND I can reward heavily for poo-on-cue.
There are many ways to prevent or interrupt the impulse to kick-scratch:
use the leash, gently & firmly haul the dog's rear feet out of reach of the poo-pile, then reward;
LURE the dog away from the poo-pile with a tasty tidbit, just out of reach [timing!...],
a sharp single hand-clap, just as he [it's usually he] thinks about kicking, & a reward for NOT doing it,
an angry-parrot noise, expressing loud disapproval.

I've used all of these, & some variations, depending upon an individual dog's temp - of course I'd never use a sharp clap with a dog who's sound-sensitive or untrusting, that could really set them back. Some dogs won't react to a lure until after they finish kicking... & then they want the tidbit. Nope - gotta use something else, for that one!

Just like any other habit, the longer the dog's been doing this, the longer it takes to alter the habit. It takes about a month to establish a new habit, in place of a former one - whether we're talking dog, human, horse, whatever.

Also, intact-Ms are more-likely than n/Ms to kick-scratch, tho any dog of any repro-status can get into the habit; dogs who are S/N post-puberty, at 9-MO or older, can already have a firmly-established habit of kick-scratching, & as this is a learned behavior as well as one triggered by sexual hormones at puberty, they don't "forget" when they're desexed.
If they already do it, they may keep right on doing it, post-desex, just as a dog who already leg-lifts doesn't regress to squatting after desex.

I've retaught 6-YO intact-M dogs to poo on cue, & step away from their stool, when they've done it daily for 5 & a half years... just by consistently interrupting any thought of kick-scratching [cue "Come!"; or put a lure under his nose; or cue "heel"; or tug leash gently; etc] & REWARDING the alternative behavior. U do have to keep the retraining consistent for 4-weeks - if he sometimes gets to do it [such as when off-leash], he's gonna keep doing it, at random moments or when he thinks he can, or WHEN HE SEES ANOTHER M DOG - e-g, if he sees another M dog leg-lift to pee in the distance, he's much-more likely to kick-scratch after the BM he's voiding.
That's why having one's dog void at home B4 departing for a walk, makes it more controllable - U can't control what dogs he'll see in public, but by voiding at home, U don't add multiple triggers to prompt a sexual / agonistic / socially communicative behavior.

Kick-scratching in dogs is roughly comparable to chest-beating in gorillas, or studly prances & squeals from a stallion... or a 2-YO colt.

HTH,
- terry

.

 

[Josie]

Dennis today has also....


Barked like mad when my tummy rumbled thinking it was someone knocking on the front door

Chased a lady on her bike who he was determined he knew

He does make me laugh!

 

[Violet Turner]

Oh dear not a great way to start the morning! I think I'm lucky having 2 female dogs because they do not scrape poo. But I do love my dogs and your dogs are super cute too!

 

[Mad Murphy]

I saw this cartoon which just sums it all up..

 

[Josie]

That is amazing @Mad Murphy !!

 

[Flobo]

All of my males do that and the most dramatic, showy ones for it are Titan, my biggest dog and Buzz my smallest!!
I had a poo bag malfunction the other day, as I've picked up and started to tie the bag, the poo plopped out of a hole in the seam of bag and landed nicely on the top of my boot...lovely..