To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com From: vann@his.com (Bryant Vann) Subject: New use for the Wasington Post Date: March 21, 1999 Seems back awhile folks hereabouts were discussing various schemes for cruising with canine-type pets -- especially dealing with their basic needs to go potty. My FM has been trying to decide on adding a boat dog to our cruising family for a number of months and has finally selected what she deemed to be the perfect beast. Although we haven't passed every hurdle, I thought I would at least report on our progress to date -- in case others might find the info useful -- hopefully profitting from both our achievements and our failures so far. The number one criterion for selection of the animal was that it's poops be small. (like the pot-bellied pig on Southpark...) The idea behind this was, of course, to minimize the waste volume that had to be stored prior to making landfall and to minimize the mess in case of "accidents." Not surprisingly this ALSO meant the creature him or herself be small. I won't drag you through all the breeds considered in the search -- some were truly strange (and VERY tiny) -- but suffice it to say, the final choice was a smooth-coat chihuahua. Now, the PLAN was to acquire this ferocious critter as a puppy and then train it to use a litter box -- something that I have seen suggested from time to time -- perhaps even here -- I forget so quickly. Having never bought a dog from a breeder before, we were stunned to find that we had to be interviewed as a family to be judged adequate mentally, physically, and most especially emotionally to be acceptable adoptive parents. (Of course, the prospective adoptee had to like US too! We were sweating bullets!) Needless to say, letting it be known what we intended to do was not universally accepted as reflecting sound judgement (putting it as mildly as possible...). Nonetheless, my FM persisted, determined to succeed. Finally we found a breeder who not only was willing to let us adopt one of his precious "children," but was, in fact, rather supportive of the boat/litter-box project. His suggestion was to get as large a litter box as we could handle, put it in the middle of the papers, and each time the papers were used, put the used ones IN the litter box. After a couple of days, he felt, the dog would prefer to "go" in or about the box and then we should start reducing the area of the surrounding papers until the only papers left were the ones INSIDE the box. (At this point I should say that we were STERNLY warned NOT to try this with kitty litter -- as pups will EAT it and, if it clumps inside them, they will expire prematurely.) In the end we adopted a 6-month-old, sweet, bouncing 5-lb, 6-oz. baby boy and named him Rio. Thankfully, Rio was already paper trained. In fact he had never used anything BUT papers (the dog, not the breeder). This may be very important... At first, all went as planned. He used the papers, then he started using the box (no, not IN the box... just the box -- all sides -- all OUTsides...) In a few days he started getting more interested in the INSIDE of the box. The poops were "our" first success -- almost every time he started out IN the box, although if he got impatient, he occasionally wandered off before ALL the items found the desired target. Then he started getting more accurate with the liquid delivery. It was at THIS point that we realized just how BIG a box it took -- even with a microdog -- for everything to actually go INSIDE the box. He perservered though -- pretty much on his own -- I NEVER had to "show" him what we expected (THANK GOODNESS!). Finally he was getting enough inside to move to the final stage -- removing the last of the papers on the outside. Now, after about three weeks, I think we can "declare victory" on this part of the project. He never misses -- even though some of his techniques seem a bit daring at times. There's the "all-four-feet-in-the-box" technique (which seems the safest to his "humans") and then there's the "three-feet-in-the-box, starboard-quarter-leg-raised" technique (which also works surprisingly well). Next is the "forward-feet-in, after-feet-out, starboard-quarter-leg-raised" technique (scary, but he seems to have perfected it well enough to receive all 8s and 9s, with an occasional 10, from the "judges"). Finally, we have the "two port-legs-outside-the-box, starboard-bow-leg-in-the-box, starboard-quarter-leg-raised" technique. It makes his humans panic, but he seems non-plussed -- usually wondering what all the fuss is about when every bit goes on the papers in the box. A few observations... Rio prefers the Washington Post to all others -- a good deal for us, since the number of sheets for the money is very high, and we have never read it anyway. He would LIKE to have a clean sheet for each "duty," and this seems a small price to pay. He seems to revel in watching us panic as he tries his best to get "it" as CLOSE to the edge as possible, while still achieving success -- it's like it's a game. There is ONE small problem, however. We have discovered THE reason why male dogs "use" a post, tree, fireplug, or other vertical, medium-diameter object as a target. If you DON'T use the post to break the stream, you risk peeing on your starboard bow foot. [tongue placed in cheek] We are currently trying to figure out how to add a PVC post to the litter box arrangement to help him with this problem. I have been trying to teach him to arch his back a bit more, but so far "we've" met with little success. [tongue removed from cheek] This all might have worked a little better with a female -- or with a male who hadn't already learned from his litter mates how to "lift his leg" -- seems like either choice would have less difficulty "hitting the target" and wouldn't end up with wet front feet either... Now it's on to the boat -- hopefully he won't get mal-de-mer and won't forget his litter box techniques when he gets on board. We DID try a test run, and he seems to take to the moored boat just fine. We ALSO introduced him to one of the "dock dogs." It was embarrassing... Rio barked so ferociously at this poor thing -- a sweet, Benji-look-alike that outweighed Rio by 50 pounds, if one, that he drooped his ears, snuuggled up to his "mom," hid behind her knees, and eventually slinked off to "hide" on "his" bowsprit. We clearly have some work to do on our "social interactions." - Bryant