I sometimes wish I could somehow turn off Kona’a nose. Her nose just causes her too many distractions.
When I take her outside so she can do her business, she almost immediately starts picking up a scent of some wild animal, then she strains on the leash (we’ve learned not to trust her off-leash), pulling toward the smell. Her prey instinct takes complete control of her brain, and she totally forgets the real reason she is out there.
This habit is especially bad at night in very cold weather. Because she has had some “accidents” in the house at night, I have to sleep lightly, in case she suddenly needs to perform a bodily function. If she gets out of her bed and “shakes” herself, I hear the jingle of her dog collar and I also get out of bed so I can take her outside in order that the “accident” occurs outside and not inside the house.
Even on these middle of the night excursions, when she has awaken because she has to “go”, Kona gets outside and smells a deer or coyote, and totally forgets about peeing. It is extremely maddening, to stand out there freezing, praying that she will regain the sense of urgency that she had when she woke me up.
It happened last night: She woke me at 3:00 AM. I got dressed and took her out. It was -27C (-16F). I walked her down the path praying that my flashlight wouldn’t stop and leave me in the total darkness. The snow crunched with every step I took, like it does when it gets really cold.
We walked out into the black pasture. Instead of getting right down to business, Kona smelled something and led me off in that direction. After a very short while, she was limping and sat down because of her cold legs. Our middle of the night mission had failed. I had to pick her up and carry her back to the house.
Once back inside the bedroom, she re-established her previous sleeping position, and went back to sleep. I knew I wouldn’t be able to quickly go back to sleep, so read a chapter of “Little Dorritt” hoping that would eventually bring back my slumber. I did eventually re-enter Dreamland until 6:00 when Kona once again got up and shook her collar.
I rose from my bed, dressed, and took her out into the frigid darkness. Fortunately, (as the photo shows) this time she actually came through for me.
While I love Kona dearly, she does often cause me an awful lot of frustration. I wish I could turn off that nose of hers.
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Here is a tip... don't go far from the house tell her to go pee and stand right there until she does. Repeat the command as many times as it takes. If you make her stay close to the house she will be less tempted to sniff anything out and knows you are outside to do her business and not to take a walk in the dark.:)
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