Charley Piddles

Charley on his bedWe have a command in our home, LET’S TAKE A NAP. When I had Cientos, this command meant Cientos was to run in to his crate, next to my side of the bed, and Lina was to run and get on the dog bed at the foot of the bed. (Since Lina is officially my daughter’s dog, her crate is in my daughter’s bedroom.)

I tried this with Charley for the first time today. I asked Lina to get on the bed, and Charley to go in the crate. Right away there was some confusion. Charley sat down next to my side of the bed. Duh. I should’ve anticipated this. I hadn’t verified whether Charley is crate trained, and Charley’s bed is at the foot of the bed. A little insecurity on Lina’s part, a lot of insecurity on Charley’s part. OK, plan B. “Lina, in the CRATE”, “Charley, on the BED.”

Lina obeyed just fine, but I had to pat the bed and coax Charley. Still, he wouldn’t move. In fact, he did this mule, planting feet thing. He gets into this mode that I just haven’t found a solution for yet. He won’t do anything, won’t budge, he’s shut down. I don’t know what he’s expecting but it doesn’t seem to be a pleasant thing.

I finally got him lying down on his bed, after much coaxing. And then I discovered he’d piddled.

What happened? Charley seems to be prone to either nervous or submissive peeing. He’s four years old, I wouldn’t think he would have this problem, but maybe it’s temporary, because of all the newness in his environment over the last weeks.

It’s possible Charley’s general insecurity, not knowing what to expect, is understandable and just requires patience and time. It could be I stumbled upon a pattern where in the past he’s been physically moved into place. I don’t know. I’m going to have to think about this some more. How could he possibly object to going on his bed?