You can’t read dog blogs for long without coming across discussion of poop.
Sometimes they’re funny. And sometimes they’re worrisome. But poop is frequently on the mind of dog people.
And then we apologize for finding it funny or a cause for stress.
But here’s what’s going on. We think, talk, and write about poop because we love our dogs.
Let me explain.
Our dogs can’t talk to us. They can’t tell us their new food makes their tummy feel funny. And if Honey could have told us the squeaky she swallowed three months before she got sick was finally moving through her intestine, we could have saved hundreds on diagnostic x-rays and ultrasounds and just scheduled emergency surgery.
So what do we do? We look to the poop.
Is it more or less than usual? How’s the color? Does it pass easily? How easy is it to clean up?
It must be love. Because what else could have us considering such a gross subject?
You are too kind. I’m convinced that all my non-dog-loving FB friends think I’m absolutely gross and crazy, but when our beloved dogs suddenly develop serious elimination issues, it’s upsetting, scary, and … messy.
Poop happens. It is part of life. Personally I like talking poop, you aren’t in my inner circle til you have the poop talk. 🙂
LOL – I haven’t blogged about it yet but I’m sure I will sooner or later. Jan and I sometimes feel like young parents always discussing bowel movements of the day – did she, didn’t she, when did she last, was it “okay”? It is pretty much the prime source of information of what’s going on inside them, after all…
Love this post. Over here, that topic always seems to come up at the dinner table for some reason! 🙂
I love poop stories. Honey, if you’re too polite to pose for a piccie like that, email me, okay?
Remember! The 500dollar degustation menu you swooned over last night will be the brown stuff in your toilet bowl this morning. (I hope you don’t have to censor this graphic comment.)
Hooroo! X
I big topic of conversation in our house…lol.
From the Husband:
How would this play out in romantic comedy?
–He’d say, “I’m deeply in poop with you.”
–Then she’d say, “I poop you very much also.”
–Then he’d say, “I feel your poop for me every day.”
This is the stuff Golden Globes are made of. (Not to be confused with what your dog leaves after getting into an entire bag of carrots.)
Am I the only uncaring dog owner who doesn’t examine my dogs’ poop? I’m getting a complex. Mostly they poop in the backyard and aren’t happy about me watching them so they go behind bushes. I can’t imagine asking my yard person to let me know if there is a problem with the poop he scoops. I would probably be put into a home.
Oh, don’t I know it?! I’d never want to hear people talking about their own or their children’s but dogs don’t seem to be nearly as bad to talk about!
OMDog – I’m a nurse and a dog rescuer; sometimes I think my whole life revolves around poop. I had one hound mix who would back up to the chain link and poop through it; fine with me, less to pick up :). Danny Quinn is a poopaholic – when I poop-scoop, I tend to follow him around the yard as he seeks his “treats.” Egad.
Person poop needs to happen discreetly and anonymously. Dog poop…well, I’ll mention that once in awhile. Dog farts are the only farts that I in fact think are funny (mostly because Elka then sniffs herself in consternation, as if to say “Butt, what are you doing?)
We have many poop conversations in our house -“her poop doesn’t look right, is there something wrong with her food? Was it on the recall list?” I’m pretty sure the world revolves around whether or not the dog has pooped – it MUST be love! 🙂
Well, it is like changing a baby’s poopy diapers….it just comes with the territory. I can always tell when Chester has eaten my underwear by his poop. I am bummed when it is my favorite pair but quietly rejoice because at least it CAME OUT and he won’t need surgery again.
Ha-ha! This is so true! am always checking or talking about the dogs poop!
Just the other day, Sherman was stressed out about the fireworks and I said, “well that’s going to cause him a little stress colitis!” Sure enough, checked the poop the next day and there it was!
My husband used to give me this really strange look when I watched the dog’s poop or run out to check it or talking about who’s poop looked like what…I’m kind of a fanatic. But now he’s doing the same thing, always checking and letting me know what’s coming out the rear…BOL! Best way to tell what’s going on and so much more fun to talk about than human poop!! 🙂
Poop is a daily topic at our dinner table. We study it and try to determine the meaning in any change we see. Yes, we are weird, but we are also dog people. 😀
Sam
I definitely use the word poop about 100 percent more since getting a dog. My British parents would be horrified at the amount of toilet talk going on in our home, and we’re not even as bad as some! As you say, there are so few ways to tell if there is something wrong with our pets. Poop is one of the best health barometers. I have tons of stories that involve me having to physically pull something out of my dog’s butt. Out of politeness, I have refrained from sharing them on my blog. 😛
I’m always horrified when parents of human babies discuss poop and vomit, but the same discussions about puppies and dogs don’t bother me at all. In fact, I enjoy them. I’ve been beside myself lately as Lamar’s and even Fozzie’s poops have been nice and firm and easy to pick up. You’re right, the only thing that could explain it is that we are besotted with our pups, just as new parents are besotted with their offspring.
I actually had the idea of doing a series of “dog poop” illustrations and what each type of poop might mean. (soft poop, black pebbly poop, red poop, gooey poop etc) Seriously!
I’ve washed many a poopy Sheltie backside, picked up thousands of dog poops and handled plenty of sheep poop (another story!) So poop as such isn’t a big deal … but I’ll always be grateful that so far I’ve not had a poop eating dog:)
I’ve never thought poop was gross… stinky, and somewhat germy, but not gross. That’s a human invention. Poop is a wealth of information to us dogs too… we smell it to find out what creature, what is the health condition (harkens back to our hunter days) and how long ago said poo was left there.