As soon as Prince was done with his immunization schedule i began training him in all earnest, In India back then there were no Canine Behaviorists just the regular run of the mill trainers who used physical force to train. So having gathered whatever tips possible from good training books and a seasoned dog show owner i decided to train Prince myself minus the run of the mill trainer. One of the commands i wanted to teach him was “Recall” that is come while being called. The only safe enough place that i could find close to home was a park space filled with weeds and grass tall enough up to your knees. As i let Prince off leash for the first time my heart skipped a beat as i saw him disappear in the grass. It was his first time off leash so nose close to the ground he moved quite far away from me. I began to call out to him and came back instantly, he was rewarded with praise from me -“good boy” i said and let him loose again.
I did this repeatedly a couple of times and he came back always for praise and treats. As it was getting late i called out to Prince as he was out of sight, i began worrying as i still didn’t see him coming to me. After a couple of calls i finally saw him come running back to me and i wanted to greet him, so i knelt down wanting to give him a hug. As he got closer i knew something didn’t smell right!!. When Prince finally hugged me i knew what was not smelling right – my boy during his escapade off leash had rolled in a cow dung pat. Much to my disgust i now smelt like cow dung with Prince; i couldn’t shout or push him off because i remembered reading how one must not shout at their dog when they do the recall command for he may hesitate the next time he is off leash to come back to you.
On the way back home i just hoped i didn’t meet anyone that knew either me or Prince smelling like cow dung. It still makes me laugh after all these years thinking about this incident.
Why Do Dogs Roll In Poop?
Don’t dogs do some of the strangest things? Rolling in feces, though, is really very common. Possibly a dog’s ancient instinct to mask his scent, which would then enable the animal to sneak up on their prey without detection. Even if your dog does not hunt, he may not like the way that he smells—especially if you’ve just given him a bath! Or he just likes the smell of the feces. Not much for a pet parents indulgence in aromatic shampoos for their much loved dogs!!
Oh no! Funny dog. But at least he came back. I don’t trust my dogs’ recall skills. If they get loose unintentionally in the front yard I literally have to fall down on the ground for them to come to me or throw open a car door. They act crazed with the freedom and don’t respond to “Come” unless I do the aforementioned things.
he he done the above and used a trick like saying bye and he would fall back
Oh my goodness, I thought you were going to say Prince came back after being sprayed by a skunk! Well done for you to use positive reinforcement in your training.
We dont have skunks where i live but yes the rolling in the cow dung was disgusting ha ha:)
Oh my goodness! Our doggie cousin does that sometimes. Good job woth recall, Prince.
Im sure though Lola would never indulge in something like this
Oh gosh, that’s too funny! Quite the present, indeed! Our dog has only ever rolled in his own poo. Still very gross! And luckily, he did it when he was at my in-laws, so I didn’t have to deal with it. The joys of dogsitting!
Lucky you that you didn’t have to deal with it
LOL! When I was growing up and we lived on the river, our sheltie found carp (fish) carcasses to “perfume” themselves. Stinky, indeed!
LOL they really do find funny smells appealing
This is hysterical, Malaika! Recall is one of Gremlin’s best commands (thank goodness). Because of that he gets to hike off leash, giving him every opportunity to roll in as much poo as he wants. Thank goodness it hasn’t happened… YET!
Your lucky then that Gremlin doesn’t fancy a roll in poo 🙂
Isn’t that just like a woofie. HAH! On the other hand, we cats love to leave our scents everywhere so other cats know we’ve been there and it’s our territory.
Ha ha all animals have their quirks 🙂
Mr. N loves a good roll in horse poop! I guess it’s pretty irresistible.
Rofl it’s like their own brand of favoured scent
Yes and he goes straight into the river afterwards unless it’s winter.
Clever Mr N
Oh my… but at least it provides a good laugh, right? And that’s what our dogs are supposed to do… make us laugh and bring us joy! 🙂
Yes it was a riot I saw the humor in it once I was done bathing Prince and I was rid of the stench to. Years have rolled by and I still laugh when I think of it
You’re right…the first time releasing a dog for recall can be scary. I’m glad your pup returned (even when he was a bit stinky). Thanks for sharing your story and training thoughts.
Thank you for visiting us ? ?
Mine prefer to roll around in dead things, guts especially. About the recall though. Oh my goodness I am having the hardest time with one of my dogs with this. He will play catch me if you can still and he is 2 years old. We are at the point that I think I need to hire a trainer.
Just keep at it and I’m sure you will get there. Most dogs love to be chased instead just drop to the ground and pretend that there is something interesting there when he comes treat and praise him. If this doesn’t work for you hiring a Canine Behaviorist – Trainer will be a good idea
Haha! a at least he came back though – interesting to not why dogs role in poop. I’m thankful the cats don’t do this.
Thankfully cats don’t do that but I know of one that used to do something really nasty he would chew up his human’s hair. So her human always slept with a shower cap on her head to avoid going bald
A good recall is SO important! But it is scary when you’re first trying it out. My pup tried to roll in a dried up cow pie at the lake the other day haha. Stinky!!!
Yes it was scary letting Prince loose of leash at that time all you are thinking about is whether he is going to come back when you call out to him. When he does though you don’t expect him to be smelling awful though?
I’m glad he came back to you! We had a couple of dogs who ran off to roll in the farmer’s fields after the fields were fertilized. The dogs smelled so terrible, but they were very pleased with themselves. Every time we drive by a stinky field, I am reminded of them.
Dogs really have it going for cow dung
It’s great you taught your dog a reliable recall. That is so important and life skill that takes practice. Way to go.
Thank you, recall truly is a life skill command that one needs to teach their dog from the word go
The first time I released Layla I left her leash on her just in case and as she got better with recall I removed it, as for rolling oy vey, I call it the Park Perfume as she rolls there in the lawn and then stinks LOL
I like how you have termed it Park Perfume ?
What is it about poop? Great post, fun to read!
Don’t know why they fancy rolling in things like poop, decaying birds?
We are still working on recall with Ruby. I’m nervous about it, too, glad it worked so well for you and Prince!
I’m sure Ruby will learn her recall soon enough just keep at it 🙂
Oh, my Huskies are all staring at me as I’m laughing out loud over here! The closest we’ve come to cow dung is a dead bird. Yep, our Harley as a pup found one on our walk and asfastasthat she was on it and rolling all around in all of the loveliness of a decaying bird. Ugh. As you can imagine, asfastasthis she was home in the tub getting a bath! Love your story!
Thank you for the visit. It’s nice to hear Harley quirky story too about rolling on a decaying bird. The things our dogs do!!
MOL! I think you showed a lot of restraint to not move away or shout when you got cow dung all over you. Great job.
I was so relieved that Prince came back the way he smelled didn’t matter.
LOL!! I’m laughing so hard at your cow dung incident! Dogs definitely do the strangest things. I’m so glad you opted to train Prince yourself positively and not use a trainer that would use force to train him.
I had a little help in training Prince via books, advice etc but of course now its way easier with so many canine trainers/ behaviorists which use positive reinforcement training techniques
Hahaha! They either roll in it…or eat it, yuck! And yes, some folks believe this was a way to carry important scent info back to their pack.
Yuck, i wouldnt appreciate a kiss post something like that unless i have thoroughly brushed the dogs teeth
BOL – and we say that in the nicest way because we’ve ALL been there at one point or another! Oy..
🙂
Stinky. But great for you for staying positive.
Thank you 🙂
Bahaha! Sorry but this sounds like something I’d do before realizing what had happened. Having lived on a farm I’ve seen many “interesting” things that dogs enjoyed rolling in.
Lol i am sure you did 🙂
It iss vitally imprtant not to shout at a cat or dog, it has a negative effect.
You did really well showing restraint, I know that sometimes our reaction can be “AgghhH Nooo” and as a result Prince will develop his recall skills so much faster won’t he!?
Yes, if i had shouted he would have never wanted to come back to me again while being off leash because of the past unpleasant experience
Laughing so hard … I lucked out with my current bud. Montecristo is SO …. aristocratic … he walks around puddles for crying out loud!
Lucky you he is so regal that he walks around puddles wow
This post still makes me laugh when I read about the rolling as it is actually quite funny to watch dog owners freak out when their dogs roll in something in the park LOL
Lol
It sounds like Prince had a great recall from the beginning. Such a smart boy! We can all laugh at the poop thing since we really have all been there. BOL
True 🙂
Can I just tell you that my dog seeks out deer and rabbit poop. He is the rolling king. I have to catch him ahead of the act or it is bath city. Mr Stinky Pants.
Lol looks like he really prefers very distinct brand of odors deer and rabbit poop
recall is so important to train until its bombproof!
Yes it is!!
This is hilarious! Yep, dogs do really gross things 😉 I am still working on recall with Piper. There are very few places where I feel safe enough letting her off leash to practice but we are taking a recall class in the spring so I am hopeful.
I am sure you and Piper will be able to get a good recall real soon
Hahaha ohhh my. I’ve definitely had a similar situation! I was working with Mauja and she rubbed her face in goose poop ?
Lol it is nice to know that are more to the tribe of poop rollers
That had to be hard not to push him away with all the poop smell. Good job!
Yes :).