Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Lucky Walk and Poo

Lucky has started doing something unusual in the last four days.  Twice he has been walking at a normal pace and started pooping while he walks.

I am at a loss as to why.  Tonight we went out onto the grass, he immediately peed, then sniffed around and was distracted by every car driving by, person within 100 feet, leaf, and me scratching my leg (normal behavior for him).  I was very patient and after ten minutes I thought he just didn't have to go.  That's usually how it works.

We went on a walk around the perimeter of the apartment complex and had made almost a complete lap.  I keep a close eye on what he's doing because he's unpredictable when he walks.  He stays near me and doesn't pull but due to his high distraction level he'll suddenly decide to change course on the sidewalk and I've almost stepped on him many times.  So I pay attention to what he's doing.

It's a good thing that I paid attention tonight because without warning he started pooping while walking down the middle of the sidewalk.  He didn't slow down, he didn't head for the grass, there is no warning.  He did the same thing on Sunday night right after discovering the wallet that was lost.

The only thing I can think of that's different is we've been transitioning him to a different dog food in the last couple of weeks.  We're almost done with the transition now.  His poop looks exactly the same as it always has so I haven't thought its upset his stomach but maybe it has an ingredient that makes his butthole numb.

He was previously eating Science Diet food and we wanted to switch because Science Diet is only carried at pet stores and requires a special five mile trip to get it.  But, if the Purina food we bought is causing him to have random poo missile firings then the extra cost and hassle of having him eat Science Diet is worth it.  With my luck, he'd start launching turd missiles, I'd slip on a sidewalk land mine, fall, and break a limb for the first time in my life.

To Lucky's credit, pooping while walking borders on a talent.  I'd like to try it once but getting arrested for wearing no pants and pooping while walking down a sidewalk would be more hassle than its worth.