Splatter: A Scene from a Doodle Horror Film

[Linda Karell]

My darling 15 month old Chervil just about did me in. Two days a week, we crate her for the afternoon while we're at work. She loves her crate so that's no problem, and we have a dog walker come in those days so she gets a good run in the middle of the afternoon. Yesterday I got home from work--Chervil had probably been crated about two hours since her walk--walked into the house and it stunk. Bad. "Oh no--she rolled in something," I thought (naively). Through the kitchen, up the stairs, to the bedroom to let her out--and she had had terrible diarrhea in her crate. The volume of poo a doodle can do still amazes me--and this was a doozey.

And that's where I made my mistake. Poor dog--how miserable for her--and she was covered in the stuff, so I immediately let her out. And she immediately shook. And ran down the stair, through the kitchen, shaking, whapping her tail around, etc. I literally (I am not making this up) had dog poo in the following places: all over and around the crate, on her stuffed bed-toy, on the bed and the headboard, on the bookshelf across the room, and several walls; on the walls going down the stairs (and of course on each stair those poopy feet touched), across the kitchen floor, on the refrigerator, the stove, and even a splatter on one of the high cabinets.

Two hours of solid cleaning and three loads of laundry (on the super hot diaper setting) later I once again had a clean dog and house (though I think I ruined my work pants because I used bleach and did I think to change them--of course not). I ended my evening by drinking wine and staring at the tv like an idiot. The good news: I gave Chervil some pumpkin along with her dinner, and she seems to be just fine. She's never had a single crate accident before, even as a wee pup, so she must have been very desperate and I hate that I put her in that situation. On the other hand, it would have been just as bad if she were free in the house (only I'd be replacing carpet right now).

She seems happily recovered and snoozing away as I type. Moral of the story: if this happens to you, throw a towel or a sheet over your dog before you let them out of the crate!! Sorry so long, but who else can I tell this story to???

[Linda Karell]

Thank you everyone--for the sympathy and good wishes. What a great community! Chervil is just fine, and I've finally recovered from the event. She is such a darn sweet dog--it's kind of amazing what we can do when we love them, eh? And now I know about laying down newspapers and other ways of coping.

P.S. I didn't stop at one glass of wine, though I appreciate you thinking the best of me!!!

[Laura & Chewie]

Ewww...how icky, but so glad it's behind you and all is well. Years ago a friend of mine had a boxer who was in a crate in her living room while she worked. Someone must have rang the doorbell and it stuck or had a short...it just kept ringing and ringing. The poor dog, Clyde, was so scared...scared the you know what out of him...over and over again. She came home to it all over the room...sprayed everywhere.

[Anna and Achilles]

Yikes! Thanks for the tip. I agree with Shelly I don't think I would have stopped with one glass!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I loved reading this and giggled all the way through - not so much if it had been me though. I think you handled it really well.

[Patty]

Oh honey. We've had similar weeks. The only things that separate us are prior experience (I had my paper towel trail ready before I ever opened the crate!), a master bedroom door that opens to the patio, and a diagnosis (giardia). After 2 days in a row of... explosions, I brought my foster boy to the vet. He got a shot, and yes, he spent the night there to give us a moment's peace! Here's hoping your house is completely back in order and your Chervil is ok!

[shelly]

Oh NO! I hope she didn't think that was a very funny April Fool's joke! What a day for you! Only one glass of wine?! I think I may have polished off the bottle! Here's to a MUCH better tomorrow! (And thanks for the warning!)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm surprised you survived without weeping. Glad thins are back to normal.

[April Cliber]

Oh my! Poor you!!! What a horrible mess!! I'm glad you got it all cleaned up and she is feeling better.

[Carol and Banjo]

I'm exhausted just reading this! Hope the wine helped!

[Christy and Yoda]

I had a similar situation but luckily the crate is near the bathroom so I put down towels and ushered him straight into the bath. It still took me hours to clean the dog, crate, the carpet and the wall from the original incident. I've never seen a sadder dog than poor Yoda when I opened the door and saw him standing there in all that mess. I was pretty sad myself when I realized the mess that I had to clean up! I believe I had some wine myself that evening!