Vern, GO POTTY!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I think our dogs and their potty idiosyncrasies must be on a lot of our minds, because there have been lots of discussions and posts lately about this subject. I have been thinking about writing something about Vern for a long time, and then today I saw Lucy and Sophie's mom's discussion, about how long Lucy can hold it. Vern can hold it for a long time too, but my problem is more that Vern has to have an Oprah "Aha" moment before he goes. It is almost like he is just walking along and all of a sudden has an epiphany.

 

I am starting to think Vern thinks his name is Go Potty, Vern!  When we take the dogs out to do their business, Fudge gets right to the point, but not Vern. Vern likes to take his time, smell the air, walk around, sniff a little, tackle Fudge, smell the air, chew a stick, and then sniff some more. All the while, he is walking around I am saying, “Vern, go potty….Vern, Go Potty……VERN, GO POTTY!”

 

Imagine it is pouring outside. Here is Vern out to do his business:

Now, it is snowing. Here is Vern out to do his business:

 

Here he is thinking about going potty....oh wait a minute, never mind, false alarm:

So much to sniff, so little time.....Hey, Fudge, who keeps yelling, "Go Potty, Vern?:

Hmmmn, I am out here for something, but I can't remember what:

Isn't that a pretty birdie?

 

I swear when he finally goes, it reminds me of that scene in the movie, Helen Keller, when Helen finally realizes what the letters w-a-t-e-r mean that her teacher has been signing on her hand.  After I say, “Vern, Go Potty!” a few too many times, he looks at me like it finally dawns on him that “Go Potty” means make water or something more solid than water.

 

 

If I thought it would speed him up to hand him a newspaper or a magazine as he goes out the door, I would try it. I swear I would.

He does finally go and it looks something like this when he does:

or this:

No matter how long it takes him to go, Vern never has any accidents EVER in the house, so I guess I should count my blessings. It could be worse.

Someday, I hope he will get down to business sooner and if he can get to this point, we would be the happiest dog owners ever.

Who else wants to join Vern in the Slow to Go Group?

 

PS Please note....all landscaping (no grass) done by Vern too :)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Good luck during the hurricane. I hope Parker speeds things up :)

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

Honestly, where do you find these photos?? The one of the dog going inside the car made me spit my water out all over the laptop!!!! And "isn't that a pretty birdie" came a close second to the funniest tagged photo EVER. As always, within the first paragraph, I'm thinking "this is SOOOO Lola". During our "before bedtime" pee, Lola will sit there staring at me as I run on and on trying to get her to go "Lola, pee. Just pee. For crying out loud, PEE" I'm usually so exhausted after a few minutes that I say "You know what? Fine. I don't even care." That's when she finally decides to go. Oh, how I love her!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Sue, Don't you know you are not supposed to DK and drink at the same time :) I find myself saying the same thing, "You are going to be sorry if you don't pee," etc. to a DOG. Like he reasons it out.....LOL.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This was the funniest blog to date!  I love it.  The dog in the car.... priceless!   NED joins Vern in this group.  Not only does Ned hold it forever, he prefers privacy and dark of night if possible.  When we go in the RV, the dogs usually have potty walks on-leash. Here is the scenario:  I take Ned and Gordie  - Gordie goes.  Then I take Ned and Clancy - Clancy takes a bit of time but Clancy goes.  Then I take Clancy back and Ned and I have another potty walk and Ned might or might not go.  And if someone comes walking by, or Ned hears a dog barking, or a car drives by - especially if headlights shine on him......  Oh brother.  Now I guess I will take Ned and Gordie, then Ned and Clancy, then Ned and Sunny, then Ned and Ned....  Hours later - I might just take myself!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Nancy, I was laughing at your description of you taking your dogs out. I think Ned just likes to go outside with you and the rest of the gang. He doesn't want to be left out. Your camping "vacations" must be exhausting :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Ned  :)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Laurie, Laurie, Laurie-HILARIOUS!

This is one to show DH! We thought Chloe was bad-

Myla goes instantly! In the yard. Chloe must go all around the neighborhood first. Too funny!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Jennifer. There seems to be one dog in every family that is a slow goer :)

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Just another reminder of a boy versus a girl in my book. Our dog Zach did the very same thing, in fact Zach would not go potty in his own yard, we had to take him for a walk every time, just to pee. Daisy is like Fudge, we say do you need to go potty and she goes to the door, we walk 2 feet into the yard and she does it.

Love the illustrations....are you printing theses blogs? At lease print and binder them for future generations! You are a brilliant writer.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Lisa, Thank you! Like BG said, "Boys Drool and Girls Rule!"

 

Maybe "Boys are Slow, Girls Know to Go."

 

I can see it now....future generations looking through my blogs and saying, "Grandma was a real looney tunes!"

[Amy and Lily]

Laurie,

You need to make this into a book.  It is so funny!  Vern and Fudge are adorable!!  Thanks for the laugh and to see I am not the only one with a putz!!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Amy!!