Okay, so I couldn’t help wanting to write about this… and if you are wondering about whether you should read this or not, be warned by the word in the title: POOP!
I was just outside with our puppy, Moxie, (took her out to pee and poop) and I got really excited to see how nice her poop was! And I subtitled it “the little things” because being a miniature dachshund – and a mini, mini version at that – the poop is very small. Just so you know that I have a comparative view, some 20 years ago I had four Great Danes!
As I was watching Moxie pooping, it struck me as funny so I felt compelled to write to you about it. Here we are working too many hours in the day, dedicated to changing the world for horses and humans, and I’m fixated (and writing) about my miniature dachshund puppy’s quality of poop!
In my mind, and my heart, it reinforced how important the little things really are. Not only do I have to keep my eye on the big picture, I have to also stay present in order to discover the importance of the little things that happen all the time, every moment, every day. As I write, right at this moment, Moxie is licking Vinny’s ear after having a big, squealing wrestling match… and he’s loving it. Love, language and leadership continues to rule!
This is the love part, the bonding part – they sure have battles on the leadership front. It looks like play but when he makes her squeal I worry about her. Moxie probably weighs a pound and a half and Vinny is a little over 10 pounds, but she almost matches him in terms of energy and focus – actually, pound for pound, I think she out-does him. Whenever I worry that Vinny is too rough and pull him away from her, she jumps up and tackles his neck, chomping at him like a piranha – especially on his ears and lips! It’s amazing to watch these leadership (dominance) games. I keep warning Vinny to watch out when she’s his age – he’s 14 months old now and she’s only 3 months. He’s going to be in trouble!
By the way, because Pat and I are always scrapping about Moxie’s size and how he thinks she’s going to be way small and I don’t think she’s going to be that small, I came up with an idea to hold a little betting game between us: Guess what Moxie’s height, length and weight will be at 14 months. I’ll let you know what we each come up with!
Getting back to the original story (concerning Moxie and her pooping), poop became a really important subject because, when we picked her up it was 24 hours before she pooped. Her eyes were runny, she was all timid, a bit on the thin side (felt like a baby kitten instead of a dog) and I knew that things were not quite right. Over the next 24 hours she ravenously ate four meals… but wasn’t pooping – which is not good, especially with an alimentary canal that short!
So here we are five weeks further down the track: Moxie is now 13 weeks old. It took that long for her to start looking stronger (she was always full of energy) and to produce something that looks more like poop vs pudding. Yich! I really hope you’re not eating while reading this. 
I should also tell you that I credit her for getting me over my fear of poop!
What prompted me to write about this is not just that she pooped outside instead of one of my carpets, (she actually ran inside the other day to poop!) but that it looked like a nice little real poop. So it made me feel successful, valuable to that little life. I knew she was not 100% when she arrived, and to have made a difference to that little life feels really good.
So it made me think of how the big things are often disguised in the little things, but how often we don’t relate the two.
So now Vinny is on top of the woodpile with a manic look in his eye, he is filled with purpose and exuberance – finding a mouse would make his day! He’s determined to find a rodent and Moxie is lying at my feet – cute little RBE that she is. She cares more about having a leader while Vinny (LBE) has other agendas. And Remmer is craning over the fence sending me strong mental images of me feeding him while Allure is happily grazing.
It’s funny writing to you about my dogs, vs what I’m really known for. Moxie – your poop was much more than just a poop… it reminded me of how huge the little things really are.
Linda
My two mini long-haired dachshundsMoxie (L) and Vinny (R)
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It’s my first visit to your blog as I need a 48 hour day!!! – I love it! But I can certainly relate to your facination with the ‘poo’ I have two male Leonbergers 140lb so I now what you get from big guys. However we are getting a rescue dog on Wednesday a little girl (who has just had all her girlie bits removed) as our boys are entire. I think I will notice the difference as she is a little wire haired Jack Russel. She is only one and the boys six and seven – I wonder who will be boss. Looking forward to reading your future blogs and we loved the Festival of the Horse this year.
HI Susan,
I’m sorry to hear of your accident, hope you’re recovering well. And yes, the Success Series will help you a lot! Look especially at the trail riding and fluidity ones.
L
I’m in love with these dogs!!!! Where does the name Moxie come from,just wondered if it has a meaning
Pat thought of it for her. “Moxie” means “spirit”. It fits her perfectly
L
Lucy, my mini weenie, also comes in the house to poop sometimes after a nice long walk. Weenies are like that. All the training stuff says that house training is an issue. I have pee pads in the house & she always uses them. Never the floor. And I take them with when traveling so she knows to go there. Lu had nasty worms when i got her so I know the poop exam routine too.
And most importantly when you love something so much then every part of them is special & important. Even poop!!!!
I do especially enjoy the “weiner blogs”.
Sandy
Warn Vinny to beware!My Giant Schnauzer used to love flattening my Northern Inuit when she was a pup.Now the N.I. is all grown up and acts like Tigger in Winny the Pooh.The G.Schnauzer shrinks whenever she sees her and tries to hide.The other Giant has always ignored her and never gets bounced on :0)
I know, he’s in trouble!
What a beautiful picture of you and your dogs Linda…and it is so cool when you relate to us with everyday things in life…like poop!
HI Linda,
I love this blog!
It really is the little things that are important……….I guess it goes back to “horses don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” which also applies to people and dogs. It really is the little things you see and do that can make the difference!
It’s so funny getting so many comments about a blog on poop! Glad you all liked it, and I love how you relate it to other things in life. Hope things are going well with your lovely horse, Laura… are you learning to be more provocative for him? I’m looking forward to telling that story as I catch up on all my activities since being away!
L
The Little Things……ahhhh yes. One of my “self-improvement” goals lately has been to try to “live in the moment” more often. I have a much easier time planning and living in the future than being right here, right now. With that in mind, I have vowed to spend undemanding time with my horses for the month of July. So I hop on, bareback and bridleless and just sit. First few times, I answered voice mails and planned meals; thought about my career choices; tried to envision the landscaping around my new house; and was totally out of balance when my horse mozied around the pasture. A few days ago I started noticing the little things….my horses breathing, the ripple of her skin when a fly landed, the dust on her withers, the little bump on the right side of her neck, the fact that one of her eyelashes is much longer than the rest. When she moved off towards another patch of grass, I was right there with her…..balanced, fluid, in harmony. All because of “the little things”…..Thanks, Linda, for being my inspiration!
Ah Linda I love this entry, now you know why new mother’s are so ‘besotted’ with everything about their babies and bore everyone else silly at parties!……everyone else can roll their eyes but ‘we’ get it! Having a young life to care for brings your focus very sharply down to what is right in front of you. You’re so right…the little ‘things’ really are important, and fascinating too…like poo! Welcome to ‘motherhood’!
weel, i just discovered a really important thing about horse poop….one of our horses always had more flies on her poop than the other three horses…..enough so that I actually asked the vet about it but he just pondered for a moment and then said “how interesting”……turns out that the mare had ulcers….and hence, probably had some blood in her poops…hence more flies. Now that her ulcers have been successfully treated, she has the same number of flies as the other three…..so, the moral of the story is that poop is important and that I should keep searching for an answer when there is a puzzle in front of me
I laughed my way through that whole blog because I’m a bit of a poop bore myself! A months ago I switched my dogs from a high quality dried food diet to a raw meat, veg and bone diet. I’d thought for a long time that this must be better for them but was a little afraid of making a mistake that might cause them some internal harm (ie bad meat or the wrong type of bone). Anyway I eventually bit the bullet and it was thanks to a blog of yours quite a while ago when you were talking about Vinny having gas as a result of eating cooked chicken (…hmmm, maybe it’s just a bottom obsession?? ). That gave me enough of a shove to do some more research and I found the most wonderful company here in the UK called Natural Instinct who manufacture a fantastic range of raw meat and bone feeds that use only human grade meat. Now my dogs are very happy, healthy and producing wonderfully neat and efficient poops rather than the piles of porridge we come across when walking. So from both my dogs and myself – THANK YOU!
PS. I wonder if because we have committed to making those major changes not only for our horses but for ourselves, we have entered into a mindset where we don’t necessarity accept something just because every body else is doing it. So perhaps as a result of that we have become more in tune with the little things.
While poop is a little thing, it’s also huge! As in all living things it tells many things about the overall physical wellness of the depositor. You’re wise in keeping a close eye on the little things and revel in them as time seems to float by so quickly. Jax was just a new pup yesterday and now he’s 5 months. While his poop has always been good, I cherished the day when he looked out the door, ran to me and back asking to do his business outside! I’m sure I marked that day on our calendar
I’m looking forward to that one!
L
Linda, I’m so excited to see you talk about Poop! I know that sounds weird, but it is one of the things that tells me a lot about my horse. The first time my mare Lily had solid poops during a trailer ride I was jumping up and down. And just last night I took her for a trail ride and it was the first time ever that when she got out of the trailer and pooped it was solid!! I was so excited I came home and told my husband, but he looked at me like I was nuts and said he didn’t need to hear about the consistency of my horse’s poop. But to me it means that she is becoming more and more confident out and about – which is HUGE!!
So thanks for confirming that the poop can be important!
One of the things I love about Parelli is that you talk about it all… We get tips on vitamins and minerals, hoof care, vet prep – you name it!
I rescue dogs down here in Costa Rica and i can totally relate to the poop obsession thing!! Healthy poop, healty dog!! xx
Linda,
Never underestimate the power of love…….it amazes me on a daily basis!
In the over 40 years that I have been breeding and showing dogs, there have been many times when a too-small puppy eventually took off like a rocket and became one of the larger mature siblings of the litter. Puppies never cease to surprise me! You’re very savvy about all-natural feeding, so now that you have her metabolism functioning properly, she may really blossom now. VINNIE, beware!
I really enjoyed reading that Linda, I was chuckling all the way through. How many poop’s can you get in one blog ! but yes, the little things are so much more
And I even edited some out!!
great snap of the three of you! love it.
Hello,
Yes, little things are so important !
It’s very important for me to keep the ability of being wondered by little things.
Hope you understand my meaning
(Sorry, I’m literally translating from french)
It’s a pleasure to read your blog. I’m a great fan of your work.
Greetings from Belgium
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