In Flagrante Delicto

Ha!  We finally caught her!  We caught Bisou in the act...of starting to poop in the house.

As you know if you follow these chronicles, Bisou's obsession with frogs is such that if I just let her out into the yard on the assumption that she will responsibly relieve herself she goes straight to the fish pond to chase frogs.  And then poops in the house.  And she's so fast and so discreet that we can never catch her in the act.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been taking her out on leash in the wind and rain, urging and encouraging ("if t'were done when 'tis done, then t'were well t'were done quickly," as Macbeth said) until she does the deed. And that has worked fine, except that it's terribly inconvenient.

This afternoon, after I fed the dogs, my husband and I were talking in the kitchen when Bisou trotted past us and into the living room, where she stepped onto her favorite Bokhara and adopted the characteristic crouch that every dog owner knows by heart.  My husband bellowed "No!".   I shrieked "Outside!!!" at the top of my lungs and flung open the back door.

Bisou was so startled that she instantly contracted all the appropriate muscles--thus sparing our rug--and flew into the backyard.  And, wouldn't you know it, even in the throes of her direst need, she made a beeline for the frogs. But I reminded her of what we were there for and she ran under a tree and did her business like a good dog.

Back in the house, as my husband and I were hoarsely congratulating ourselves, I noticed that Bisou was holding her tail between her legs, hunching her head between her shoulders, and generally trying to make herself invisible.  We really had scared her.  I took a treat out of the treat can and got down on my knees and patted my chest and she came running.  And now she's sleeping peacefully next to me, digesting her dinner and, I hope, her lesson.