Tilgh. . .

Tilghy-Bilghy is out latest little project. . .We've had him about a year now and we love him so. We knew that he'd have some behavioral issues to work out when we adopted him. He's not aggressive. In fact, he's quite a sweet soul. We (mostly C) had been making amazing strides with him in terms of exercise and training up until about 3 weeks ago.

Something has caused Tilghman to become a little screwy. He started "eliminating" (that's vet-speak for crapping) in our basement here and there. So we thought maybe we could put him back in the crate and he'd "remember" to be housebroken.

Everyone knows I sing the praises of the dog crate. I believe it's the best way to house train a pet, keep them safe, and content (when used appropriately).

All was going well in the crate for about a week. . .We put him in the crate with lovely Kongs loaded with peanut butter and biscuits and other safe toys. . .And he never once had an "accident" in the crate.

Then one day we arrived home to find the crate in the condition in the photo. WTF? First of all, how did he do that?! Second, WHY?!

At the advice of our pet-sitters, we have not put him back in the crate for fear he might hurt himself. But now he has free reign of the basement and leaves us (when I say us I mean C) lovely steaming piles of excrement to clean up when we get home.

Trust me, there's no rhyme or reason to his behavior. C had him out for a lovely run one afternoon and he "made" in the basement when they go home.

We feel pretty sure he doesn't have a medical problem (at least not physical). I'm just not sure what to do about it.

He's not doing harm to our basement but it's not an optimal situation because he clearly has some sort of issues. . .Do we need the Dog Whisperer?

Could anyone care less about where our dog makes doody? I'm sure. But his behavior is yet another colorful addition to the home eck wreck that's my very own!